The Blind Duke, page 6
part #2 of Enraptured Regency Romance Series
Hettie giggled, tilting her face up to Harold, who looked down disapprovingly at her. He had tried to teach his sister’s daughter how to behave before the aristocrats but Hettie was Hettie. With a sigh and a slight shake of his head, he bowed to Richard and they both left the room.
Richard drank his tea thoughtfully, his mind filled with images of his wife. Cassandra. He had met her at the Regent’s court almost the moment he entered into the Prince’s circle. She was beautiful – stunning, actually, and had a dignity and poise that endeared her to many in the court. Cassandra was the daughter of Lord Charles Cavanaugh, the Earl of Suffolk, a dignified old widower who knew that his time was limited, so he wanted the Prince as a good match for his only child.
When the Prince Regent introduced Cassandra and Richard and insisted that Richard escort the young woman about town, Richard had felt at least ten feet tall. When he appeared in public with her, he saw the envying looks of his peers. He fell in love with Cassandra and she could do no wrong in his eyes, even though he heard strange whispers about her from those in the court.
They were married two weeks before her father died and he came to realize that many had been spreading rumors about her out of jealousy and envy.
For the first few months, life was good as they entertained and were invited to many social affairs. Cassandra was well brought-up and held her own, and she soon became a favorite with the court. Then Richard decided that life as a member of the court was too rich and fast-paced for him, so he and his wife retired to his country seat of Essex.
That was when he saw his wife in her true colours. She was extravagant. Not that he would have minded, for his father’s wealth, coupled with his own and the dowry he had received from her father was such that she could live lavishly for a hundred years without causing a dent in their fortune. He only took issue with her when he left her at Essex and returned to London after being summoned by the Prince. The business for which he was required took longer than expected and when he returned home two months later, he found everything in disarray.
Cassandra had fired some of the most loyal servants, who had been with his family for many years, Harold among them. What was worse, the remaining servants hadn’t been paid for the two months that he’d been away. Suppliers were making gentle hints about their payments and his mother’s once-lovely rose garden was overrun with weeds. Upon enquiring of his manager why everything was in disarray, he noticed that the man looked completely intimidated and Richard immediately went about setting things to right.
He sought out the old butler, who was living with his widowed sister, and it was Harold who informed him that Cassandra had threatened to have the manager fired if he revealed that she had been spending the housekeeping money on the many parties she had thrown at the house. When the older servants had protested about parties being held in the house when Richard’s mother had proclaimed that it should never be used for debauchery and licentiousness, they had earned themselves immediate dismissals.
Richard reinstated all the employees and, knowing that if Cassandra stayed on there would be terrible repercussions, he packed her up and once again took her to London. Back in London, things had become worse, when rumours started flying around that Cassandra was often seen in the company of Lord Errol, the Earl of Whittingshire, a notorious rake who went from boudoir to boudoir, in spite of his own wife’s harshness. Richard demanded answers from Cassandra, but she denied it all as mere rumor.
“Darling, you know how people spoke lies about me even before we were married,” she had cried, her beautiful face marred by tears. She knew that was his weakness.
Richard couldn’t bear to see his beloved crying and so had taken her in his arms and comforted her. For a while things settled down; then, just over a year ago, Cassandra decided that she was tired of London and wanted to retire to the country. Surprised but pleased, he had obliged her and thought nothing of it when she insisted that he remain in London to serve the Prince Regent.
“Prince George would be lost without you, darling, and let it never be said that your wife kept you from performing your civic duties.”
It was only later that Richard realized he had been played for a fool, when he found out that Lord Errol, at the insistence of his wife, had relocated to his country seat, not too far from Essex. This time Richard was the one who had found them in a very compromising position. The Earl, or someone very like him, had escaped but Cassandra could give no explanation for her disheveled clothing.
That had decided matters for him, and he had gone back to London. For the past year he hadn’t been home or anywhere near his beloved wife. Though he had tried to quash the rumors about her, they kept going and, what was worse, he now heard that she was going around with a number of young rakes. Parties had been banned in his house but that didn’t stop Cassandra. Instead she attended any party within Essex, some of which no noble, genteel woman would ever be seen at.
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