Page 51 of A Wicked Duke's Redemption
“To Boston,” Captain Everleigh replied. “I do not know how long we shall be there.”
Leo nodded. Although this was his first visit to meet Captain Everleigh and his wife, Violet had visited them frequently throughout her stay in London. Leo suspected that his wife would be quite miserable in London if it were not for Mrs. Everleigh and Lady Priscilla, and good company could only do so much to make one forget the vicious gossip of the ton.
“Violet and I have discussed leaving London ourselves. My business is mostly finished here, so there seems to be little reason to stay.” Leo grinned wryly. “I suppose there is no harm in tellingyouthat, as Violet will doubtlessly tell your wife the same.”
“We are all leaving, it seems,” Captain Everleigh replied. “A pity for the city.”
Leo chuckled. Captain Everleigh seemed to have the sort of amenable disposition which put one at ease. It had been a long time since Leo had felt comfortable smiling and laughing with a near-stranger. It was no wonder that Mrs. Everleigh liked him.
“Liza did mention that Violet prefers the countryside to the city. It must be…different for her, being in London as the Duchess of Farnham.”
Leo sensed that the captain had chosen his words tactfully, and that they stemmed from concern for Violet, the dearest friend of his beloved wife. “It is different,” Leo said, “difficult. She has risen admirably to the role of the Duchess of Farnham.”
Violet was not quite the perfect duchess; she still sometimes wanted to cook meals for him, and throughout their stay in London, she had insisted on picking up her own packages from the shops they visited, rather than letting them be delivered. Those small lapses in appropriate behavior were endearing, though. Leo would never want his wife to lose that innocent eagerness, and so he said nothing about them.
“I do not doubt it,” Captain Everleigh said. “Your wife struck me as a very capable woman from the moment we met.”
Leo took a sip of his cognac, enjoying the sharpness of it in his mouth. He swallowed. “Yes. She struck me much the same.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. Leo had never been very good at having polite, superficial conversations, and his years spent mostly in solitude had not made him a better conversationalist. Unless he was speaking with Violet or Mrs. Gunderson, he often felt as though he had nothing to say.
“I know about the rumors,” Captain Everleigh said. “I feel as though I should tell you that.”
Leo slowly nodded. “Everyone knows of them,” he replied dryly. “I would be more surprised if you did not.”
“Be that as it may…” Captain Everleigh paused. “I wanted you to know that neither Liza nor I believe them. Her Grace is happy being wed to you, and she speaks very highly of you.”
Did she? A gentle, reassuring warmth spread through Leo. He believed all of Violet’s reassurances that she trusted him, of course, but hearing that she spoke highly of him to other people filled him with the most powerful mingling of relief and affection. “Violet praises me too highly,” he said, “but I am trying to be the husband she deserves.”
Captain Everleigh raised his glass in a toast and grinned. “To being the husbands our wives deserve.”
Despite himself, Leo grinned and clinked his glass against the Captain’s. He finished the cognac, which Captain Everleigh refilled at once.
“What of Lady Priscilla?” Captain Everleigh asked. “She did not invite her husband to join us.”
“She has none,” Leo said. “He died some years ago.”
Captain Everleigh’s expression softened. “I apologize for my lack of sensitivity. I should not have assumed. I only thought that—being a lovely lady—she must have some husband.”
“Yes, well…” Leo trailed off. It was an awkward topic to mention, but Captain Everleigh was right. Anyone would guess that someone as kind and beautiful as Lady Priscilla would be wed. “She did consider marrying another after her husband’s death.”
“Oh?”
“Yes,” Leo replied. “However, I refused. I did not want the rumors to mar her reputation.”
Captain Everleigh nodded, as though he understood. Leo wondered if the man was thinking,but you were fine with those rumors ruining Violet’s reputation?Once, Leo had been. Now, though, he felt guilt clawing at his chest. He must be all the better to Violet as compensation for everything that she was forced to endure for his sake.
“It is unfortunate that women’s reputations are so easily ruined,” Captain Everleigh said, “and that they have so fewer means of escaping ruin than men do.”
Leo had not considered that, and a small part of him wondered what a man like Captain Everleigh could possibly know about having one’s reputation ruined. By all accounts, he was a good man with a vast fortune who had married above his own station.
“It is a difficult world for women generally,” Leo said.
“Indeed.”
“Liza has resolved to advocate for women’s education,” Captain Everleigh said. “I will need to undertake several voyages before remaining in London for good, but once I do, Liza intends to open a seminary for impoverished young women.”
“That is very noble.”
