An Affair of Honor (Rebel Hearts Book 2) (9 page)

“He does indeed.” Matilda appeared startled though and glanced at him for permission to go. He nodded decisively. There was no reason for Matilda to remain and listen to rude people. “Do join him. I’ll be along shortly, darling.”

“As you wish.” She dropped his arm only to be claimed by his grandfather. “Your Grace.”

“Matilda Ford? What a pretty ring that has,” Rutherford began as they moved away. “We’ve never had a Matilda in the family before. How lovely. Come along, girls,” he called out to Victoria, Audrey, and Evelyn, who rushed after him and very quickly formed a wall of protection around William’s wife.

Once the group was beyond the door, his father rounded on him. “What are you thinking, marrying a woman like that? Did she trick you into it?”

“Of course not. I chose her.”

His father started to shake his head. It was always a bad sign when that started up.

William turned to Mr. Chudleigh. “Sir, I hope you and your daughter will excuse us. You have intruded on something of a family celebration that I have long been looking forward to. This is the first chance my wife and I have had to be with my grandfather and sisters since my recovery. I am a very happily married man. Whatever my father has promised you will never come to pass.”

Miss Chudleigh sobbed, clutching her father’s arm, but Mr. Chudleigh thankfully ushered her out without uttering a word about his choice of bride.

William was not so lucky with his own father. “You will live to regret such a hasty marriage.”

“Did you?” William bit out. “You barely waited a month after my mother’s death before proposing marriage to my cousin’s governess.”

“The situation was entirely different,” George Ford blustered. “You needed a new mother to curb your tears.”

The usual resentment stirred at the suggestion that the second Lady Ford had mothered him at all. “How could she have comforted me when you sent me away almost immediately after Mama’s death? From where I stand, my marriage is decidedly different than yours and truly none of your business.”

“A marriage without love is no marriage at all.”

“Is that why you and your second wife live apart now? Because you are so deeply in love with each other? You squabble constantly over the littlest things.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Why do you think Matilda and I are not in love?”

He didn’t love Matilda of course, nor would he admit it if he did, but his father’s comments made him curious.

“Passion!” he cried out. “I know you disapprove of it. It’s obvious she flattered you when your defenses were down, made herself indispensible to ensure you felt you had no choice but to propose marriage just to have her. You will see her true colors once you are out in society. She will cost you a fortune and you’ll have no one to blame but yourself.”

William wanted to roll his eyes. He’d actually be happy to spend a little money on Matilda, but George Ford was so obsessed with being in love that he could not see the good he could do. He was quite sickening around his second wife, his half sisters’ mother, and he made sure to spend as little time with them as possible. If he were ever in love, he would not behave like his father.

“The only regret I have is not offering for her sooner,” he added, embellishing a little more on their love affair than might be needed. He was dealing with a hopeless romantic. His father would never be satisfied with a curt statement of her suitability. “She is perfect for me and very beautiful.”

He stared his father down until his shoulders sagged in defeat. Finally.

His father spared him a withering glance. “When you are ready to talk sense, you will find me at home.”

George Ford stalked out, leaving his daughters and father behind. William rubbed over the scar on his face. He shared very little in common with his father, who lived too impulsively for his taste. He had always been more reserved than the rest of his family, finding their public displays of emotion uncomfortable to bear. He was not about to change. Not for anyone.

William poured himself a drink and silently toasted his success at overcoming yet another obstacle. He had freedom from marriage-minded misses. He had his life to live. Now all he wanted was a willing woman of his own and he’d be very happy indeed.

Six

M
atilda settled into a drawing room chair, the same one she’d beaten the dust from this morning, and waited for the other shoe to drop. It was just a matter of time.

The Chudleighs had quickly taken their leave she’d heard, the woman utterly devastated by William’s announcement of his surprise marriage. A very great lie indeed. Miss Chudleigh’s tears had seemed very real, but Captain Ford had not been moved by the woman’s outpouring of heartbreak.

Not that Matilda had expected him to be kind after the way the woman had reacted to his scar.

She was a little worried about the scorn in Lord George Ford’s eyes when he’d looked her over and how he might treat his son. She knew the captain had a temper, but she didn’t know if he’d inherited the trait from his father.

She was also a little overwhelmed by the reactions to this false marriage. The captain’s sisters seemed to think William must be in love with her, which of course they said had to be the reason he would marry her.

Matilda heard the unsaid “stoop” in that statement and gritted her teeth at the near slight.

Although the marriage was false, their presumption annoyed her as much as William Ford’s obvious expectation that she’d fall in with the change to his scheme without voicing one single complaint about being so badly used.

She was glad she’d made a bargain with the captain for a house and sum of money after this disastrous affair was over. She’d never keep a maid’s position in any household now. William Ford had made her unemployable unless she assumed another name.

How could he imagine she had any ability to pretend to be his wife?

She did not know him that well!

Or want to.

The duke settled in a nearby chair with a groan and his refilled glass. He studied her, his expression inscrutable. “I swear the journey from Newberry grows longer each time I make it.”

Having no idea of Newberry Park’s exact location, Matilda clenched her hands together in her lap and nodded politely. The duke had always been kind when he’d visited, but she believed William’s actions today would not please him in the end. “You wanted to see me?”

She glanced around quickly, wondering why the captain’s sisters had disappeared. “Yes,” he said slowly. “Both of you actually, but William appears to have become delayed, no doubt because of his father. They do bump heads over every little thing.”

Matilda nodded but decided it best to keep the rest of her opinions to herself. This marriage was not such a little thing. There was the threat of very real scandal. Lord George Ford could have more than a few words to say to his son in private, and none of them would be kind about his marriage to a maid.

“We owe you a debt of gratitude for the care you have devoted to my grandson, but I had been uncertain of how to repay you. I had thought a stipend appropriate, or something to that effect.”

She blushed. Caring for Captain Ford after the first tension-filled weeks had been relatively easy. She had helped him eat what food he could manage to swallow to keep his strength up, cleaned the wound, and made sure he never scratched when his face itched. She had even bound his hands together late one night at his silent insistence when the itch of the healing wound had been driving him to distraction.

“I did what seemed best at the time,” she murmured.

He sat forward. “You believed William would survive when men of science had grave doubts.”

“I believed in the captain’s stubborn nature above all else, Your Grace,” she replied immediately and without thought for such a remark’s likely reception.

The duke choked on his whiskey, and the heat of a blush warmed Matilda’s cheeks. Perhaps it wasn’t wise to be so candid. She should not have admitted her employer was too stubborn to die when most would have succumbed to a lesser wound.

“The housekeeper has been expansive in her description of my grandson’s recovery in her letters, but I must confess I had not believed her suspicion that a romantic relationship existed between you both could possibly be true.”

Matilda glanced toward the door, hoping for Captain Ford’s return, but could not hear his approach. She would not lie to the duke for him. Not for any number of riches he might bestow upon her. “We have no relationship beyond that of servant and master. It was a mistake.”

Matilda was awkwardly aware that her dedication to the captain’s recovery had set her apart from the other servants, and she was not surprised Mrs. Young had stirred the pot by relaying the particulars and her unfounded suspicions. Captain Ford’s lie today would make her an utter outsider in the servants’ hall tonight if she hadn’t already been packed to leave this establishment forthwith.

She gripped her hands together as coldness filled her at the thought of having nowhere to go. What could she do to prevent her dismissal? How low would she have to abase herself so she was not thrown out? “If there is nothing else, I must report to Mrs. Young and continue my work for the day.”

“You must see that returning to your former position is impossible now,” the duke said slowly. “If I have instilled anything in my grandchildren, it is the belief that servants are not to be toyed with. I would not like to have others believe William acted without honor where you are concerned.”

Matilda swallowed. “The captain has always been a good employer.”

Almost always,
she silently added
.

“When the message reached me of William’s desperate situation, I knew he’d need the best care. My first thought on reading Mrs. Young’s report of that first night was that she had made the right choice, especially since she mentioned your late father was a medical man.”

Credit was due to the right person. “It was actually Mr. Dawson, Captain Ford’s valet, who requested I remain with him, Your Grace. Mrs. Young tried to send me away when the surgeons first hesitated to treat him properly. I insisted they must at least try.”

“I see.” He shook his head, lips pursing a moment as he studied her. “You went above and beyond anything asked of you, but if scandal is how he means to repay you, then you are very badly treated.”

She shrugged. “Further delay would have cost him his life, and this will pass.”

“Perhaps not.” The duke’s expression grew tense. “Dawson is to be commended on his intelligence then in choosing you for William. I understand you didn’t sleep, hardly ate, and cared for William’s needs before your own. I did not anticipate a servant’s sense of duty could reach so far; however, I am happy for it. You should be appropriately compensated for the trouble he’s caused you.”

“I am glad he has recovered.” Matilda blushed again. She’d never been comfortable with praise and certainly not from a duke. “I expect no compensation for my part in the captain’s recovery, I assure you. ”

Not when William was already going to provide everything she needed to ensure she and Harry Lloyd could start their marriage in a prosperous fashion far from the scandal of this affair.

The duke’s eyes narrowed. “I assume that farce downstairs was William’s doing.”

Matilda nodded quickly. There was no point lying about it when he would be able to find out no marriage had taken place. “Yes, he was concerned about the arrival of Miss Chudleigh. He said his father meant to pressure him into a marriage he didn’t want, so I was to pretend to be in love with him to drive Miss Chudleigh away. Somehow it went terribly wrong, and now they believe I’m his wife.”

“True.” The duke’s eyes softened. “Under the circumstances, continuing that belief will be necessary to perpetuate. I will not have the family’s name dragged through the scandal sheet over such a lie.”

Matilda licked her lips. “For how long?”

The duke grunted, banging his fist onto the arm of the chair. “My grandson claimed that you are man and wife, and that is what you shall be.”

Matilda stared at him, unable to believe what he might be suggesting. “Are you saying I will have to marry him?”

“If you do not, everyone will think you soiled goods.”

“That is not true.” Heat enveloped her cheeks beyond her power to prevent the flush. “I cannot marry him. I am to marry another man.”

“Oh, so he chased after another man’s woman too,” he said, face contorting with disappointment. “I had assumed there was some partial truth to account for William’s actions, but there you have it. He is exactly like his uncles. I will make arrangements for an expedient wedding immediately.”

She grew very cold. This surely could not be happening. “I cannot marry Captain Ford.”

“You are a spinster without means save your employment which you now cannot keep. How will you support yourself, eh? How can I allow my grandson to act without honor? I cannot do it,” the duke said with rising passion. “The situation and scandal will be intolerable for the family. You must marry him. This other fellow, where is he?”

Matilda stilled her trembling hands. “I don’t know.”

The duke rolled his eyes. “Are you really going to turn down this generous offer to elevate yourself in society by marrying so well?”