Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Robert wanted to stay with the boys and linger a little longer with Lady Arabella Farrington, but he had work to do to get ready for Jason Brown to start his job at the castle later that week.

He envied the Reverend Colbrooke, who was working on the lake project with Henry and Freddy.

I'll return later, he thought, and help with renovating the old boat. I'm not going to miss that.

He ignored a compulsion to look back and take a last glimpse of Arabella. Something about her gentle yet strong presence had overcome him in the forest.

He knew now what she had lived through. She'd lost her viscount husband at such a young age, and he knew life had been intolerable for her since she'd been widowed.

He thought about what a fine job Arabella had done raising Henry; that little boy loved life, he was kind and thoughtful to animals, and had a thirst for learning. Yet, it must have been tough to grow up without a father's guidance. His father had been distant and strict about always needing to behave like a future duke.

He'd been away at school much of the time but remembered how, in the holidays, his father had ridden with him around the estate, showing him every field with its name and purpose.

His father had shown him the Five Acre field with its pasture for grazing cattle, the meadow with its marshy ground, where they could harvest willow wands to make fences. He knew each cottage and the tenants. As he grew older, his father had insisted that he spent time with every worker on the estate staff.

Yet he had never felt close to his father. He wondered for a moment if Simon as the younger son had felt more affection for their father. He pushed that thought away immediately, as he would never have that conversation with his brother. That was another headache to face today, the arrival of his brother.

His thoughts turned to a pair of mesmerizing green eyes, which sometimes reminded him of precious emeralds or luminous jade. At other times, he felt pulled into a deep forest canopy of interlocking leaves.

She is an enchantress. Her eyes pull me in, and I want to get lost in a glorious green haze. I didn't plan to kiss her hand. The impulse came, she smiled at me, and I was lost. I only wish I'd offered my embrace and held her close in my arms. I wonder if her hair has the scent of rose or jasmine flowers.

A voice called to him, and he stopped his daydreaming and returned to the real world. He looked towards the voice and took a deep breath as he saw his mother standing next to a familiar figure. Every bone in his body urged him to run in the other direction and protect the peace of mind that had taken so long to rebuild. Yet family duty called.

You gave me that, Papa, he thought with irony. A sense of duty towards Mama and our family. I am now the head of that family.

He forced himself to walk towards his mother, standing on the carriage drive in front of the house.

This is the sort of moment for which Papa trained me, he thought with a wry smile.

"Brother," he said, making sure his face stayed bland, showing neither welcome nor disdain. "You join us for a house party. I am afraid I have urgent estate business that needs my attention. I'm sure Mama is looking forward to spending time with you, so I shall take my leave."

He noticed the sheepish expression in Simon's eyes. His fair hair curled around his face, giving him an angelic appearance.

Simon lowered his head in greeting. "It is good to be home," was all he said.

They turned at the rumble of carriage wheels approaching. An elegant black coach, embossed with gold paint, clattered over the drawbridge into the courtyard and came to a standstill in front of the main door.

He noticed Simon freeze for a second, and Robert wondered if he knew the carriage's occupant.

He heard her voice first, deep and sultry. He'd listened to that voice whispering words of love to him in a long-ago distant life. Lady Rosalind Wyndale.

Surely not? Had his mother invited his ex-fiancée without mentioning it. He could not believe she would have invited a woman who had jilted him and then his brother. If she had, then it was a step too far.

A rising red mist of anger made him look towards his mother. She was smiling in welcome as her guest alighted from the carriage.

She knew. She must have invited Rosalind to join the house party.

He watched as his brother's face almost lit up with loving admiration as he stepped towards the carriage and offered the woman his hand.

Out of the corner of his eye, Robert saw a hand covered in the finest black lace reach for his brother's hand as she climbed down the steps.

"Simon, you arrived before me!" She turned to his mother and curtseyed. "Your Grace, I'm delighted to be here for your house party. Castle Montbury is one of my favourite places. And now I'm here for two full weeks."

"I hope you had a pleasant journey from town," said his mother.

"Tolerable," came the response. "At least there were no highwaymen," and she laughed in her practiced sensual way.

So polished and refined, he thought. There is little here of the debutante I fell in love with during her first season in London.

As she switched her attention to him, Robert knew he needed to keep his distance and imagine he was wearing emotional armour to protect him from Rosalind.

The silence seemed endless, but Rosalind spoke first. "Your Grace," she said and bobbed a quick curtsey. He bowed automatically, not even thinking about it after years of training.

"We meet again, and where better than Castle Montbury," she drawled and looked around the inner courtyard. "So many memories," and she let out an audible sigh.

As footmen descended to take her luggage into the castle, his mother suggested that she show Rosalind to her room. "I've put you in the violet room where you have a lovely view of the park and lake," said his mother.

"Ah yes, the lake," and she turned her gaze back to Robert. "More memories. Perhaps we should take a walk to the lake together one day, Your Grace."

Robert stared at her, speechless. He had rarely seen such an elegantly dressed, exotically beautiful vision.

He forced himself not to nod in agreement to her suggestion as his mother guided her up the stone staircase into the castle.

Robert was left standing next to his brother. He no longer cared about being polite. He had done his best to conquer past resentments and accept his brother as a guest in his home, but the arrival of Rosalind filled him with intense anger towards both his brother and mother.

"I'll bid you good day and take my leave. I've urgent business to attend to," he said curtly, and turned to walk away.

"Robert, wait," came Simon's familiar voice. "Surely we should talk?"

"Should we? About what? I can just about accept your arrival here. However, to invite and fawn over that woman. I have no idea whether it was your idea or Mama's, but it is unacceptable. I struggle to understand how she thinks she can set foot in the place again."

He looked at his brother for the first time, noticing how his face had aged.

"Simon, I fail to understand how you can be so polite to Rosalind. She jilted you, too. At least I had an engagement that lasted several months. I doubt your betrothal to Rosalind lasted a month."

He saw the anger in his brother's face and regretted his words. He didn't want an all-out feud with his brother and had been determined to remain civil to him during his visit. However, the arrival of the woman who had betrayed him, transferring her affections to his brother, filled him with icy rage.

He walked away, leaving Simon standing there, and found his way to the stables.

"Grayson, can you saddle up Hector for me? I need a ride across the moors."

He noticed Jim from the tavern, his new stable hand, and some of his anger drained away as he spoke with the boy about his duties and how much he appreciated the opportunity to work in the Montbury stables.

He needed the feel of the breeze against his body. Grey clouds hung overhead, and he found himself hoping for rain to wash away this intense anger.

I worked so hard to move on after Rosalind. I learned to diffuse the pain and hurt. Then, today, it all came flooding back.

Why is she here? Why would Mother invite her to stay? I'd struggle to spend even two minutes in Rosalind's company.

He urged Hector to a gallop over the barren moorland high above the castle.

I'm the duke, and the castle is my home. How is it that my former fiancée is invited to visit? Perhaps I should be more like my father? If I had been autocratic and austere, then I don't believe this would have happened.

I can understand Mother inviting Simon. He's her son, and I understand how difficult it is that Simon and I are estranged. But Rosalind …

As horse and man rode across the treeless landscape, the heather beginning to flower and form a purple carpet, he let the tension drain from his body. He urged Hector to jump over a tall hedge, and for a split second, they were suspended in the air together.

He let the horse cool down to a canter and then trot towards a stream for a drink of cool water. He jumped from Hector's back and put his hands in the cool balm of the stream, splashing the water over his face and hair.

He bent his head to lower his hands into the water again and saw tendrils of yellowy-green water weeds growing deep under the water's surface. In places, the surface of the water almost glowed like a green citrine jewel.

Arabella again. Those eyes of green, flecked with radiant yellowy glints of colour when she walked in the sunshine. Everywhere he went, there were reminders of Arabella. He welcomed the image of her in his mind. In the same way that the cool, running water had refreshed his body, the face of Arabella, with those enchanting green eyes, was like a cooling balm to his spirits.

He knew now that he could return to the castle and deal with whatever emotional challenges awaited him there.

***

When he returned to the castle, he sought out his mother. For once, she looked a little uncertain as he walked towards her as she directed the arrangement of flowers in the music room. His mother had always had a gift for bringing the garden into the house by using flowers and foliage.

He thought of the music room as her special place. His mother was a gifted musician and could play a sonata as easily as a reel at an impromptu dance.

His mother dismissed Betsy, the parlour maid, who had been helping her with the display.

"Please tell Mrs Slater that I will be with her momentarily to decorate the drawing room," she told Betsy.

"It won't do, Mama. I can't order Rosalind from the house, but I want to. I'm not being extreme or difficult. I've thought about this all afternoon, and it is not usual for a man to have a woman who broke off their engagement as a house guest."

She began to speak, but he waved her to silence.

"It is intolerable. I don't often say this as Montbury is your home, and you have been its mistress for many years, but I am the duke, and I feel insignificant today."

"Robert, I don't think I realized …" his mother started to reply.

"I find that hard to believe. The woman jilted me. I was devastated. Her betrayal is the reason I spend most of my time in London. Memories of Rosalind haunted me in every room and every place in the grounds where we had spent time together. It's taken me years to feel comfortable here again, and what do you do? You invite the person I tried so hard to forget as a house guest."

His mother looked crestfallen. "I thought maybe it would help," she said quietly.

"This is my house. I'm not Papa. I don't wish to be an austere and distant custodian of the castle and estate. I accepted your invitation to Simon, as it gave you such joy. But inviting Rosalind is a totally different matter. I have no idea what you were thinking of."

"Simon and Rosalind have grown close again in recent months. I truly thought you had moved on," his mother explained.

"I have moved on, but I haven't forgotten, and why would I want to bring back memories of her scheming, backstabbing ways."

He took his mother's hand in his. "I love you, Mama, and I'm sorry there is a rift between Simon and me. I know it causes you pain. But eating mutton pot pie with Rosalind or hearing her sing is not something I want in my life. I'll accept her presence here, but keep me away from her as much as possible. I will walk away if you seat her near to me at dinner."

Robert had never said anything like this to his mother before, but he knew it had been necessary.

I don't have to be my father, he thought as he took his leave of his mother, but I can say what I think. This is going to be a difficult two weeks.

He noticed the look of stunned surprise on his sister Elinor's face when his mother called her across to greet Rosalind in the drawing room as they gathered before dinner. He noticed his sister soon found a reason to move away from the finely dressed duchess.

He coped with the formal dinner, which had five courses, and true to her word, his mama placed Rosalind close to Simon at the other end of the table.

He'd heard she had been widowed. The elderly Duke of Wyndale, whom she had married after abandoning Simon, had died last year, leaving her a vast fortune. The Duchess of Wyndale was now a rich and powerful woman.

Simon, though, seemed devoted to Rosalind again, listening intently to every word she spoke, gazing at her almost with adoration.

Could they be together again? In a romantic attachment? Surely not?

After hosting the gentlemen for fine Madeira wine, or cognac, he led the way to join the ladies in the drawing room. It was a sizeable party, and he recognized few faces. There were no neighbours this evening, just the house party guests.

He rather liked Sir Benjamin Hanslope and his wife, Constance. They were quiet and unassuming guests. Constance had been a friend of his mother's for many years. He was unsure about Lady Dorothea Sutton and her daughter, Anne, and he had yet to see either of them smile.

The final couple were friends of his sister, Elinor, and he liked them immediately. Colonel Edmund Lloyd and his wife, Julia, had brought smiles to his sister's face. Colonel Lloyd had served with Elinor's husband and the wives had spent much time together in the years before Freddy was born and Elinor had returned to live at the castle. The group was large enough that he could avoid Rosalind, yet not so large that the house was overrun with guests.

He took a seat on a sofa near Sir Benjamin and Lady Hanslope and engaged in the usual conversation about estate management and Wellington's army. His mother, who had been playing some Haydn in the background, had given up her place at the pianoforte to Mrs Lloyd, who was playing a medley of country songs.

During a pause in the music, his mother clapped her hands for attention. "I have an announcement," she said as everyone looked towards her.

"I'd like to announce the engagement of my son Simon, the Marquess of Orsdale, to the Duchess of Wyndale. Let us join together to wish Simon and Rosalind good wishes for their future together. I shall be delighted to welcome a daughter-in-law to the family. This house party will now be in celebration of their betrothal."

For a moment, time stood still for Robert. He wondered if he had misheard his mother. Yet there she stood, smiling with delight at his brother and Rosalind as if she had forgotten they had been engaged before, and it hadn't led to a happy ending.

Did he care for her? Was there anything left of the feelings he had once experienced every time he saw her face? He had certainly felt shock at the announcement, but he could find no trace of envy of Simon in his reaction to the news.

Another face floated unexpectedly into his thoughts, a memory of emerald eyes glittering with gold flecks, drawing him into deep, green pools.

Robert felt someone moving to sit beside him and put a hand on his arm. It was Elinor. His sister's face showed her shock at the news and concern for him.

As the guests congratulated the happy couple, Elinor spoke quietly to him. "Mama told me just before you re-joined us. I had no opportunity to warn you. Simon seems happy, but I have reservations. It is difficult to talk here, but I cannot see how this match can make him happy."

"I have no words to say. Dear sister, I thank you for coming to sit here next to me, or I might have said something I later regretted. He's welcome to her and her scheming ways. If I were Simon, I'd obtain a special marriage licence now before another suitor takes her fancy."

"Hush, we're being watched. Let's talk more tomorrow," Elinor warned him.

***

After the guests had retired for the evening, he went to the library with Mickle beside him for some solitude. He'd managed to avoid his mother, and his formal congratulations to the happy couple had been a stiff bow.

He heard a noise in the orangery, and Mickle left his heel to dash into the glass house attached to the castle. In the winter months, his mother spent many hours sewing in the natural daylight.

Several candles burned in the orangery; the servants hadn't yet extinguished them for the night. He noticed the door to the terrace was open and went to close it when he noticed the figure sitting quietly in the shadows.

"I hoped you might find me," came that low, sultry voice.

"Your Grace is mistaken. My dog heard a noise and wanted to investigate, so I merely followed the spaniel here. The other guests have retired."

"Exactly as I hoped it might be. Here we are, Robert, alone in a darkened orangery. You look handsome by candlelight. You always did."

Her voice, always soothing, made him catch his breath. He saw that she had moved over to the open door and stood looking at the sky. For a moment, he felt himself spinning back in time. A younger Robert had stood here once with the woman he had wanted to be with for the rest of his life.

She beckoned for him to stand beside her. "Venus is strong tonight. Look there, the brightest star, which signifies love."

"And you are engaged to my brother," he stated.

"Simon. He is, of course, devoted to me. Am I devoted to him? I know not. I have a curious feeling standing next to you, here in the candlelight, looking at a starlit sky, that this is where I am meant to be."

She smiled at him, the brilliant blue of sapphires shining in the soft light. He saw her lips open as she let her hand brush against his.

He took a step away. "My poor brother. He thinks you love him, yet you are still playing your games. This is despicable behaviour."

Rosalind was undeterred. "You know there is a spark, something special between us. There always was, and there is tonight as we stand under the stars."

"No, madam, you are quite wrong. I feel nothing but pity for you and my deluded brother," he said with disdain.

As he spoke the words, he knew he was speaking from the heart. He remembered that pair of green eyes, dazzling in the sunshine, and knew that was where he wanted to be.

"There's someone else," Rosalind said thoughtfully. "It makes no difference. We can still be together."

He heard a sound behind him and realized it was Mickle, growling quietly, alert, and in tune with his master.

"I bid you a good evening and look forward to your leaving Castle Montbury in two weeks' time. If you prefer to leave earlier, then I'd be delighted," he told her.

"How you tease." She laughed, clearly confident that she could have exactly what she desired in life. "You will come to recognize your destiny is by my side," she murmured.

"There is no point saying any more. I would ask that you secure that door before retiring for the evening and shall bid you goodnight."

With that, he walked away and had no desire to look back. He felt nothing anymore for Rosalind. He despised the way she schemed and played people off against each other. He hoped his brother realized, before the marriage took place, that his bride did not love him.

He shuddered as he climbed the central staircase to his bedchamber. He had once loved Rosalind, but he knew now that his Rosalind had been created by his imagination, and the real Rosalind cared for none but herself.