The Unexpected Duchess (Playful Brides #1)(48)

Lord Berkeley was perfectly nice. He was handsome and dashing and he wanted to see Lucy again. He wasn’t chasing after her best friend, sworn to marry her by a promise to a dying man. Yes. Much less complicated.

She would still talk to Jane, come clean. Admit everything. Clear her conscience. She and Jane would think of a way to give Cass the little push she needed to actually accept Derek.

But Lucy already knew. She had to stop having feelings for Derek immediately and ensure the match between him and Cass.





CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE


Where in the world was Jane? Lucy had been searching for her throughout Lady Hoppington’s house for the last half an hour. She’d checked all her usual haunts: the library, the children’s study, every small nook and cranny she could find in which Jane might insert herself to read a book. Jane certainly wasn’t making it easy for Lucy to confess. To make matters worse, Garrett was nowhere to be found, either.

And guilty as it made her, she’d been avoiding Cass tonight. She just couldn’t bear to see her friend and know how horrendous she’d been. She turned the bend in Lady Hoppington’s corridor and stopped short. There, behind a large cabinet, stood Derek.

And he was not alone.

Lucy froze. A woman’s voice floated on the air. “I’m quite sorry, Your Grace, for the way I’ve behaved.”

Lucy closed her eyes. It was Cass. Cass and Derek were having a private conversation and damn her to hell but Lucy could not, for the life of her, move her feet, turn away. She should not eavesdrop, especially not on this conversation, but she just couldn’t make herself go. Instead she pressed her back against the wall and held her breath, listening intently for every word between them.

“Lucy told me that she explained to you that I … love Julian,” Cass continued.

“Yes” came Derek’s sure, strong reply.

“I’ve always loved him, I’m afraid. But I know he belongs to my cousin Penelope. That is, if he…” Cass’s voice cracked, and Lucy’s heart broke again for her friend.

Derek’s voice was low. “If it helps to know it, Lady Cassandra, Captain Swift held … holds you in the very highest regard.”

Lucy could hear the smile in Cass’s reply. “Yes. As I do him. I’ve written to him every day while he’s been in the army.”

“He told me how much he looked forward to your letters.”

Lucy’s eyes filled with tears. This had to be excruciating for Cass to hear.

“Thank you, Your Grace, for telling me that,” Cass murmured.

“Of course,” Derek replied.

“I must admit something to you,” Cass said.

Lucy held her breath. Admit something? What? What?

Cass’s voice was soft. “When I first met you, I was frightened of you. Terribly frightened.”

“I’m sorry if I frightened you,” Derek said.

“No. No. It wasn’t you, not you, yourself. It’s just … that you’re so…”

Ridiculously handsome, Lucy thought and then stepped on her own foot for her idiocy.

“It’s complicated,” Cass finished.

“I understand,” Derek replied.

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m not frightened of you anymore, Your Grace,” Cass said. “As soon as I learned you were Julian’s friend. Well, any friend of Julian’s is my friend, too.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Lady Cassandra. And I want you to know that I intend to give you all the time that you need. But I do hope that eventually, you’ll believe that we might get to know each another a bit better.”

“Thank you, Your Grace,” came Cass’s reply. “And if you’d still like to, you have my permission to court me. When I’m ready, of course.”

Derek remained silent.

Lucy turned her head away and swallowed the painful lump that had formed in her throat.





CHAPTER THIRTY


This time the letter from Collin was even shorter. It had been scrawled on a bit of dirty parchment his brother had obviously scrounged up somewhere. Collin must be in a very rough place indeed.

I found Adam. He’s hurt but will survive. Bringing him home. No sign of Rafe and Swifdon. They were captured by the French. Adam managed to escape. Derek, it doesn’t look good for them.

Derek slammed his open palm against his desk. Damn it all to hell. It seemed they would be having a double funeral for the Swift brothers. How would he ever tell Swift’s mother? His sister, Daphne? God. That conversation would be one of the most difficult of his life. It didn’t sound as if Penelope, Swift’s intended, much cared, but Daphne and Louisa Swift would be devastated.

Adam was alive. That was the only comfort Derek had. Though it felt wrong to be glad over that news when the news for the Swift family was so dire. Not to mention Rafe. His relatives would need to be found and told as well. The lad had been a reckless hellion but a braver young man, Derek had never known. Wellington and the War Office would try to send a man to tell the families but Derek would stop them. He would make the journeys himself. He would be the one to tell Louisa and Daphne and Cavendish’s family. They would not be informed by some nameless drone from the War Office.

Adam was safe. Derek closed his eyes and repeated that to himself. At least his mother would have the comfort of knowing her three boys were alive. She’d been so worried about Derek going to war—and when Adam and Collin had announced their intentions of working for the War Office, she’d been beside herself. But she knew she couldn’t keep her adult sons for doing what they would. She’d resigned herself to praying for them and waiting for the mail to bring any news. Derek would write to her immediately. He could tell from the state of the missive Collin had sent that that his brother wasn’t in a position to write to their mother in Brighton at their family home. He’d asked her to come to London and stay with him, but she’d insisted on staying near the shore until she heard the fate of her sons. Perhaps now she’d make the journey into town and live the life that would be afforded to her as the mother of a duke. That was some small comfort.