Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

A tear rolled down Lillian’s cheek, and her heart ached in her chest. It had been only a short while since her brother arrived back from the Duke’s home and handed her a letter addressed to her. The Duke had explained that he was to leave London and return to Cornwall in two days time, as he did not wish to cause any more damage to her reputation. He wished them not to have any contact, and he apologized for all of the damage and discord that he had caused.

But that was not good enough for Lillian.

She wished that he would reconsider all of the things he had said, but he had made himself very clear in his letter. How could he do such a terrible thing to her? After everything they had been through, the lovely moments they had shared, how he had made her laugh, and how they had danced together. How could he simply decide to leave and wish to have nothing to do with her any longer? That was not at all what she had expected when Timothy handed her the letter from the Duke.

Admittedly, she had hoped that it was a declaration of love and possibly a proposal, a swift marriage at Gretna Green, followed by a journey to Cornwall to the Duke’s estate as his wife. She had hoped that they would leave London together and that she would not have to concern herself with a ruined reputation.

But it certainly had not turned out the way she had hoped.

At that moment, she felt like nothing mattered any longer, and the hope of a wonderful life was beyond her reach. She would now have to marry Lord Bertram and stare at his face for the rest of her life while carrying the memories of the Duke in her heart.

Lillian was aware that her thoughts were rather theatrical, but she could not stop herself. Her feelings had been hurt, and she felt rather hopeless. She drew in a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair.

She turned her attention back to the letter on her lap and stared blankly at it. The words swirled as her eyes filled with tears, and one tear ran down her cheek. Her heart was shattered, and now there was nothing she could do to stop her mother from marrying her off to Lord Bertram.

A soft knock came from the door of her bedchamber, and she wiped her tears away.

“Leave me be.”

“It is me, sister. Do you have a moment?”

“I wish to be left alone, please.”

After a pause, Timothy spoke once more.

“Please, sister. I must speak with you. It is important.”

Lillian sighed and folded the letter, as she had been staring at the Duke’s words for much too long. She rose from the chaise in front of the window and approached the door. As she caught her reflection in the mirror, she paused for a moment.

She was dressed in her nightrail, and her hair tumbled down over her shoulders. In fact, she had spent the majority of the evening in her nightrail and wrap. Her face was pale, and her eyes drawn. Her maid had ensured that she was provided with dinner, but she had barely touched it. After Timothy had delivered the letter to her, she had locked her door and pretended not to hear the previous knocks from her concerned brother.

But the loneliness had crept into her heart sooner than she had expected it to, and she craved interaction, even if it was from the one who had delivered the heartbreaking letter to her.

“Lillian?”

Lillian was pulled from her thoughtful state, and she turned away from the mirror. She unlocked and opened the door.

“What is it?”

“May we talk?”

“I have nothing to say,” she stated simply.

“That may be true, but I do.”

“I do not wish to hear it,” she shrugged her shoulders.

“The Duke asked me to give you a message. Please. I do not wish to speak in the hallway.”

Realizing that Timothy had a point, she stepped aside and allowed him entry to her bedchamber. She closed the door, locking it behind her, and crossed her arms.

“I am sorry that things turned out this way. I do not enjoy seeing you in the state you are in.”

“What was the Duke’s message? Although I cannot think of anything he might have wished to add to his letter. It made it clear that he wants nothing to do with me any longer. And it is for my own benefit.”

“Believe me when I say that Yarmouth feels terrible. He cares for you very much. And the last thing he wishes to do is hurt you.”

“But he has. I cannot mean that much to him if he can hurt me in this way, and callously leave London.”

“He is not leaving to be rid of you, Lillian. He is leaving for you to be rid of him.”

Lillian’s brow furrowed, and she shook her head.

“I do not understand.”

“He feels that he must leave before your reputation is ruined because of him. He is protecting you, sister.”

“He does not need to protect me.”

“But he wants to. And he is terribly sorry for all of the discord and hurt that he has caused you.”

Lillian pursed her lips and exhaled slowly.

“What will happen now?”

“You return to your life as it was before the Duke arrived.”

Lillian’s brow furrowed, and her anger grew.

“And how do you propose that I do that? I cannot merely forget my feelings for him, Timothy.”

“I understand that, but-”

“No, you do not. Have you been in love?” she asked pedantically.

“I have not.”

“Then you have not an inkling of how I feel.”

Lillian turned on her heel, unlocked the door, and opened it.

“Please, leave.”

“No, I will not. Close that door.”

“If you will not leave, then I will.”

Lillian was not interested in Timothy’s response, and she stormed out of her bedchamber before he was able to say anything. She charged down the stairs and marched aimlessly through the house, uncertain as to where she would care to go. In fact, she did not care much where she went; she only wished to be as far away from Timothy as possible.

As she walked along the downstairs hallway, she was met with a beautiful bouquet on the hall table. She had not seen the bouquet of beautiful white flowers before, and she stopped abruptly. She lightly fingered the soft white petals. The scent was delightful, and for a moment, it lifted her spirits.

Lillian noticed a card wedged between the flowers and quickly retrieved it. She opened it and read the name at the bottom to discover that the flowers were from Lord Bertram. The note simply said how much he enjoyed her company.

Her brow furrowed as she studied the letters on the card, and somehow, the writing was strikingly familiar.

“Sister?”

Lillian gasped loudly and dropped the card on the floor at her feet. Quickly, she crouched and retrieved it from the floor, and turned around. Timothy stood on the other side of the hallway and slowly made his way over to her.

“Apologies. I did not mean to startle you.” Lillian pursed her lips, not uttering a word. She was upset with her brother and did not wish to speak to him any longer. As she glanced at the card in her hand, a thought suddenly occurred to her. “I apologize if I upset you, sister. The fact of the matter is that I also do not wish you to get into harm’s way, and if that means that Yarmouth must return to Cornwall in order to achieve that, so be it.”

“Brother…”

“And I am aware that the Duke cares for you deeply and wishes to protect you as well. He is only doing this to keep you out of harm’s way.”

“Timothy,” Lillian sighed.

“Please, allow me to finish. This is important.”

Lillian crossed her arms and, despite the burning questions which were quickly filling her mind, she paused and waited for Timothy to resume his monologue.

“You must understand that we only wish the best for you. It is my duty as your brother to ensure that no harm comes to you. And while it may appear that Yarmouth is cold-hearted and does not care for you, that is not the case. It is quite the opposite. He cares for you too much to allow your reputation to be ruined.”

“So his intent to leave London and allow Mother to marry me off to Lord Bertram is his way of showing how much he cares for me? That does not make a shred of sense.”

“It is the only way he knows how to protect you.”

Lillian shook her head in disapproval.

“Are you finished?”

Timothy rolled his eyes and nodded solemnly.

“I am.”

“Wonderful. Do you still have the threatening letter?”

“Indeed. Why do you ask?”

“Could you bring it to me?”

“It is in my bedchambers.”

Lillian nodded and rushed to the stairs.

“Please, hurry.”

“I do not understand,” Timothy huffed as he followed Lillian to the stairs, then along the corridor to Timothy’s bedchamber.

Inside his bedchamber, Lillian waited anxiously as Timothy retrieved the letter from the drawer of his writing desk, and brought it to her.

Staring at the letter and the note card side by side, her eyes widened, and a loud gasp escaped her.

“What is the matter, sister?”

“Look,” Lillian said and showed the letter and the note card from the flowers to Timothy, side by side.

Timothy examined the pages and then stared at Lillian in disbelief.

“I do not believe it.”

“It was written by the same person, Timothy.”

“No, it cannot be.”

“Lord Bertram is the one who wrote this letter. He was the one who wrote the article and ransacked the Duke’s home,” Lillian stated with the utmost confidence.

There was no doubt in her mind that Lord Bertram was the culprit. She was rather surprised that the man who had shown interest in her, the man who wished to court her, who had sent flowers to the house, and who had given her expensive gifts, was the same man who was set upon ruining the Duke.

Why had he sent her a threatening note? She could not believe that it was because of his interest in her. Yet… when she considered the matter, she was sure that Lord Bertram felt threatened by the Duke and wished to ensure that he would not stand in Lord Bertram’s way, would not disrupt Lord Bertram’s wish to marry Lillian. It seemed that Lord Bertram had decided that he would not allow the Duke to take the opportunity away from him. But… She was not sure – after all, the first article had been published even before she had first met the Duke… So, surely, there was something else involved – but why else might Lord Bertram wish to harm Yarmouth’s reputation? It was all very confusing.

“Are you certain?”

“As certain as I will ever be, brother. Lord Bertram is the man who wrote the article and who broke into the Duke’s home. It is him,” Lillian stated.

Timothy stared at the two papers in his hands and sighed.

“Yarmouth and I spoke of Lord Bertram earlier this evening.”

“And why is that?”

“Prior to inheriting his title, Lord Bertram was known as Lord William Beaumont. He was the second son of the late Marquess of Bertram.”

“Then how did he come to inherit the title from his father?”

“He did not. When his father passed away, his older brother inherited it. A year later, his brother passed away very mysteriously, or should I perhaps say…”

“Rather conveniently,” Lillian interjected.

“Indeed.”

“We must tell the Duke what we have uncovered,” Lillian said.

“I will go.”

“I will join you,” she agreed.

“I cannot allow that, sister.”

“Brother, please do not deny me this,” Lillian pleaded.

Timothy shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and his jaw clenched.

“Very well, but you cannot leave the house as you are.”

“Of course. I will go and dress appropriately.”

“And if Mother finds out, I will inform her that it was my doing,” Timothy stated with reassurance in his tone. Lillian smiled in relief and nodded gratefully. “Make haste, please, sister.”

Lillian nodded again and left her brother’s bedchamber as swiftly as she was able to, briefly contemplating what she was to wear.

Her heart pounded in her chest, and the glimmer of hope flickered in her heart once more.