“You know about her family, I presume?” Lord Harry said. He seemed to be relaxing a little now that Luke had lowered his voice. Luke suspected that he had had quite a bit of brandy already this evening.
Luke said nothing, waiting for him to continue. What came next, after all, was of the highest importance.
“Her mother was a commoner, you know, and she and her sister are considered rather odd by the people of the ton.”
“And so you strung her along, wrote her letters, promising that you would do the decent thing, but you had no intention of keeping your word?”
Lord Harry had the decency at least to flush a shade of bright red, almost matching his hair, when he heard Luke say these words. “It was not quite like that, Your Grace…”
“Well, how was it then?” Luke demanded, feeling the anger rise again. “You see, my lord, to me, it appears that you have behaved most despicably.”
“Well, I can’t marry her, can I?” Lord Harry protested. “The idea of it! My mother would never forgive me. My father would probably disinherit me!”
“And yet you carry on with this pretense! Why do you still write to her?”
Lord Harry coughed. He was really beginning to look rather frightened now, and Luke had to admit that he was enjoying himself. “It’s become something of a game,” he said in a small voice. “I never had any intention of doing anything about it, not really.”
Luke leaned forward and spoke in a low, menacing voice. “You are fortunate, my lord, that Miss Hervey does not have any brothers, or I think you would be sorely in danger of being challenged to a duel, you have behaved so dishonorably.”
Lord Harry shuddered. “A duel? I never thought… I never imagined… Oh, good heavens! You will not tell anyone, will you? Her father…?”
Luke barked out a mirthless laugh. “Her father will not challenge you to a duel. He barely seems to have the energy to drink his own brandy, the strange man. I cannot make him out. But anyway, I will not tell anyone. Provided you tell me one thing.”
“Anything, Your Grace,” Lord Harry stammered. “Anything at all.”
“Tell me why you did it. Why did you choose her, of all the ladies in the ton, to treat like this? What did she do to deserve it?”
Lord Harry sighed. “You make me sound like the most terrible cad,” he said. “Really, the truth of it is quite simple. I do rather like her. I find her company most enjoyable, and she is much more attractive than she knows, despite those awful dresses her stepmother makes her wear.” He paused, looking rather wistful. “If it were not for her reputation and the terrible things people say about her, I would marry her, I confess.”
“Then you are a coward, my lord. Plain and simple,” Luke declared. “That you would value the opinions of the chattering fools of the ton above your own judgment is indeed most pitiable. But I do not feel sorry for you, not at all. I feel most sorry for poor Miss Thomas. You intend to honor your engagement to her, I assume?”
“Of course I do!” Lord Harry said rather hotly. “I would never break a publicly declared engagement. And she has four thousand a year of her own money, you know!”
“Well, I will not wish you joy, Lord Harry. You do not deserve it, although I am sure Miss Thomas does. She deserves better.” Luke stood up and drained his glass of brandy. “I will never speak of this again, my lord, unless I hear that you have written to Miss Hervey again. If you dare to give her another hint of false hope, then I shall expose you to the whole of society, and you know what the consequences will be.”
Lord Harry stood up, too, and drained his own glass. Luke noticed that his hands were shaking. He bowed stiffly. “You have my word.”
“Lord Harry, you have already shown that your word is worth practically nothing. It is your actions that are more interesting to me, do you understand?”
“Indeed I do, Your Grace.”
“Very well.” Luke turned on his heel and walked quickly across the room, desiring nothing more than to be far away from the wretched man. He stormed down the stairs and out into the street, where his carriage was waiting. He felt a sudden urge to walk, though, as if his body needed to free itself of the memory of the meeting with Lord Harry. He told his man to drive the carriage back to Seton Hall and set out for home on foot, walking through the streets of the town until they thinned out and the road became a track that cut through the fields that surrounded his estate.
He was going to have to tell her, he realized. There was no way he could keep it from her. In fact, the whole purpose of his visit to Lord Harry had been to discover the truth so that he could share it with Charlotte. But his heart twisted at the thought of breaking the news to her.
The moon was high in the sky now, and the stars twinkled above. He heard the distant hooting of an owl from a copse of trees on the hillside beyond. He let out a sigh and continued his night-time stroll.
It would have to be at the ball tomorrow, he decided. He could not call on her during the day; that would not be appropriate on the day of a large social gathering such as the Smetheringtons’ ball. He had been looking forward to the event, as he hoped to dance with her again and spend most of the evening at her side. But there was a shadow over the whole thing now.
He was unsure if she would be upset or relieved once she knew the reality of Lord Harry’s duplicitous behavior. At least everything would be clear to her, then, and she could move on.
But what would come of their arrangement, he wondered. It had failed in its original purpose, to set Lord Harry straight and force him into action. So perhaps she would wish to be freed from it now?
He thought of her pretty face, pink from the cold when they had taken their walk in the parkland just that morning. She had looked so delightful in her bonnet and shawl, and he had been proud to have her on his arm.
That wretched man, to treat her this way! Luke wondered if he should have challenged him to a duel himself, but he realized now that would have been unwise. There was already such potential for scandal in what was going on between them. If a duel took place and people found out, which they were sure to, then they would be the talk of the ton.
No, he had done the right thing in eventually forcing Lord Harry to tell him the truth and then making him promise to end his dishonorable games. And he was sure that the man would stick to his word, however false that word had been previously. No one wanted to get on the wrong side of the Duke of Seton, least of all a man with secrets such as Lord Harry’s.
