Page 20 of My Daring Duchess
“Simon was eight and ten,” Caitlin replied, a sad, wistful look coming to her face.
Hmm…He most definitely had been educated on how to be an honorable gentleman, then, assuming an honorable Scot was mostly the same as an honorable Englishman. She yearned to discover what made Simon embrace such roguish ways. If she could learn what compelled the man, she could quite possibly help him to change.
“What was your father like?” she inquired, knowing he had to be deceased since Simon had inherited the dukedom from his grandfather.
Caitlin stopped and faced Anne. “He was wonderful, giving, and a most honorable man—just like Simon.”
Of course Caitlin thought that. Simon was her brother.
“Did your family spend much time in London and here in the country with your grandfather?” Anne prodded. Surely, they must have and that had to be when Simon had met Mary.
A dark, angry look settled on Caitlin’s face. “No.”
“May I ask why?”
Caitlin cast a wary glance behind her toward the study. She nibbled on her lip for a moment and then said in a hesitant tone, “My grandfather cut off my father financially when he married my mother. Grandfather believed she was only marrying Father for his money.”
“Oh my!”
“Aye.” Caitlin pushed away a lock of red hair that had fallen in her face and tucked it behind her ear. “He gave Father a choice: to not marry mother or to lose all funds, which of course, he would come into when Grandfather died. Father married Mother, and they left England for Scotland and never returned.”
“I’m so sorry,” Anne murmured, realizing that Simon’s situation was rather like her own mother’s in that she, too, had chosen the man she loved over her father’s wishes. Of course, Anne’s father had turned out to be dishonorable, exactly as Grandfather had suspected, whereas it seemed Simon’s mother had been a good person who had been wrongly judged.
Caitlin shrugged. “There is no need to be. I honestly feel I was spared by not meeting our grandfather. Only Simon met him and that wasn’t until after Father died.”
So had that been when Simon and Mary had met? Unaware of the questions in Anne’s mind, Caitlin continued. “Simon went to him to ask for aid, as we were in desperate need with our crops failing and Father having spent all our coin on new equipment. We had no funds to even feed ourselves, and Mother was gravely ill and needed medicine.”
She knew Simon had been turned away by his grandfather when he had discovered what Simon had done to Mary, but that made no sense to Anne. If Simon had needed money, he could have wed a willing Mary and received her hefty dowry. “Lady Caitlin—”
“Please call me Caitlin,” the woman asked as her sister had.
Anne smiled. She truly liked Simon’s sisters and how unpretentious they were. “It will be my pleasure if, as I told your sister, you call me Anne.”
“Anne it is,” the woman agreed pleasantly.
“Caitlin,” Anne began once more, “I was curious, has Simon ever spoken to you about what happened to him while he was here requesting aid from your grandfather?”
“No, just that he was turned away for something he did not do. He went straight to Edinburgh from Grandfather’s to try to earn coin, and Mother died at our home in Oban while he was away. He blames himself, but it was our grandfather’s actions that killed our mother.”
Anne stood silently, her mind turning. Someone was not telling the truth, and she was unsure who it was. Either Mary had lied to her or Simon had lied to his sister. Anne desperately wished to know who was the untrustworthy party. If Mary was lying, and she had somehow wronged Simon, Anne could see why Simon would have developed a mistrust for women and even become a rogue as a result of it. But if Simon was lying, perhaps he was beyond redemption.
“I’ve said too much,” Caitlin announced suddenly. “If ye have any more questions, ye’ll need to ask Simon.”
Anne nodded, appreciating Caitlin’s loyalty to her brother. She was shown out, expecting to walk home, but there, waiting for her, was Simon’s coachman. He informed her that Simon had instructed the butler to have the carriage readied for her to use whenever she wished to depart. She could not imagine when he might have done that, except perhaps when he’d whispered to Perceval when she had first arrived. Either it was a most thoughtful gesture by a truly good man or it was a calculated move to aid him in seducing her. She found she wanted it to be a little of both.
How contrary she was today! She wanted him to desire her so greatly that he would scheme to have her, yet she wanted him to be honorable. Perhaps it was neither.
She shivered in the cold. She was about to ascend into the carriage when she recalled her fur muff. After instructing the driver to wait, she knocked on the front door and waited what seemed like an eternity until Perceval answered.
He glanced at her with a blank expression. “Yes?”
She wondered if the man might have some problems with his memory. “It’s me, Miss Adair. I was just here to see His Grace.”
“Ah yes!” the butler boomed. “Shall I announce you once more?”
He’d not truly announced her the first time, but she kept her silence on that point. The poor man honestly looked weary, and since Simon did not seem stuck on strict rules of etiquette, she shook her head and gave Perceval a pat on the arm. “Why don’t you take a respite?”
He looked at once relieved and oddly suspicious. “How did you know I took respites?”
