Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

T he festivities of the garden party did not last.

The following morning, Colin's sleep was interrupted by Charles. In any other household, there would be a butler who welcomed guests and asked the man of the house if they could enter, but such a thing was not in place for Charles. Fortunately, he had the decency to wait outside of his bedchambers for him to dress.

"Tell me why I allow you to show up here unannounced," Colin groaned, opening his door.

"Because I am the only friend you have," Charles replied brightly. "Now, there is something I must discuss with you."

"Can you not wait until I am a married man to bring business to me?"

"It is your wife-to-be and business matters that have brought me here."

At this, Colin perked up.

"If you are here to propose something, I must decline, especially if it pertains to my wife."

"It is quite the opposite. I wish to make you aware of something that I have heard about."

"Very well, I shall have Cook prepare some biscuits."

"And perhaps something a little stronger than tea. Believe me, you shall need it."

Soon enough, the gentlemen were seated in Colin's study, eating. Colin eyed him carefully, unsure of what he was going to say about Lady Diana.

"The Earl was at White's last night," Charles began.

"That is a gentlemen's club, not exactly a place of business, unless you are the owner."

"Which is precisely my issue. He was in a drunken stupor, his usual state if I am not mistaken, and raving about some business plan he has, and asking anyone who would listen to invest."

"The Earl has not been drinking. Lady Diana has told me herself. You must be confusing him with someone else."

"Unlike you, Abaddon, I am aware of those in Society. Believe me, it was him."

"And what is it that he wants them to invest in, exactly?"

"I do not know, nor does anyone really. He was quite incomprehensible. It is as I said, he was in there raving."

"Do you suppose Lady Diana is aware of it?"

"If she has not mentioned it to you, I suppose not."

Colin kept his voice steady, but inside he could feel the anger burning. The Earl was a fool at best, and he had already thrown his money into his drinking. He couldn't seem to do anything but bring shame upon his daughters, and Colin hated him for that, especially given that the young ladies seemed to believe that he was changing for the better.

"Do you suppose they should know about it?" Colin asked.

"What would you want someone to do if you were them?"

"I do not know. I believe I would rather be kept in the dark about it so that I would not need to be involved in it all. Out of sight, out of mind."

"Until they find out elsewhere, only to discover that you had known all along." Charles nodded. "And given yours and your betrothed's reputations, I imagine there are some that would be all too content to tell her out of spite."

The moment Charles said that, Colin knew that he had to tell her. Just the day prior, they had been accosted by two people who were unafraid to belittle Lady Diana even in front of him. She had faced enough, having a father who exhibited behaviors that she knew about, but to have someone tell her themselves? It was not going to happen on his watch.

"I am grateful to you for notifying me of this." He nodded.

"So you are going to tell her?"

"I have no other choice. I can only hope that she is not so furious that she takes her anger out on him then and there."

"I find myself hoping that she does. Heaven knows she is within her rights to do so—the man is ghastly."

"Yes, but he is her father and is responsible for her sister. She wouldn't do that if it could change how her sister is cared for."

"You seem to know the girl quite well."

Colin could not help but nod. They had not known each other for a long time, but the parts of her that he had seen were enough for him to know how she might react to things and what she might like to have happen.

"Might this be a good match, after all?" Charles asked.

"I like to think so. There is an understanding between the two of us, and I am trying to be amenable to her requests. So far, I have yet to tell her I cannot accommodate her."

"And what about the situation… upstairs?"

"We will discuss that when the time comes, but it is only one rule, and with all that I have done for her, she will likely accept it."

"And if she does not?"

"Then I shall decide what to do. It is all in hand."

"For your sake, I hope that you are right."

Colin thought about his friend's words as he rode in the carriage to Lady Diana's home. There were things that he had not told her, and it was easy to tell himself that she would not mind when she was not in front of him. Unfortunately, the time would come when she would be standing before him and he would have to reveal some awful things, and he did not know how she would react.

At least he was about to find out how she would cope with such news.

"Your Grace!" She smiled upon seeing him. "It is a surprise to see you this morning, but not to worry. I can have Cook arrange something if you wish."

"That will not be necessary."

"Oh? Is everything alright?"

"It may be nothing at all, but I must inform you of something. Might we find somewhere with some privacy?"

"We can go to the end of the gardens. We shall not be bothered there."

As they wandered the gardens, Colin noticed how happy she seemed to see him, even if he had come with possibly terrible news. The good weather had continued, and the sunlight made her dark hair appear to be streaked with gold.

"I was hoping to see you, Your Grace," she said gently. "I was hoping to thank you for what you did yesterday."

"There is no need to thank me. It is my duty to care for you."

"But there are many gentlemen who do not carry out such a duty, regardless of whether or not they should. Besides, it is not as though you have any obligations to me as yet, for we are not married."

"Do you wish to know something, Lady Diana?"

"Certainly."

"I did not defend you because you are to be my wife. I defended you because I like you a great deal. Such matters as whether or not I have yet to put a wedding ring on your finger do not change how I act. You can take that as you wish, whether you like or dislike my feelings towards you, but that is how it is."

"I am quite content with that." She smirked. "Now, what is it that you wished to tell me?"

Suddenly, he did not wish to. He knew that her relationship with her father had been fragile of late and that she had been trying to trust the man for the first time in her life. This was going to destroy that irreparably, and he wanted her to have a little more time with the belief that her father had changed.

But he knew that it would either be him who told her or someone else, someone who was aiming to hurt her.

"It pertains to your father," he sighed.

"He has been brilliant of late, hasn't he? I must admit, I had my doubts at first, but so much time has passed and he is still the father I have always wanted. Samantha is less trusting of it, but I truly do think that he has changed."

"What exactly has changed about him?"

"He has breakfast with us now, and that may sound like nothing, but after so many years of having absolutely nothing from him, that hour a day feels like an eternity. In a good way, of course."

"To be sure."

"And it is though he truly does understand us when we speak with him now. He used to make this sort of grunting sound in response, but now he truly does listen. It is something that I never saw happening, but it is lovely. It makes me wish that it had always been this way, but I know that it is better that he is making an effort now rather than never having done so."

"And you truly believe he will stay this way?"

"Why do you ask?" she said quietly. "Do you not? Oh, God, do not tell me that he has asked to speak with you. I dread to think what he might tell you about me. I have not done anything terrible, I assure you, but he is still harboring some resentment to me after what happened with Samantha, and?—"

"Your father has been drinking."

"Drinking?" she echoed. "No he hasn't. I am yet to see him with a drink in his hand. Not only that, but he has been home all day with Samantha and me."

"He has been seen at White's. He has been drinking there, then begging some of the gentlemen there to invest in his business venture, not that anyone is certain of what it is. I do not know what he is doing that makes it possible for him to resume fatherly duties so effortlessly, but the gentleman who told me is not a fool."

But he could tell from the look of disbelief on her face that she did not wish to listen to him.

"Are you angry with me?"

"No," she whispered. "No, of course not. I only—I thought he was going to be better now. I knew that it was wrong of me, but a part of me hoped that I was putting my trust in him for a good reason this time. I feel like such a fool."

"It may be that I am the one that is wrong."

He said it too quickly, and he bit his lip immediately. He knew that Charles was right. He knew that the Earl was doing precisely what he had been accused of. There was no doubt in his mind, but for some reason, he had instinctively tried to say something that would make Lady Diana happier.

"I hope you are wrong," she said softly. "I hope that this is simply a misunderstanding and that all will be as it was and my father truly has changed. I shall speak with him tonight about it, and see if he has any explanation."

"Would you like me to be there?" he offered. "I could stay here. If he has any questions, I would be happy to tell him all that I can. I want the two of you to find an understanding, no matter the situation."

"You are kind, but I think it might be best to keep this matter in the family for the moment, just while I learn the truth of the matter."

He must have looked as hurt by that as he had felt, because the moment she saw him, she seemed to panic.

"Not that I do not consider you my family!" she said quickly. "I do, in the same way that you do the same for me. I only mean that my father sees me as his daughter, but until we are married, he will not yet see you as his son, and frankly, I believe he is so afraid of you that he will not dare confess anything if you are present."

"No, of course. I know what you meant."

"Did I hurt your feelings, Your Grace?"

"If I had feelings to hurt, you might have."

"That would be a yes, then, for you have plenty. I apologize. I am not trying to push you away. I do not want to push you away, not when you have been so kind to me."

"Will you tell your sister?"

"I may. Not yet, though. She has been determined that all of this has been a facade, and once she discovers that she was right, she will not let me live it down. I shall like to spend my final few hours of being right about it."

"Then I shall tell her I was merely here to bid you good morning."

"She will think me such a fool. You must think me one too."

"Not at all. You are not foolish for putting your faith in your father, when as far as you have seen, he truly has changed."

"But I should have known better. When I was a girl, and our aunt was caring for us, I would sometimes sit by the door and wait. I do not know quite what I was waiting for. I would dream that he would walk through the front door with gifts and a smile and apologies, but he of course never came."

"And what happened when he did?"

"He was already incapable of speaking. I believe he told us that we were useless as we tried to drag him through the door, but I cannot be sure. After all, he was, again incapable of speaking."

"I do wonder how you and your sister are so well adjusted, given the circumstances."

"As do I at times, but we were fortunate to have our aunt. I should like to speak with her again soon. It has been far too long, but I never know what to say to her. There are only so many ways to thank someone for everything that they have done for you."

"She did what was expected of her as your aunt. It was kind of her, but you need not feel indebted. Perhaps once we are married, you might send her a letter and invite her to dinner?"

"I would like that a lot, Your Grace."

"I cannot wait to drop such a formality as that, you know. I hate the reminder that I am a duke. I never wanted to be one in the first place."

"Well, the moment we are married, we can forget it exists at all. Can you wait that long, do you think?"

From the way he was looking at her, however, his eyes burning into hers, she couldn't help but question whether or not he could.

"I believe so, so long as you do not use those two dreaded words anymore."

"I believe I can be amenable to such an arrangement."

With a small laugh, he led her back to her home. She said nothing more about how she was going to bring the topic up to her father, but she did not need to. He hoped that it would at least be as easy as possible for her to get through it so that they could move forward.

He simply wanted her to be happy.