Page 47 of The Icy Duke Claims a Bride

“We are newlyweds, Uncle Edwin. You will understand that my wife means that she wishes to be close to me,” Hugh tried to explain, but his uncle’s face was already darkening.

“I know exactly what Her Grace means, Hugh,” Edwin said in a low voice. “Now I also know exactly who has been spreading rumors that I attempted to poison you, my own nephew!”

“No one has been spreading rumors,” Hugh insisted. “Catherine least of all.”

“Edwin, why don’t you sit down and close your eyes for a few minutes? I won’t have things ruined by overexertion. You’ve had a long, hard day today, and you’d already taken several large glasses of whiskey before we came out tonight.”

Lady Georgina said the last part with a meaningful glance to Catherine and Hugh, implying that Edwin was at least half-drunk and not to be taken seriously. There was also a plea for help in her eyes as she looked at Hugh.

Hugh laid a hand on his uncle’s arm, but Edwin shook it off. “My dear, I am not in the slightest bit intoxicated. I am offended,” he huffed. “I have a right to be offended when my good name is being slandered.”

“Then you deny it?” Catherine asked mildly. “You deny whatever it is you’ve heard?”

“Deny it?!” Edwin spluttered. “Who do you think you are to make such accusations and cast such aspersions? You were no one before you married my nephew—less than no one after seven failed Seasons. I cannot imagine what possessed Hugh to pick you off the shelf, where you so deservedly belonged.”

“Edwin, darling, please.” Lady Georgina looked at Hugh again, her dark eyes pleading for his assistance in defusing the situation.

But Hugh no longer felt in the mood to defuse anything. His uncle’s aggression towards Catherine riled him beyond reason.

“How dare you! You’re speaking to my wife, theDuchessof Redbridge.Youforget yourself.”

“But you cannot let her insult your family in this way, Hugh! It is unpardonable.”

Hugh had never before felt the urge to demand satisfaction because of a woman, but he felt it now. If Edwin continued on this course, he would feel bound to protect Catherine even to such an illegal extent.

“I think it best that we leave,” Hugh said abruptly, with a nod to his aunt. “I am sorry that it has come to this, Aunt Georgina.”

He stood up, pulling Catherine up with him.

“I, too, am very sorry. I was so looking forward to getting to know Catherine better.” Lady Georgina sighed deeply, her brown eyes mournful. “Perhaps we should all go home. The night is a failure.”

“Don’t trouble yourselves. I shall leave,” Edwin declared then. “My presence is clearly not welcome, and I’ve lost what little enthusiasm I ever had forThe Fairy Queen.”

He gathered up his scarf and elegant silver-topped cane, his expression furious.

His wife made no attempt to stop him.

“Oh, Edwin! I suppose it’s best if you leave,” Lady Georgina said. “Things seem very muddled tonight. But, please, go home and rest rather than spend your evening drinking somewhere. Your nerves are overstrained, and I worry about your health.”

Edwin nodded briefly to her and Hugh but ignored Catherine entirely while making his exit.

Once he had gone, Lady Georgina’s large brown eyes flicked back to her guests. “Please stay, Hugh. Catherine must accept my apologies on my husband’s behalf. Edwin works so hard, and I worry about the toll it takes on him. I told him that he must take a short holiday at to the seaside, but he keeps putting it off.”

Hugh was not convinced by this explanation for Edwin’s behavior , but his uncle’s departure did at least give him the chance to speak to his aunt alone. He wondered what she made of the pattern of bad luck that had befallen so many of her husband’s rivals.

“We will certainly stay, Aunt Georgina, if Catherine agrees?”

Catherine nodded in agreement and sank back into the plush velvet seat beside Lady Georgina, her expression inscrutable. “I accept your apology, Lady Georgina, and I assure you that I have spread no rumors about your husband. We are sure that there was poison in Hugh’s drink when you visited, but who can say how it came to be there? It could have been a disgruntled servant, the supplier of Hugh’s favorite rum, or even a stranger who entered the house in the guise of a tradesman.”

“We have certainly not discussed this matter with anyone outside the family,” Hugh added. “Beyond the servants’ chatter and speculations, I cannot think what has changed my uncle’s attitude so strongly.”

“Of course, you haven’t, Hugh.” Lady Georgina smiled at him again, now gratefully. “I knew that you didn’t spread such falsehoods. Edwin does pick up these odds and ends of gossip and sometimes gets the wrong end of the stick. Leave him to me, and I will righten him in no time.”

“If you think that best, Aunt Georgina. But please don’t let my uncle become angry with you, too,” Hugh said. “I know he can be a hard man. That is the only thing the ton says about Uncle Edwin, as far as I’m aware. Nothing of poisons or family plotting.”

Lady Georgina shook her handsome dark head. “He is only a hard man in business, I assure you. And a man must be hard in business in order to get ahead. To have it spoken of is only a testament to Edwin’s success. That is simply the way of the world. But at home, with Andrew and me, Edwin is kind and generous. Do not worry about us, Hugh.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Auntie.”

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