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Olney had come to stand behind her and his breath was hot on her neck. A little frisson of excitement passed through her with the sudden realization that her wedding night loomed ahead. “Just thinking,” she answered.
“About the wedding?”
She nodded, unwilling to turn and face him when she was certain she must be blushing. “Actually about Mr. Devlin.”
“Who?”
“Your friend. The one I met in the garden the night you proposed.”
She noted Olney’s frown in his reflection in the window. “I do not believe I know a Mr. Devlin. Did you tell me about him?”
“You returned with your father’s answer and I forgot all about meeting anyone.”
He tilted his head, and his breath tickled her ear. “Ah, well. Never mind, m’dear. He could be a friend of my father’s. Perhaps he was invited to the wedding. If you see him, you must introduce us.”
The wedding! Since the duchess had taken over, Lilly couldn’t even be sure who had been invited and who hadn’t. “Yes, I shall look for the opportunity.”
“Thank heavens Lady Vandecamp backed down from the duchess. Though your side was in favor of a small, discreet affair, my mother has been determined to make a lavish splash with the event. I vow she has invited half the ton—even those who have removed from London for the country.”
“My sister…”
“Yes, my dear, we’ve all heard about Cora. And, to be perfectly honest, just the mention of her casts a pall over the occasion. Is it not time to put it behind you? After all, it has been three months.”
She turned to look up at him. Olney had led a charmed life if he hadn’t lost anyone dear to him. He chucked her under the chin as he might a child. “Chin up, m’dear. Better days ahead. Soon you will be mine.”
She forced a smile, pretending that the mere thought of such a thing cheered her. And, in truth, it did. Marriage to Olney would brighten her life once they settled in together.
“My dears, come join us,” the duchess called in her imperious voice. “There will be time for sneaking away together after the wedding.”
Olney cupped her elbow and turned her toward the grouping of chairs around the low table bearing a silver tea service. He sat her on the divan and went to stand behind her, resting one hand on her shoulder.
“The most exciting news, my dears. Rutherford believes the king will grant permission to proceed with the wedding.”
Lilly’s heart stopped. “I was not aware that was in question.” She twisted to look around at her betrothed. “Olney, did you not say you had acquired a license so that we would not have to wait for my parish in Belfast to forward the declaration of banns there?”
He nodded. “Yes, but then Queen Caroline died and that has muddied the waters.”
“A delay would be terribly inconvenient,” the duchess declared. “The invitations had already gone out when Caroline died. Why, the flowers, the food, the church—all are in readiness.”
Mama put her teacup down with a sharp crack. “Mourning is a most serious matter, madam. I, for one, would never have cut short our mourning for Cora, and—”
Behind her, Olney cleared his throat. Yes, Cora was not supposed to be mentioned. She sighed and looked down at her lap waiting for the inevitable rebuke from the duchess.
“Are you correcting me, Mrs. O’Rourke?”
“Oh, I am certain my mother would do nothing of the sort,” Lilly hastened to explain with a quick glance at her mother.
The duchess nodded. “Well, dear Lillian, the wedding of a future duke takes precedence over some things. The acceptances to the wedding and the supper following have been pouring in. Evidently most of the ton does not think it in poor taste to continue with one’s obligations. There may be a somber tone and a surfeit of drab colors, but there will be a large attendance.”
“I suppose there will be time to mourn the poor queen afterward,” Mama allowed with a conciliatory smile.
Olney’s mother, always conscious of being a duchess and superior in all ways to her son’s future in-laws, sniffed impatiently. “Mrs. O’Rourke, it is unlikely that any but commoners will truly mourn Caroline for long.”
Lilly stiffened. The duchess could not have been clearer in her meaning. Mama was a commoner—one of the unwashed masses who would mourn the queen.
As if sensing her rising protest, Olney’s hand squeezed her shoulder, warning her to silence. “Yes, yes, Mother. But can we not talk of something else? That topic is growing old,” he said.
Lilly sighed gratefully for Olney’s attempt to defuse the situation and glanced at her mother, praying she would let the comment pass. Unfortunately, that was not to be.
Mama drew a deep breath. “If you cannot mourn the queen, surely you can respect the dignity of her station.”
The duchess’s mouth worked but no sound issued forth. Mama had rendered the woman speechless! Oh, dear Lord! She glanced up at Olney again, hoping he would smooth things over, or at least change the subject, but the duke returned from his brandy in the library and provided the needed distraction.
“Rutherford, come join our little group,” the duchess said, still flushed from Mama’s impertinence. “You will never guess. Mrs. O’Rourke is a Queenite. Is that not amusing?”
Lilly shot a glance at her mother to see a deep crimson flush her cheeks. If something were not done quickly, disaster would ensue. What if Olney’s parents withdrew their approval of the marriage? Olney had already told her that they were less than pleased. Still, to insult her mother by suggesting that she supported the scandalous queen! Insult? No, humiliate. She started to rise, but again Olney’s comforting hand on her shoulder held her back.
The Duke of Rutherford took a seat next to the duchess and looked down his long aristocratic nose at her mother. “Is that so? Well, I pray you have enough good sense to keep your opinions to yourself, madam. Yours is not a sentiment common in our circle.”
“I believe your wife misunderstood my mother, your grace. She is not a Queenite.”
“Hmm,” was his only comment to that. “Well, the queen’s body has left English soil to return her to Brunswick today, and we are well quit of her. She has proved to be as much trouble dead as she was alive. Such disgraceful goings-on! And now…well, the timing of her death is damned inconvenient.”
Good heavens. Was the duke so arrogant that he suspected the queen of choosing a date to die that would inconvenience him? Olney cleared his throat and turned the conversation to the impending wedding. Lilly merely sat with a stiff back and allowed the chatter to wash over her as she studied the duke and his duchess.
Graying, and heavy through the bosom, the duchess was also possessed of a pinched mouth for pursing in disapproval. Apart from that, she was fairly unremarkable. It was the duke who really interested her. Dark hair with silver-gray streaks lent him distinction, cold blue eyes regarded all around him with suspicion and superiority, and a rod-stiff posture made him look as if he’d been carved from stone.
Still, there was something vaguely appealing about him. Perhaps the part Olney had inherited. Yes, the similarity was in the looks, not the bearing. Thank heavens! Then Olney would age well and she prayed her influence would save him from the insufferable arrogance displayed by his parents.
“Are we to be treated to the presence of your sister, Miss Eugenia, at the wedding? I must say that I find her absence to be unseemly.” The duchess put her teacup down on the low table. “Why, any ordinary girl would be indulging in the rare opportunity to shine in society. What illness keeps her at home?”
“She took a bit of a spill not long ago,” her mother answered for Lilly. “She knocked her head and has headaches since. Our physician says they will improve given time. And she has promised to stand up with Lilly on her wedding day.”
“Then we shall not meet her until then?”
“There is only tomorrow,” Lilly interjected, praying that was so, and that they would not call off the wedding now that they knew how “unsuitable” the common O’Rourkes were. “I shall be needing her to assist me in preparing to remove to Olney’s apartments here.” In truth, she did not need her sister’s help; she only wanted to spare her the duchess’s scrutiny and judgment.
At the moment, she only wanted to end the uncomfortable situation and the possibility of further disaster. Alas, the duchess had one last reminder of the O’Rourke’s unsuitability.
“Well.” She sighed deeply as she put her cup down. “Rutherford and I are just relieved Edward has finally proposed to someone. We began to despair of ever seeing grandchildren.”
“Though we could have wished for someone…”
“Exactly like you, my dear,” Olney finished for his father.
But it was too late. The unspoken words more suitable hung in the air like a dark cloud. She stood and gave the Duke of Rutherford the barest possible curtsy. “Thank you for a most enjoyable evening, but Mama and I should be returning home. I do not want to come to the wedding exhausted.”
“If,” the duchess emphasized with a glance at Mama, “there is to be a wedding.”
Oh! What else could possibly go wrong? Surely Olney’s parents would not withdraw their consent? A cold dread invaded Lilly’s vitals.
Chapter Four
“All I asked was that you locate where the O’Rourkes from Belfast are living.” Devlin took a breath and tried to curb his impatience. He was never at his best in the morning.
Jack Higgins sat across the desk from him, his rugged face furrowed in concern. “And I did. But they are gone.”
“That doesn’t make sense, Jack. Where in blazes would the family go when Miss O’Rourke is about to marry a marquis?”
“That appears to be the problem. The logical conclusion was that they had removed to other lodgings. But I was stymied. London is too large to go knocking door to door.”
“Are you certain they are gone?”
“When there was no sign of a light or life within, I picked the lock on the garden door. They must have let the place furnished because all the furniture remains, but there’s not a single personal item to be found.”
Devlin gritted his teeth. No, damn it! He was too close to let this opportunity slip away. He had to find her. Had to know where she would be at the precise moment he was ready. “The neighbors would know something.”
“I already queried them, Farrell. Let me tell you, they were not pleased to be called from their beds at midnight to answer questions about the O’Rourkes.”
“What did you tell them?”
“That it was a Home Office matter. And that cooperation was in their best interests.”
Yes, Jack could make that believable. “Then what did the neighbors have to say?”
Jack sat back in his chair and took a deep swallow of raw whiskey. He’d refused coffee, saying it might be morning for Devlin, but that he hadn’t been to bed yet. “Said they were a quiet family. Confirmed that there were four girls when they moved in, and one met with some sort of unfortunate end not long after they arrived. One recently married, and there were two still at home. The mother is widowed and, from all accounts, a bit vague and wholly incompetent.”
Devlin tamped down the quick flash of sympathy. Perhaps Miss O’Rourke was not as pampered as she had seemed. She had been wearing darker colors fit for mourning whenever he’d seen her. The neighbors could have the truth of it.
“What of their friends? People who came to call?”
“The neighbors all say they did not notice anyone or anything remarkable. Very few callers, they said. A coach or two just before the one sister married. Then, of a sudden, two coaches appeared yesterday afternoon, trunks and bandboxes were carried out and stuffed in the coaches, and the household departed, servants and all. If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect chicanery of some sort.”
“What? Kidnapping?” Devlin’s stomach clenched. The wedding was tomorrow. If anyone got to Miss O’Rourke before he did, there’d be hell to pay.
“No. Who takes the servants on a kidnapping?” Jack gave him a canny grin. “And what’s your interest in the O’Rourkes, Farrell? You said you had no plans to court one.”
Ah, here was the ever present specter of his birth. Devlin Farrell was not even good enough to court an obscure miss with neither fortune nor title. No, he was about as low as a man could be. A hundred years ago, his hand would have been lopped off for even touching the hem of Miss O’Rourke’s gown. He gave Jack a snort, warning him to drop the subject.
“How do you want me to proceed?” he asked.
“Find the estate agent who is handling the property, and ask him for forwarding information. He should know where they’ve got to.” Meantime, Devlin had his own idea to find her.
“What’s so deuced important about a batch of females from Belfast?”
“It is not about them, Jack. It is about something else entirely.”
“I think you are looking for trouble, lad.”
“When have I not been looking for trouble? Just find them. Before tonight.”
Edwards, her brother-in-law’s valet, presented Lilly with a silver salver bearing a letter with the Rutherford seal. “For you, Miss Lillian. Urgent, I was told.”
Lilly looked around the breakfast table. Of all of them, only Andrew did not look surprised. “Go ahead,” he told her.
She put her teacup down, took the letter, broke the seal, scanned the first lines and felt a warm flush wash through her.
Mama gasped. “What is it?” She leaned forward in anticipation, her hand going to her throat.
“I…I am to be married tomorrow at eleven o’clock.”
Bella and Gina both drew in long breaths and Mama squealed with delight.
Only Andrew maintained a steady composure. “Is that all it says?”
“No. It says that—” She paused to scan the lines again. “That the king has sent his permission for the wedding to proceed as scheduled and that he could not see any reason for general mourning—not even the shortest period, though he has agreed to a short court mourning. The duke further says that I should arrive at their church no later than half past ten tomorrow, and that he has arranged for me to wait in the vestry until all the guests have arrived. He says that the duchess will attend me there. My only duty is to claim my wedding gown at the dressmaker’s this afternoon and ensure that it fits me well.”
“How very thoughtful of the duchess to take on the burden of all the preparations. She is most considerate of our mourning, is she not?” Mama asked.
Lilly did not have the heart to tell her that the duchess had no patience at all with their mourning. She bit her tongue, though, thinking it better for Mama to believe the best of the duchess, as they would all soon be family.
Mama stood and dropped her napkin on her chair. “Mr. Hunter, would it be permissible for me to use your library for a private word with my daughter?”
Andrew had stood when Mama rose and gave a little bow. “Of course, Mrs. O’Rourke.”
Lilly followed Mama down the corridor to Mr. Hunter’s private sanctuary—the only place he’d found peace since the O’Rourkes had moved in, no doubt. What on earth had gotten into her mother?
As soon as Lilly entered the room, her mother pushed the door closed, turned a vivid shade of crimson and began to wring her hands. “I know I have been remiss these past few months, Lilly. But you are my baby, my dear sweet girl. I must pull myself together now, for your sake.”
She drew Mama over to a chair and sat her down. “What is it? Is something wrong with my dowry? Oh, say we have not lost it in investments!”
“No. No, nothing amiss with your dowry, my dear. But…but lacking in your education. I have put this off, thinking it unnecessary should the king deny permission and unless you are truly to be wed. Now that it is final, it is my obligation to inform you of your duties as a wife.”
“Oh, this is not necessary, Mama. You have been a pattern for me in your devotion to Papa. I do not believe you ever failed him.”
“Yes, but…there are other duties that you would not have known about.”
“I really—”
“Duties to be performed only, um, behind closed doors. The bedroom door, to be precise.”
Heat burned her cheeks and Lilly imagined herself every bit as crimson as her mother. Heavens! In all the excitement of the wedding, she had not given much thought to the wedding night. Each time her mind had wandered in that direction, she had quickly thought of something else—her gown, the flowers, her mother’s delight.
“Now sit down, dear, and I shall have to educate you to a woman’s duty.”
Lilly was mortified. She’d been raised around animals and had a fairly good working knowledge of the harsh reality. She further knew that the law required her to submit. As an experiment, she’d even kissed two different boys before leaving Ireland. Surely there was little further she had to know? But she knew her mother, and she knew she would forge ahead, regardless of Lilly’s wishes. Perhaps a little lie?
“Completely unnecessary, Mama. Bella and I had a chat yesterday. She has brought my education up to snuff.”
