Page 91 of Unraveled By the Duke
For the longest time, he had viewed his father as a weak man, one who had allowed the wrong people to get close to him and had been taken advantage of. A man devastated by lost love, rendered vulnerable.
He had vowed never to be so vulnerable. Now, he discovered that his father was not weak at all, but a philanthropist. A brave man who had risked everything with no hope of return, simply to help others.
“Why did you never tell me?” Alexander demanded.
“Because, as a youth, you did not care. You were a callow youth whose only interest was carousing. After your father’s death, you changed, and I did not think it necessary to tell you. Besides, I promised your father to keep it a secret. He did not agree withthe labelphilanthropist. He did not want statues or buildings named after him. He saw it as his duty, and that was reason enough to do what he did.”
Alexander could not process it. He kept looking at the brick edifice of the foundling home, a manifestation of his father’s generosity. Of his honor and sacrifice.
And I have spent my adult life cursing him, believing that I had to cover up for him. It was an oath I never had to swear, and I have let it shape my life. Have I wasted all this time?
“So, now you know,” Violet said. “I have broken my word to your father, but I believe the moment called for it, and he would forgive it.”
Alexander considered his actions towards Celia. The afternoon they had spent in the shepherd’s hut, when she had asked him about his father, he had closed the gates and left her outside in the cold.
“My father was not a weak man.Ihave been a weak man.”
Violet thumped the roof of the carriage and gave orders for Cheverton.
“You are not weak…” she began.
“I beg to differ. My father had the strength of character to give everything to a noble cause. I have lacked the strength to give myheart to one woman. I feared that it would make me weak, as I thought my father had been. He was not weak. He was resolute and strong.”
Violet nodded, smiling sympathetically. “He was the strongest man I had ever met. When your mother died, there were many eligible women of suitable rank to marry him I was the daughter of a marquess, and most didn’t deem me suitable for the wife of a Duke. Your father married me anyway. He actually told me that he would rather give up the Dukedom and milk cows for the rest of his life than be married to a woman he did not love.”
Alexandr shook his head in wonder. He felt foolish. For so long, he had mistaken strength for weakness. Now, the example of his father showed him what true strength was. He felt the paper in his pocket and took out the promissory note Lavinia had given him.
“What is that?” Violet asked.
“A fork in the road,” Alexander replied, “and I know what path to take from this point on.”
He tore the note and tossed the pieces out of the carriage window, where they fluttered and flew in the breeze.
Alexander was seized with a sudden and inescapable urge. To make things right. To win back the woman he had driven away. To find Celia.
He thumped the roof and bellowed, “Driver! To Banfield House!”
“Your Grace? We have arrived at your father’s house. Your Grace?”
Celia stirred awake, lifting her head and blinking. The carriage driver had opened the door and stood beside it, ready to assist her down. She stretched.
“Banfield House? It hasn’t taken long. Well done on a very quick journey. Has my sister already gone in?”
“Begging your pardon, Your Grace, but no. She instructed me to divert to Alvey Hall before bringing you to Banfield. Actually, we made good time despite the diversion.”
“She is not here?” Celia asked, confused.
“No, Your Grace. She went to visit with Miss Dunnings,” the driver explained.
Something made Celia look in the small box attached to the floor of the carriage, where she had placed the leather envelope containing her drawing of Lavinia.
Celia had driven the trap to Essex, but after finding the picture, Aurelia had insisted that they return home as soon as possible.Celia had felt too tired to attempt the drive home so soon, and Uncle Cuthbert had ordered a servant to drive the girls home in his own carriage.
A chill ran through Celia when she saw that the box was empty.
“Was Lady Aurelia carrying anything when she entered Miss Dunnings’ house?” Celia asked.
“She was, Your Grace,” the driver answered dutifully. “A leather envelope, I think it was.”
