But then Sally"s words sank in, as well as the strained look on her pretty face, the way she had so forgotten her carefully learned manners. Mrs G.o.ddard asked her to come quickly-and Mrs G.o.ddard never sent for her. Emily pushed back her chair and hurried across the room to take Sally"s hands. She dismissed the butler and closed the door behind him.
"Sally, my dear, please sit down," Emily said, leading her to the sofa by the window. "You look quite flushed. You must have dashed all the way here."
"Oh, yes, your Grace. I got lost, I"m afraid, and had to hunt around for a bit to find this place. I"m not sure how I could miss it, though!"
Emily laughed. "It is quite the behemoth, isn"t it? Here, have a bit of tea-I think it"s still warm. And tell me what is amiss."
"Mrs G.o.ddard is ill."
"Ill!"
"Oh, not dreadfully ill, your Grace. It"s a cold that won"t go away because she refuses to rest as she should. But the doctor came this morning and insists she take a tisane and stay in bed for a few days."
"Days? I doubt she will be able to do that even on doctor"s orders."
"No, miss-your Grace. But the other teachers are standing guard at her door. If she doesn"t rest it could turn into pneumonia. She"s fussing about the school, though."
"Poor Mrs G.o.ddard. What can I do to help? I fear I would be no good at making her rest. I never could argue with her."
"She wants you to come and talk with her, your Grace, to see if you can organise the school for a few days while she rests. She says you"re the only one who can do it."
Emily felt a sudden touch of pride at Mrs G.o.ddard"s confidence in her. She was overjoyed to be of help-as long as it wasn"t in the mornings. "I will come right away. Just let me fetch my bonnet."
They set out into the sunny day a few moments later, making their way through the crowded streets. Once they left Mayfair and the fashionable houses and shops behind, the walkways were quieter and they were able to slow down a bit.
"Mrs G.o.ddard told me you"ve been working very hard on your lessons lately, Sally," Emily said, linking her arm with Sally"s. "Soon you"ll be able to find a good position, I"m sure."
"If anyone will hire me, your Grace!"
"Certainly they will. With everything you have learned at Mrs G.o.ddard"s, and the letter of recommendation I will give you, you will have a suitable place in no time." A letter from a d.u.c.h.ess could go far indeed. Emily had to admit she very much liked all she could do for her friends now. "Maybe one day you"ll have a school of your own."
Sally smiled happily. "A school of my own! That would be splendid." But then her smile faded as she glanced across the street. "I fear it will have to be some place far from London."
"What do you mean?"
"If I stay here, I will just keep seeing people who knew me-before. Like that man across the street who is staring at us."
Emily looked, and to her shock saw it was Mr Rayburn who watched them. She glimpsed him between the flash of pa.s.sing vehicles, just standing there smiling. Had he been following her all this time? He caught her eyes and mockingly tipped his hat to her.
"Mr Rayburn," she whispered.
"You know him?"
"He once was something of a suitor, though it was never a serious thing. Not on my part, anyway, and I thought not on his until recently. He used to-visit you?"
Sally"s lips tightened. "He visited the house quite often, sometimes to see me, but not always. He was not choosy about which girl he saw. And he was also a man of, um, interesting tastes. You"re lucky you didn"t marry him, miss. Very lucky."
"I"m seeing that more every day," Emily murmured. And thank goodness Sally and Jane were both well away from him!
But now he had seen her with Sally, a woman whose past he knew all too well. Surely just one gossipy word about the new d.u.c.h.ess of Manning"s "friends" would not go well for her new family, for her reputation and her husband.
She looked out across the street again. He was gone, but she was sure he would not be far.
"Should we go, miss?" Sally said worriedly.
Emily shook her head. "We must not allow such an annoyance to ruin our day. He is gone now. Come, we need to get on and see Mrs G.o.ddard."
Nicholas heard Emily"s light footsteps as she hurried past the library door. It barely seemed like a breeze over the parquet floor, a faint rustle of her skirts, yet he knew it was her. After only a few weeks of married life, he knew her step, sensed that she was in his house. Their house. It had become shockingly normal.
And he had let his guard down, just as he had vowed he would not. Emily, with her shy laughter, her bright green eyes, her sweet pa.s.sion, had slipped in close to him before he even realised it.
He knew he should back away now, keep his distance for her own sake, but he could not stop the way the day suddenly grew lighter and brighter when she was there. He pushed away the dull account books and swung open the door.
She was already far down the corridor, her pale muslin dress a ghostly blur in the gathering twilight. Her head was down, as if she was lost somewhere in her own world.
"Emily," he called softly, but she didn"t hear, still lost. "Emily!"
A tremble went through her shoulders and she spun around to face him. "Nicholas! I didn"t see you there."
"I heard you walk past the door. What have you been doing today?"
"Oh. Just-shopping. Seeing friends. The usual sort of London thing." She sounded oddly out of breath, and she would not quite meet his gaze. The laughing woman who had kissed him on the drawing-room chaise was nowhere to be seen.
What had happened today? Surely more than shopping or visiting. But Emily clearly did not want to say, and he didn"t know how to draw it from her. In his family, no emotion or experience went unexpressed.
He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the doorjamb. "Are we dining out tonight?"
Suddenly, a hoa.r.s.e sob escaped Emily"s lips. She ran back along the corridor and flung her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder.
"Em! Is something amiss?" he asked in shock. He held her against him. "Did something happen to you today?"
"No, nothing happened, I just-I suppose I missed you. That"s all."
"After one afternoon? If this is going to be my greeting every time we part, I must go away more often."
"No." She peered up at him solemnly, her eyes wide. "Do you remember on our wedding night when I promised I would always do my best and never make you ashamed of me?"
"Yes, I remember."
"I still promise you that. Don"t forget."
"Em, I would never be ashamed of you. How could I?"
"Please, Nicholas. Just don"t forget."
Then she dropped her forehead to his shoulder again, hiding her gaze from him, and said nothing else. But Nicholas could feel the way she trembled against him, and he knew something was very wrong with his wife. He had made his own vow on that wedding night, to do whatever he could to make Emily happy. And now something was making her very miserable, just when she had brought him such joy.
He was going to find what that was and put a stop to it-whatever he had to do.
Chapter Twenty-One.
"You have a visitor, your Grace."
Emily glanced up from her book to find the butler standing in the morning room doorway, silver tray in hand. A tingling shiver seemed to tremble up her spine, and even before she took up the card she knew.
It was George Rayburn. Ever since he had seen her with Sally two days ago she had been sure this moment would come. Several times she started to tell Nicholas, to confess all about her work and the way Mr Rayburn had caught her out. Nicholas knew how to deal with scandal; he and his family had been doing it all their lives. He would surely know how to fix this, too, or he would tell her to ignore it, it did not matter.
But then he would smile at her, or take her hand and kiss it, and her resolve to confess and pay the price would falter. Her marriage seemed off to such a fine start, which she had never dared dream would happen. But it was still young, and so fragile.
She loved Nicholas, but he did not yet love her. She so much wanted him to, wanted them to have a real marriage. It was too early to bring such trouble to him. And she had to protect the new baby above all else. No one could be allowed to harm that precious little life.
She would just have to solve this business herself. And she had to begin by confronting Mr Rayburn.
"Please show him in," she said.
"Very good, your Grace. Shall I have refreshments sent in?"
"That will not be necessary. Mr Rayburn will not be staying long."
As the butler left, Emily carefully set aside her book and sat up very straight on the settee, her hands folded protectively over her stomach. On the wall across from her hung a painting by Nicholas"s sister Annalise, a sunny scene of the lake at Welbourne. The sight of it, and the happy memories it evoked, gave her a jolt of courage.
She had so much to protect now. She would fight anyone who dared threaten it.
George Rayburn swept into the morning room and gave her an elegant bow, smiling his charming smile as if this was the most pleasant of social occasions. Emily refused to be lulled, or even to smile in return.
"Your Grace," he said. "How lovely you look today. Marriage certainly agrees with you."
"It is not the usual hour for calls, Mr Rayburn," Emily answered shortly. "To what do I owe this honour?"
"I am wounded. Even if you are a d.u.c.h.ess now, surely you still have time for old friends? You certainly seemed to at Gunter"s-and at the worthy Mrs G.o.ddard"s school. She does have the most interesting collection of pupils, as I discovered when I looked into the matter."
Emily"s eyes narrowed as she studied the odious smirk on his face. "Mrs G.o.ddard is quite respectable, and a lady in my position is often called upon to work for charity."
"Very true. But what will people say of an unmarried young lady-or even a married one of such high t.i.tle-a.s.sociating with women like the fair Sally? An earl"s daughter gallivanting around town with a common prost.i.tute? Think of the things she could have told the innocent young lady, or the places she might have taken her. Terribly shocking, if a sweet new wife learned such naughty things in all sorts of vile places. Perhaps that was how she captured such a marital prize. Perhaps she was practising wh.o.r.ehouse wiles on him at the Arnold ball when they were caught."
His eyes widened with feigned shock. "So appalling. One more scandal on the Manning t.i.tle, and surely the worst one to date. Who knows what kind of children such a d.u.c.h.ess would produce?"
Emily"s stomach tightened with a sick spasm. This was the sort of man Sally warned her about when she cautioned her about the wedding night. Selfish, greedy men with no thought to anyone else. He stood right before her, this former suitor, and for an instant she glimpsed the appalling life that might have been hers, if not for Nicholas and her own doubts.
"What is it you want?" she said quietly.
"You need not speak to me so unkindly, your Grace. I merely ask the help of an old friend in my time of need. I wish to go abroad, to make a new life in Italy or Switzerland. To mend my broken heart. Sadly, I must settle some debts first, and find a way to buy a proper home once I am settled."
Emily nodded. Blackmail-of course that was his game. "I did hear you had found yourself in some rather dire straits, Mr Rayburn. Gambling debts, I believe?"
A muscle ticked along his jaw, his eyes hard as he looked at her. "You see how gossip spreads so quickly."
"If you are in such need of money, why did you ever court me? I had only a small dowry."
"Oh, my dear d.u.c.h.ess," he said with a sad laugh. "You do underestimate your charms. You are quite beautiful, if sadly stubborn, and an earl"s t.i.tle opens many doors to the right person. We could have built something together, you and I. Built a much more refined life than could be had with some vulgar cit"s rich daughter."
Built a life of lies and con games, always dodging creditors? Coming up with blackmail schemes? The mere thought of it made Emily shudder. "And a rich cit would surely urge his daughter to aim higher than a penniless gambler with no t.i.tle."
His hands curled into fists, his face darkening with fury. Emily half-rose, ready to run for the bell if she had to, but he leaned away from her, forcing his hands to loosen.
"I no longer have even that option, unpleasant as it is, because of you," he said tightly. "So I must throw myself on your mercy-your Grace. If you cannot help me, I must regretfully tell your husband of your unsavoury friendships with women of the night. What will he think of his lovely new wife then?"
"I have no ready money," Emily said.
"Oh, but you have so many resources now, d.u.c.h.ess." He gestured to her emerald pendant, Nicholas"s special wedding gift to her. "I am sure you can find it in your heart to help me. I will expect your answer by this evening."
He gave her another bow and an infuriating smile, and then he departed just before her anger bubbled over inside her and she could throw a vase at his head. She ran to the window and watched the street below until she saw him walk away and knew he was gone.
The villain. How dare he threaten her? Threaten her marriage, her new life, her child?
Emily kicked at the wall in fury. She had done nothing wrong, yet she could see how easily her a.s.sociation with Sally and the others at Mrs G.o.ddard"s could be twisted and made into something ugly. She knew how quickly the flames of gossip could spread out of control.
She had promised Nicholas she would never make him ashamed of his wife. How could she keep that promise without giving in to blackmail?
She closed her fist around her emerald necklace, the gift Nicholas had given her on their betrothal. She wouldn"t give it up. She wouldn"t give up anything, least of all her marriage.
And she knew just who to turn to for advice. Who would know how to deal with such a man on his own underhanded terms. She had to go back to Mrs G.o.ddard"s.
She s.n.a.t.c.hed up her bonnet and shawl and hurried down the stairs to the foyer. She had hoped to slip out before anyone could see her, but of course that was too much to hope for in such a vast, crowded house. The butler was in the foyer, scolding a housemaid who had insufficiently dusted the banister.
"You"re going out, your Grace?" he said in surprise. "Shall I call the carriage?"
That was the last thing she needed, for everyone to see the ducal carriage at Mrs G.o.ddard"s door! "I am only going a short way, thank you. I will not be gone long."
Before he could say anything else, she rushed out the front door and down to the street. Once she was safely around the corner, out of sight, she hailed a hackney. She would just find a way to deal with this matter herself, before Nicholas could even find out.
No matter what it took.
"Is the d.u.c.h.ess at home?" Nicholas asked the butler, wearily stripping off his gloves. It had been a long, dull day of business. Now it was absurd how happy he was to be back at draughty old Manning House-how much he wanted to see Emily. The thought of her smile, of hearing about her day and just being with her, was a bright prospect indeed. Blast it all, it even made him feel better just to ask after his d.u.c.h.ess!
"Her Grace went out a few hours ago, your Grace," the butler said, taking his hat. "She has not yet returned."
"Went out?" Nicholas was rather disappointed, which was absurd. He had seen her only that morning, kissing her in the dawn light before he slipped out of her bed. And he would see her again at dinner, across their table. Yet still there it was.
He would never have thought he could feel that way back on his wedding day. But Emily was not at all what he expected. She was turning everything around him upside-down.