No Duke of Mine, page 18
Maggie wandered about, drinking in the contents of Algernon’s private domain and the huge bed standing between two tall windows. The chamber was large and airy, full of light, with wonderful views down towards the distant lake. She went to look out the window and spotted groups of people clustered out on the grounds. They were too far away to identify, but they appeared to be picnicking.
She turned to ask Algernon about them when the door burst open, admitting a trio of men.
“About time you dragged yourself home,” one yelled, and then disappeared into the dressing room.
None of them noticed her immediately.
“Well, where is she?”
“She is behind you,” Algernon answered, and then reappeared with a man who could only be one of his brothers hanging off him.
The three men, three Sweet brothers she’d once known as children, turned as one and finally spotted her.
She dipped a curtsy.
The youngest of them rushed over. “Maggie!”
She was swept up into his embrace and twirled around and around.
“I thought I would never see you again,” he complained.
“Stratford, put her down,” Algernon ordered.
“But it’s Maggie, Algernon!” Stratford argued even as he obeyed.
“Yes, I am aware of that,” he said, his lips twisted in a smug smile.
The one with the most serious face peered at her. “Why is Maggie Black in your bedchamber again, brother?”
Maggie lifted her chin. “You would be Nash.”
He inclined his head but turned his gaze on the duke. Nash had never quite warmed to her, or understood Algernon’s insistence that she join in their games as often as she had.
The third brother strolled closer, eyes narrowed on her.
“Hello, Jasper,” she said politely.
“Mags,” he drawled, smirking. “Good to see you back at the old pile. Here to stay this time, or just passing through?”
Maggie glanced at Algernon quickly.
“Maggie is here to stay,” Algernon announced.
“Good, because the last time you left, two of my brothers bawled their eyes out for a whole month.” Jasper came forward, caught up her hands, and surprised her by kissing her cheeks. But his touch, hidden from view of his brothers, traced over the ring on her finger as he whispered, “Stratford was almost as inconsolable as your new husband.”
“She was practically our sister,” Stratford protested, having missed Jasper’s last remark.
“Never my sister,” Algernon was quick to clarify with a wink for her, but then whatever he might have said next was cut off by the sound of breaking glass.
Algernon dashed to the window to look outside.
Nash, however, pinched the bridge of his nose. “Not another window. Why can they not be satisfied with bowls instead of cricket?”
“What the devil is going on here? Who are those people?”
Jasper groaned. “Our aunt is still hosting that little family gathering you agreed to let her have.”
“Little? There are…” Algernon started, as he started to count, pointing his finger.
“Fifty-three adults and a dozen younger ones in the nursery, all told, plus servants, horses, and dogs. Lots of unruly, barking dogs.”
Algernon turned, face pale, eyes wild. “I did not agree to this. Is she trying to bankrupt me?”
Jasper shrugged. “Who knows what the old dragon wants. I try to stay out of her way as much as possible. She’s still too fond of swinging those canes for my taste.”
Maggie bit her lip to hold in her thoughts about Aunt Violet and her canes. It was not her place to venture an opinion on family matters so soon. But Aunt Violet needed to be put in her place eventually.
“I’ll deal with her,” Algernon growled.
“We’ll keep Maggie company while you tackle the dragon,” Jasper promised.
“No.” Algernon shook his head. “She’ll need to meet my duchess eventually.”
Maggie did not remind him that she was already well acquainted with his aunt Violet and her canes. But before she met anyone else, she needed a moment or two in private to prepare. “If you could show me to my room, I’d like to freshen up first.”
“Yes, of course, my love” Algernon murmured. “Your trunks should have been brought up already, and I had the butler send up water, too. Come this way, my dear, and I’ll show you your bedchamber.”
Behind them, she heard Stratford whisper, “Did he just say her bedchamber?”
“He did indeed,” Jasper said, not bothering to lower his voice. “Didn’t you notice the ring on her finger? Do try to catch up.”
“Our brother has made a surprising choice indeed. I’ll find out why later,” Nash announced, as they moved as one to look into her new chamber.
Jasper snorted. “Isn’t it obvious?”
Maggie turned and kissed Algernon full on the lips, and then asked him to shut the door behind him to give her privacy from his brothers’ conversation.
He was reluctant to leave her alone, and she let out a shaky breath when he finally left and she could no longer hear him or his brothers in the connecting bedchamber.
But then she made the mistake of glancing up, and she saw a gilt-decorated ceiling directly over her head. As she lowered her gaze, she noticed gold and crystal everywhere.
She moved around, peeking into a doorway that led to a spacious private sitting room. The room contained a long settee, empty bookshelves, and a large desk near the window.
The mantle in this room was bare, and she dug in her pocket for Algernon’s wedding gift. Besides the ring on her finger, he’d given her a small toy figure of a woman that bore a striking resemblance to the one she’d lost here as a girl. It always astonished her that he remembered so many insignificant things about her, and she’d burst into tears on the spot at the time.
She backed out of the sitting room and faced her future as Duchess of Ravenswood, something she had trouble imagining on the journey here. How would she ever feel at home in this vast house with so much opulence everywhere she looked? The sheer grandeur of her bedchamber took her breath—and her composure—away.
She ducked behind a dressing screen and found water to splash on her face.
When she emerged, she felt slightly steadier when she looked around, but her father’s trunks and her traveling case looked too shabby for anyone else to see.
She carried her lighter case into the large empty dressing closet she found, but on the way back for the trunks, she tripped and fell flat on her face on the Persian rug.
Her door burst open, and her new brother-in-law, Stratford, rushed into the room. “Maggie?”
“I’m fine, Stratford,” she promised, pushing herself up to sit, and then taking his hand to get to her feet. “Just a moment of clumsiness.”
“That used to be me,” he admitted, grinning.
“Your head was always trying to go faster than your legs could carry you.” She glanced at the empty doorway he’d come through. “What were you doing, lurking at my door?”
He grinned. “Algernon said to wait for you.”
“Am I expected somewhere?”
“No.” Stratford shrugged. “But it’s what they say when they want to exclude me from any serious conversation.”
“That’s terrible.”
“No. Not really. Their discussions tend to be long-winded and I don’t have the patience for them anyway. Algernon will tell me what I need to know in the end, or Jasper will.” He smiled at her shyly. “So you are finally my sister.”
She showed him her wedding ring. “To be your sister is the sole reason I accepted your brother’s offer.”
“Ha, unlikely,” Stratford exclaimed, grinning back. “You’re probably in love.”
“I am.”
“Good. Algernon deserves that after all he’s been through,” Stratford announced. “Can I help with anything?”
She glanced at the trunks and nodded. “You can pick those up for me and carry the left one to the sitting room, and the right one to my dressing closet.”
“Happy to,” he promised, but as he gallantly hefted the left, and heaviest, into the air, groaning, the bottom fell out of it. All her father’s journals, along with the letters Maggie wanted to keep, were scattered across the floor…
Along with the unexpected glint of old metal and crumpled paper.
Maggie gaped at the mess. Stratford stared at the glittering contents on the floor, wide-eyed. “That was supposed to happen, wasn’t it?”
“No.” Maggie bent down and picked up a gold coin. She stared at it in shock, and then at the other money at her feet. “Does that trunk have a false bottom?”
“Had a false bottom,” Stratford corrected, and crouched down opposite her. He hefted the broken trunk closer to look at it. Then he handed her a wad of banknotes that hadn’t yet fallen out.
Maggie nearly swooned before she’d finished counting.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Algernon barreled through the house, leaving Maggie behind to be watched over by Stratford, while his brothers went in search of their wives to share his good news. He nodded to anyone he passed, but was furious. He searched the house: the library, the morning room, his study, the dining room, and finally found Aunt Violet sitting on the back terrace, sipping tea alone.
“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded.
The old lady met his gaze, one brow raised regally. “The meaning of what?” she answered, in a manner that suggested amusement rather than fear.
Not surprising, since the dragon hadn’t feared anyone in her very long life. Certainly not a duke.
He planted his feet and put his hands on his hips. “When you said you would invite some of the family to visit Ravenswood, I did not imagine that you intended for all of them to come at once.”
The old lady smiled sweetly and shrugged. “I cannot help it if you don’t listen properly, boy. The family is not only your brothers. It is first, second, and third cousins, too. Well…you are all my family. They are yours, too, and wished to meet your bride, the one you rushed off to London to fetch.”
He groaned and rubbed his hand across his brow. This was not how he hoped to reintroduce Maggie to Ravenswood. The palace was currently fit to bursting with Sweets. She would find it difficult to remember anyone’s names.
According to Nash, every distant relative seemed to have come out of the woodwork to answer the dragon’s summons. His household staff had scrambled with each new arrival to find room to fit them all. Some were sleeping in the halls.
The old lady sighed. “Now, now, boy. Sit down and calm yourself.”
He gave her a hard stare and realized that she was never, ever going to apologize for this disaster.
Ravenswood hadn’t hosted the entire family in years, and the last large gathering had been when he was young. He remembered when his mother had been alive, weaving through a crowded drawing room, trying—and failing—to find a seat to squeeze into. He was too old to perch on a windowsill now, and damned if he would just to give some cousin—third cousin—comfort they thought should be theirs.
The smaller gathering he’d arranged to celebrate his cousin Amity’s marriage had been set in motion before he’d learned of the state of his financial affairs. He hadn’t planned to host another house party for years because he could not spare the money.
“Seymour and I sorted everything out while you were away. There’s nothing for you to worry about or do. It will be a tight squeeze for a while, but in a family as large as ours, that is to be expected.”
“You might have warned me.”
“I did.”
He glanced around and then sat forward. “Do you have any idea the financial strain this puts the estate under?”
“Of course, boy. Of course, I do. But you were going to marry an heiress, and I want to see my family all together once more before I die.”
He groaned under his breath. He had not married for money, and the dragon looked in perfect health, sitting here in the sun. “You’re not dying.”
“My dear boy, no one lives forever. Not even me. We get old. Our bodies don’t work the way they once did. I mean, even you must feel it at your age.”
He scowled at her again. He had only just turned eight and twenty. He was young—younger than his father had been when he was made Duke. However, he was older than his father had been when Algernon was born. That weighed on him a great deal, which was why having all the family here at such a time gave him nightmares. With all the family about, they might harass Maggie by talking about their offspring. Offspring she did not want.
“Now don’t fret. You have your duchess to take over here soon. Lady Kent surely can manage a family gathering.”
His stomach dropped. He had to tell her the truth, and now, before she made things worse. “My wife is not Lady Kent,” he said slowly.
She froze momentarily, and then her cane stamped the ground beside her. “What did you say?”
“I chose a different bride in the end, Aunt Violet. I married her in London.”
One of her canes tapped the ground. “Are you telling me you came home already married, but not to Lady Kent? That you married another without even telling your brothers about it or having them there beside you? Because I know they have not left the estate and they cannot keep a secret to save their lives.”
“I did,” he assured her.
Her lips twitched into an almost smile. “Whom did you marry, boy?”
“I married the woman I love,” he announced.
“Nonsense! I will have her name this minute,” she demanded, and the hair on the back of his neck rose at her obvious agitation.
“Margaret Black. Maggie,” he informed her.
Aunt Violet’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Small, wild girl, obstinate disposition. The urchin who stole my cane?”
Suddenly, Maggie was by his side. “I could not allow you to strike Algernon then, and I will not tolerate it now.”
Aunt Violet sat forward in her chair. “Come closer, girl.”
“You are addressing my duchess,” Algernon warned his aunt.
Maggie shushed him. “It’s all right,” she promised.
She approached the dragon without fear, but Algernon kept an eye on his aunt’s canes, just in case they moved.
“You look older,” Aunt Violet said.
“You look the same,” Maggie replied. “Still old.”
“Old enough to know you’re going to cause trouble for the family,” Aunt Violet complained.
Maggie lifted her chin slightly, a smile curling up the corner of her lips. “That is what ladies are made for, isn’t it? Someone has to set a bad example.”
“Indeed, they do. Sit down, girl,” she demanded. “I preferred it when you were shorter.”
“Perhaps later. I’ve barely arrived and there is so much to do,” Maggie answered.
The old dragon actually accepted Maggie’s refusal.
Aunt Violet nodded. “There will be a family dinner tonight in the garden. Everything is arranged, but should you desire changes made, please inform the housekeeper as soon as possible. The kitchen staff are hard at work even now. You will be presented to the family at dinner on Algernon’s arm, and then they will finally all leave over the next few days.”
Maggie inclined her head. “That is acceptable.”
Algernon blinked rapidly, confused by what had just happened. Had Aunt Violet approved of his wife? Would there be peace in the house?
Maggie turned to him, kissing Algernon on the lips. “Join me upstairs when you’re done here. I’ve some news that cannot wait.”
Then she strolled back indoors.
Algernon stood about like an idiot until Aunt Violet stamped her cane. “Now about the matter I sent you to London for?”
He nodded and removed a paper from his pocket. “As requested. What did you do to the archbishop that he’d agree to provide a special license as soon as I mentioned your name?”
The old lady snatched the special license from him, then hugged the paper against her chest with her eyes closed. She did not explain her hold over the archbishop, but he understood her relief very well indeed.
Aunt Violet suddenly looked at him. “Tell no one about this yet.”
Algernon nodded. “As you wish, Aunt, but perhaps the groom might like some warning of your intentions.”
Her lips pursed tightly.
“He does know about this marriage license, doesn’t he?”
She scowled.
“Oh, he doesn’t.” Algernon winced. “Does he want to marry you?”
“Of course he does. Or did, had my family not gotten in the way when we were young,” she said, growing rigid with indignation.
Algernon had accepted the potential for scandal when his old butler married his crusty old aunt. “I’m certain he will come around once he learns he may stay at Ravenswood for the rest of his life with you.”
It was a bold suggestion, which he’d given some thought to on the way home. Hadn’t Aunt Violet announced she intended to remain at Ravenswood for the rest of her life? She could not be here without her husband, too.
A sudden smile lit up Aunt Violet’s wrinkled face as she regarded him. “I knew you were my favorite for a reason.”
Algernon couldn’t hide his surprise. “Your favorite?”
“You made the right decision in the end. You married for love. Why else would I decide to make you my heir?”
He sat down quickly. “Your heir? Heir to what?”
“My estate, my other property,” she advised him with another smile. “The value in the region of two hundred thousand pounds, at last count.”
Algernon’s jaw dropped. “What?”
The old woman chuckled, a dry sound he’d rarely heard from her. “Did you believe me cut off and penniless when I left Ravenswood and your awful father? I’m a great deal richer than he ever was, too.”
He sat forward. “How? Father led me to believe quite the opposite.”
She shrugged, her expression smug. “The family liked me better than my older brother. When unmarried uncles and aunts died, they mentioned me in their wills. But never him.”
