The Reluctant Duchess (8 page)

“Love?”

She recognised that voice and turned to see Jonathan Rhyman approaching them. He greeted Sophie with a kiss on her cheek.

“Did you have fun?”
Sophie asked him.

“
I’m so out of practice that I couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn but yes, I had fun.”

“I
think it might have more to do with the wine you consumed last night,” she gently chastised but her smile said that she wasn’t angry. “Let me introduce you. Jon, this is Lady Wyatt; Annabelle, this is my husband, Lord Jonathan Rhyman.”

“Good Lord, it is!” he said, looking slightly shocked. “This is the lady who runs my coffee house in London,” he explained to Sophie. “I must say, it’s a very pleasant surprise to see you here.”

“You are that Miss Wyatt?” Sophie asked. “How very nice it is to finally put a face to the name.”

Annabelle thought that
Sophie looked a little uncomfortable but was doing her best to be polite. She returned the smile, though her expression was tight.

“Thank you.
The Dowager Duchess was good enough to invite me and as I discovered, she is a very hard lady to say no to.”

“
Please, dear, call me Lavinia. And she’s correct; I do like to get my way.” Lavinia smiled, seemingly pleased with herself.

They chatted for a while longer,
although Annabelle felt uncomfortable the whole time and mainly kept quiet. Then she spotted Richard again, this time without her brother, but surrounded by three very pretty young ladies, all of whom he was clearly flirting with. She wished that she could disappear but there was nowhere to go.

He began to make his
way over to them but was waylaid a few times by other ladies, all with coquettish mannerisms and simpering smiles. Richard seemed to be enjoying the attention, making them smile and giggle. It hurt to watch him charm so many other young women, so although it took quite a bit to willpower on her part, she turned away and kept her gaze determinedly averted.

Thankfully w
hen he did finally approach them, she was pleased to note that he was alone.

“I hope you shot enough to keep my larder stocked up,” Lavinia said as he joined them.

“I think we are safe from the poorhouse for a while longer,” he teased. “And Annabelle, I hope you have been made to feel welcome?”

“Very,” she smiled
politely at him.

“Good, because I would like to let you know that your brother is a sycophantic, ingratiating bore. How you two could be related is beyond me.”

Annabelle saw Jonathan also grimace at Richard’s words, so presumably he too had experienced Frederick’s less than charming personality.

“I hardly know
him,” Annabelle admitted. “But what little I do know, I never liked.”

Just then
, the bell rang to signify that lunch was served.

“Ah well, he is seated well away from us at lunch
, so we should be safe for a while. Might I escort you to your seat?” Richard offered her his elbow.

“Please.”

As they walked over to the table he leant in closer and in a low voice told her, “You look exquisite today and your hair is quite lovely.”

Her free ha
nd went self-consciously to her hair.

“Don’t
, it’s perfect.”

She smiled and blushed.

There were no end seats at the table, so Richard didn’t have to sit at the head but to her surprise, she was seated next to him, an unknown man to her right. Opposite them sat Jonathan and Sophie. Lavinia had seated herself a few chairs away.

Lunch was
six courses, beginning with soup, followed by the fish course of oysters, then a mint sorbet. The main course was cold game pie, warm baked egg, asparagus tips and celery ragout, with freshly cooked bread and butter. The servants kept everyone’s glasses topped up but Annabelle had decided to stick to water for the remainder of the meal. So far it didn’t look as if her brother had noticed her presence but if that didn’t last, she wanted her wits about her.

Finally des
sert was served and plates of delicacies laid out along the table for diners to help themselves to. Richard was about to say something to her, probably to compliment her but she reached under the table for his hand and squeezed hard.

“Well, this does look good,” was all he said, squeezing her hand back to let her know he understood
that she didn’t want attention drawn to her, but he didn’t let her hand go and neither did she tug hers away.

“Very,” Jonathan agreed. “And I love
that each biscuit has your family coat of arms on; a very nice touch.”

“Yes, mother always did have an eye for details.”

Conversation continued as they sampled various desserts but as she had before, Annabelle remained mostly silent. Now that she had been exposed as a coffee house owner, she felt out of place, despite her fine gown and pretty hair.

After des
sert there was a cheese course, served with sherry or port and whilst the alcohol proved popular, few people partook in the cheese, since they were already full.

When lunch broke up, most people headed inside, either for a nap
after such fine food or to play a few hands of cards, before reconvening that evening. Richard escorted Annabelle inside but managed to hang back slightly so that they had a little privacy.

“Why ar
e you so quiet?” he asked, for she was far from the fiery woman that he remembered.

“I feel out of place,” she admitted.

“You certainly don’t look out of place.”

“Perhaps not
but now that people know that I run a shop, I feel judged and a little like I’m playing dress-up.”

Richard stopped walking
, took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him. “You are not out of place,” he assured her. “You may be a little unconventional but that describes my whole family, including my mother. Most importantly, we both want you here.”

“I can tell that Sophie is just being polite with me now that she knows, and it won’t be long before everyone
else knows.”

“Sophie is not a gossip and I am certain that she doesn’t feel that way. Besides, the Annabelle I know wouldn’t cower from people who sought to put her down, she would give as good as she got. Maybe you do look a little different today, but you are still you at heart.”

She smiled and nodded. “You’re right. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now, are you up for a game of cards?”

“It’s been a while since I played any card games but as long as you don’t mind refreshing my memory, I would be happy to.”

They passed a happy few hours playing cards with other guests but when they moved onto Faro, which was played for money, Annabelle quickly decided to excuse herself and see if she could find somewhere to freshen up a little. She found Lavinia in the game room and asked her.

“Of course, dear. I have
had your things brought here, so that you don’t have to travel back to the cottage tonight and can leave from here in the morning. I should have told you. Come, I will show you to your room.”

Arm in arm, they headed out of the room, only for
Frederick Wyatt to block their path.

“Annabelle, I thought that was you. My dearest sist
er, how are you?” he leaned in and although Annabelle recoiled, he managed to kiss her cheek. She shuddered as he stepped back.

“I’m very well, thank you
Frederick,” she managed to say, although her mouth had gone dry. “If you’ll excuse me, Lavinia was about to show me something.”

His eyes narrowed and he turned to their hostess.

“Lavinia, thank you so much for inviting me to this delightful gathering, I have had a marvellous time so far.”

“You will not be invited again if you continue to address me in such an impertinent manner!” Lavinia raised a haughty eyebrow.

“I- My apologies, Your Grace, I did not mean to be impertinent, I-”

“Nonsense, you have addressed me as
‘Your Grace’ ever since you arrived. Your sister happens to be a dear friend of mine and can claim a certain amount of familiarity but I cannot say the same for you. Sharing her kin does not entitle you to claim a friendship with me. Good day, Lord Wyatt.”

She strode from the room, a
lmost dragging Annabelle along with her. In the hallway they passed the butler and Lavinia stopped to whisper something to him. He nodded and they continued on their way, up the stairs. Lavinia maintained beautiful, decorated in shades of gold, the walls adorned with tapestries that were as tall as Annabelle, a large four posted bed in the centre and two large windows that looked out over the gardens. However Annabelle was far too preoccupied to notice her surroundings at the moment.

“You should not have done that,”
she said softly.

“Nonsense, men like that must be put in their place.”

“But I will be blamed,” she said, collapsing into a chair by the fire.

The door then
burst open and Richard came in. He quickly took in the pale Annabelle and the anger on his mother’s face.

“Mother
, what’s happened?”

“I’
m not quite sure.” Lavinia admitted. Then came a knock at the door. “Ah that will be the tea.” She opened the door to the servant and took the tray from her. “Thank you, that will be all.”

Richard
placed an ornamental table by the fire, which she set the tray upon.

“You’re cold,” Richard noted as he saw Annabelle shivering. “Shall I light the fire?”

“No, I’m fine.”

So instead
, he removed his frock coat and placed it around her shoulders. She didn’t argue and pulled it closer around her, slipping her arms into the sleeves. Lavinia then handed her a cup of strong, sweet tea which she sipped with slightly trembling hands.

“Perhaps you had better tell us the whole story,” she suggested.

Annabelle nodded.

Lavinia took
the other chair and Richard knelt on the floor beside Annabelle.

“
Frederick always resented my mother; he felt that she had taken his place in the family. They fought dreadfully, until he struck my mother and was finally banished. When I came along, things only got worse. My father used to like to bring me out when we had guests over and show me off. He would have me play the piano, or perform a dance or recite poetry. Of course, word of all this got back to Frederick.”

“He can’t have liked that,” Lavinia agreed.

“No, but then he didn’t understand our father. He wasn’t the devil, but he was an entirely selfish man who cared only for his own needs. He didn’t care who else got hurt as long as he was happy. I was never shown off to these people on my own merits but only as his offspring, as a reflection on him. The way one might show off a pretty vase that they have recently purchased. He hit my mother on many occasions but we were
his
possessions you see, so he was allowed. Frederick was not because we belonged to father. Father much preferred women to his son because women flattered his ego and they were status symbols that he could show off to his peers, you see, which left Frederick constantly vying for the affections of a man who could see no real value in him. Of course, he saw no real value in Mother and me either.”

“And
Frederick was too blind to see the difference.” Richard surmised.

“Quite.
As soon as the guests left, we were put away in our boxes, too insignificant to be bothered with, until he had an audience again and we would be brought out once more.”

“That doesn’t account for the fear that
Frederick struck into your heart.” Lavinia said kindly.

“No, that happened after Father died.
” Annabelle kept her eyes focused on her tea cup, unwilling to look at them as she confessed the rest. “Frederick returned home as soon as he heard and began lording it over Mother and me. Mother was already succumbing to insanity by then, so he took his anger out on me. I wanted to leave but we were stuck there until the will was read because we had no money, save for what we might be left in the will. When Frederick found out that I had been left an inheritance in lieu of my dowry, he was furious and that night when we got home, he attacked me.”

She took a long sip of her tea and when she had finished, Richard
took the cup and saucer away from her, then clasped her hands.

“I fought
him as best I could, then I finally got a hold of a candelabra that had been knocked over in our struggle. The scar on his forehead that runs into his hair line, that’s what I did to him that night.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“Bruises…” She swallowed. “He- he tore most of my gown from me before I could stop him. He put his hands…”

“You don’t need to continue if it’s painful.” Lavinia assured her.

Annabelle nodded gratefully but Richard still needed to know.