Page 16 of His Haunted Duchess
“No curses have governed or ruined my life thus far; I’m certainly not going to let them begin now.” He straightened his surcoat. “My naive heroics were the cause of this scandal. I alone am responsible.”
Carlyle entered, carrying Frederic’s greatcoat on one arm. Esther shook her head.
“You’ve swung now to extremes and heap too much of the scandal on your own head.”
Frederic took his coat from Carlyle and donned it.
“Mine is the only head thick enough to bear it, I suppose.”
He bowed.
“It is my full intention to marry Lady Caroline Dresher.”
Carlyle cleared his throat.
“She resides at Kingston, Your Grace,” he said. “At the estate of her aunt, Lady Olivia.”
Esther pursed her lips and glared at Carlyle over her teacup. Frederic smiled.
“Thank you, Carlyle. Now that I’m set on doing it, it’ll be a relief to have the task completed.”
He buttoned the front of his coat as he moved towards the door.
“Take heart, mother—you’ll see my neck in the matrimonial noose at last.”
Esther sighed and helped herself to a bit of buttered toast. It was a morning for comfort.
CHAPTER 6
“Lady Caroline?” Winifred’s voice floated through the door. “Are you awake?”
Oscar meowed impatiently. Caroline said nothing. Perhaps Winifred would return back downstairs. The door cracked open. Oscar pattered across the floor and thumped onto the coverlet. He stepped forward slowly, pulsing the bedclothes with his paws like an overgrown kitten. Caroline patted his head.
“My lady?” Winifred opened the door the rest of the way. Caroline slowly pulled herself out of bed, like she was running through sand.
“I’m here,” she said. She stretched then let her arms droop back to the covers. “Quiet daybreak, isn’t it?”
She squinted through the curtains.What was the hour in any case?Winifred sat down a loaded tray. She laid her hand on Caroline’s back.
“We missed you this morning at breakfast, dear.”
Her voice was so calm, so understanding. Caroline looked down at the floor. She struggled against the grief rising in her chest.
“I slept in. Would you help me into my gown?”
Winifred went to the wardrobe and chose a quiet, gentle dress of airy beige organdy.
Caroline said nothing as Winifred helped her into it. Oscar curled up on the bed into the warm space she had left. He could have it; at least one of them, in the wake of her inevitable disgrace, could have some small consolation. Winifred buttoned the clasps on the back of her dress while Caroline held her hair.
“Your aunt is also distressed this morning.” She finished the dress, gesturing Caroline to a footstool. “Not even the monkey could cheer her up.”
“I’m certain she has a lot on her mind,” Caroline said, quietly. She blinked her swollen, red eyes hard. The scandal of the previous night whirled around her own head like a garish wooden top—whispering lips, narrowed eyes, shaking heads. She shut her eyes tighter, trying to block them out. How could she have been so foolish? She should have—should have?—
What?her reason asked mildly.What could you have done?
She could have done—ought to have done—something. She could have made an excuse and returned to the ball. She shuddered. Or gone further into the garden, perhaps. Then, none of this would have happened.
It was her curse—the dreaded curse that haunted her and everyone she loved. After all of these years, it had struck again and in a ruinous way. When the gentleman had rescued her in the garden, she thought?—
