Page 4 of The Duke of Lies
“I don’t know about tomorrow, but soon. And I will see about having a goat herd closer to the house.”
“That will be ever so nice,” Beau said with a sigh. “I’m going to be a good duke someday, Mama, because I will know how to care for all the animals and all the people at Beaumont Tower.”
She dropped a kiss on his head, inhaling the sweet scent of boy. “Yes, you will. You’ll be the best duke Beaumont Tower has ever known.”
The castle—Beaumont Tower itself—was situated on a hill with lower and upper courtyards, both of which were ringed by the castle proper. The main part of the castle that contained their living quarters encircled the upper courtyard. It had been a medieval stronghold and had since undergone several refurbishments in an effort to modernize. It was large and drafty and beautiful. To her, it was home.
A few minutes later, the coach drove through the entrance tower and into the lower courtyard, where it stopped at the base of the steps that led to the upper half of the castle. They stepped down, and Verity leaned down to hug and kiss Beau. “I’ll see you after lessons.”
“But first to luncheon,” the nurse said. “I am famished! Shall we race upstairs? Carefully,” she added, with a glance toward Verity.
Beau was already tearing off toward the upper gateway of the castle. “Try to catch me!”
Verity smiled after them as the spring sun warmed her head and shoulders. Closing her eyes, she tipped her head up to the sky and let the rays wash over her, basking her in the promise of a new beginning.
Ever since her dear cousin Diana had come to visit five months ago, Verity had been unsettled. Diana had come with her husband, though they hadn’t yet been wed—Verity had the pleasure of attending their wedding at Gretna Green. It had been the most romantic event she’d ever beheld. Their love and passion for each other was palpable, and Verity couldn’t have been happier for her favorite person.
And yet, it had only served to inform her that she was lonely, that she was without love or passion. Oh, she had Beau, and for him, she would be eternally grateful. For six years, she’d convinced herself that she didn’t need anything more. Until she’d realized she did.
Perhaps she wouldn’t find love or passion, but she would take charge, and she would make it possible for herselftofind those things, if she were lucky. But she’d already been lucky, she reminded herself. She had Beau, and she didn’t have Rufus. Fate had been quite kind, and she really had no reason to complain.
Not that she wascomplaining… She shook her head as she walked up the steps to the wide path and veered to the right side of the garden that flanked both sides of the stone walkway. How she loved the gardens—three of them—at Beaumont Tower. These were the places where she’d reigned, and they never failed to buoy her spirits. She searched now for the courage she needed to take the next step, to let Cuddy go and get Beau used to the idea that his father wouldn’t be coming home.
She had leaned down to smell the budding bloom of her favorite rose when the sound of a horse coming into the courtyard drew her to turn her head. The lone rider was large, broad shouldered, with a hat that shielded his face.
Verity walked back to the path and retraced her footsteps to the stairs. The rider steered the horse to the base of the steps and swung himself from the animal’s back. The hair on Verity’s neck stood up, and the warm spring day turned suddenly cold.
The man put one foot on the first step as he swept his hat from his head. Faint recognition was quickly chased by dread as his gaze found hers.
“I’m home.”
Chapter 2
Verity stared at the man—her husband, apparently—and felt an overwhelming urge to run into the house and bar the door against him. Could he really be here? After all this time?
A groom rushed toward them, alleviating the need for her to speak. In any case, she wasn’t sure she could.
Rufus turned toward the approaching retainer, who came to a dead stop several feet away. Even from this distance, Verity could see the shock register in the groom’s expression as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
The groom fumbled a bow. “Your Grace.” He sounded as disbelieving as Verity felt.
“Would you, ah, mind tending my horse?” Rufus sounded uncertain. And not at all like the man she remembered. Did she remember? It had been so many years, and she’d long ago forgotten the cadence of his voice, let alone the planes of his face. “And please have the saddle bags sent to the house.”Please?
The groom nodded, then took the horse toward the stables. Rufus watched the animal go before pivoting back toward where she stood near the top of the stairs. Then he slowly climbed toward her, each step a definitive click of his boot against the stone.
As he neared the top, Verity took a step back. Then another. When he reached the path, she had to lift her gaze to his face. Was he taller than she remembered? Again, she wasn’t sure she could rely on her memory at all, and yet that was all she had.
What did she remember? His light brown hair, his piercing hazel eyes, his firm, sometimes cruel jaw, his slender, aristocratic nose, his wide shoulders, and his long fingers—yes, she remembered those biting into her skin when he grabbed her.
She shuddered as the air around her turned colder still. “Where have you been?” It was the only thing she could think to say. And the question came out low and strained.
He took another step toward her, and she edged backward once more. “I beg your pardon?” he asked in a polite tone she would never have imagined him using.
She cleared her throat and willed herself to have courage. “Where have you been?”
“That is, ah, a long story, as you can probably guess. May we go inside?” He stared past her at the castle, and the look in his eyes was one of longing and perhaps…disbelief.
Well, that was one thing they had in common then. Good Lord, her husband was standing in front of her.
