Page 65 of A Royal Kiss & Tell
And just like that, Caroline’s heart dropped to the floor. She froze, staring at the wall before her, unable to move. Or breathe.
“Milady?”
“What do you mean, she’s gone missing?” Caroline asked.
“Took her things and disappeared,” Janey said.
“Did the duke send someone to find her?”
“No, milady. He’s been pacing the floor outside his wife’s chamber. She won’t let him in. My mother was that way, too. Didn’t want anyone around when she was giving birth. She had fourteen children, can you imagine?”
“No,” Caroline said weakly. Her mind was racing. She felt flush. She felt as if she might faint and put her hand down on the vanity to steady herself. Leopold had left this morning. The maid was Weslorian. Leopold had taken that girl and fled. Butwhy? “What was the row about?” she asked. “Between the prince and the duke?”
“I don’t know, exactly, but the duke, hestruckthe prince.”
Caroline gasped.
A loud and sudden knock on the door caused Janey and Caroline both to jump. “One minute!” Caroline called as Janey lifted the skirt over Caroline’s head and let it settle around her waist.
“No minutes!” Beck shouted back. “The baby has come! It’s aboy!”
Janey gasped with delight. “A boy! An heir to the duke!”
“Go,” Caroline urged her. “I can finish dressing myself.”
“I shouldn’t—”
“Of course you should,” Caroline said. “It’s the heir,” she reminded Janey, knowing full well that in this world of dukes and duchesses, an heir took precedence over everything else.
“Thank you, milady.” Janey dipped a quick curtsy and went out. When the door closed behind her, Caroline sank down onto a chair, staring at the floor. Why had he done it? Did he want that girl for the same reason as the duke? But...but it made no sense. If he wanted a paramour, he could bloody well have one. Why did he take up with maids?
And if she doubted it for a moment, Beck confirmed her worst fear when they departed Arundel that afternoon. He fell back against the squabs with a very loud yawn. “A lot of bloody wailing when a child is born.”
“Beck! It’s very painful to give birth.”
“I don’t mean the effort Lady Norfolk has put to bringing the boy into the world. The rest of it.”
“What rest of it?” Caroline asked.
“For someone who hears every little thing that is said about every person, I’m surprised this has escaped you, Caro. I’m talking about the squabble before the birth, while you were slumbering away like a princess.”
“I was sleeping as people normally sleep, Beck. What squabble?”
He snorted. “The maids aren’t whispering in your ear?”
“Yes, Beck, that’s what the maids of grand houses do in the morning. They gossip with the duchess’s guests—”
“Then apparently you don’t know your heart’s desire has left with a kitchen maid. Henry tried to stop him, but he wasn’t successful.”
Caroline gaped at her brother. It was one thing to think it. It was quite another to actually hear it said out loud. “Why? How?” she stammered.
“That rogue attempted to steal away with the maid in the early morning hours as Augusta was in the throes of childbirth.” Beck shook his head. “Leo is a friend of mine. But I don’t care for this side of him.” He glanced at her, looking at her appraisingly. “Keep your distance, Caro. He’s charming, but it’s entirely possible he is rotten at the core. You’ll have suitors enough to think about as it is.”
Caroline felt sick. She couldn’t reconcile what had happened between them last night and Leopold taking a maid with him this morning. What had he said last night? What words had he spoken that she could cling to right now?
“Have you nothing to say?” Beck asked curiously.
Caroline swallowed. “It is...it is appalling,” she said. “On the day of their son’s birth.”
