Valerie Bowman - Secrets of a Scandalous Marriage

“And this is my sister, the Countess of Ashbourne,” Lily continued.

The younger woman stood, reached out, and squeezed Kate’s hand too in a terribly friendly gesture. “Just call me Annie, please,” she said. Annie was nearly as pretty as her sister with dark brown hair and soft brown eyes. Both ladies were so the opposite of what Kate had expected, she wanted to sigh with relief. Instead, she became exceedingly conscious of the fact that she hadn’t said anything yet and the two lovely sisters were staring at her with expectant looks upon their faces.

“I … I’m Kate.” Ooh. She should have been a bit more formal. She pinched the inside of her arm. “Please do not call me ‘your grace,’” she blurted next, and her fear that the sisters would think she was mad was quickly dispelled when both of them smiled widely at her. “Absolutely not. We wouldn’t think of it,” Lily said. “Now, come and sit.” Lily motioned to the settee.

Annie leaned over and said in a conspiratorial voice, “Locke is bringing tea and cakes, and I’ll let you in on a secret if you have not already discovered it yourself. Medford has the best teacakes.”

Kate didn’t bother trying to hide her smile. Peeresses who seemed as devoted to teacakes as she? Oh yes, Kate could become friends with these two ladies, she was quite sure of it.

“It’s very nice to meet you both,” Kate murmured, hoping she didn’t sound like a fool.

“We want you to know right away,” Lily said, “that we do not for one moment think you are guilty. I had the, ahem, misfortune of meeting your husband and I have to believe there were a great number of people who wished him dead.”

Kate bit her lip and did her best to hide her smile. “I see. Thank you for that.”

“But I must ask, my dear,” Lily continued. “Is it true you’d asked him for a divorce?”

Kate took a deep breath. There was something about these two, their openness and friendly demeanors, that made her feel safe answering the question. “Yes. I’m afraid so. Ours was a very unhappy marriage.”

Lily watched her with sympathetic violet eyes. “It must have been truly awful for you.”

Kate let out a sigh of relief. Two peeresses who would not censure her for wanting a scandalous divorce either? The sisters truly were special.

“Well, I don’t blame you,” Annie said. “We’re quite happy that you’ll have an opportunity to write your story for Medford.”

Kate’s eyes went wide. “You know about Lord Medford’s printing press?” She wanted to kick herself again for asking the question. Of course they must know, why else would they think she was here? But the question had just flown from her mouth.

“Oh, we’ve known for quite some time,” Lily replied with a wink.

“And you’re not…” Kate lowered her voice. “Scandalized by it?”

“Oh, certainly not,” Lily replied with a laugh and a quick shake of her dark head.

Annie laughed too. “Oh, now we shall be forced to tell her our secrets, Lily.”

Kate looked back and forth between the two of them, knowing her eyes must be wide as the teacakes. “Your secrets?”

Lily gave her a conspiratorial grin. “Yes. You see, you happen to be sitting next to the authors of Secrets of a Wedding Night and Secrets of a Runaway Bride.”

“No!” Kate’s mouth fell open. She clapped a hand over it.

Annie’s face wore a catlike smile. She nodded resolutely. “Yes.”

Lily settled into the settee and kicked out her legs in front of her, in what Kate assumed was a most unmarchionesslike style. “Guilty. So you see, you are about to join our illustrious club. Although our pamphlets were anonymous of course,” she finished with another wink.

“I promise not to tell anyone it was you,” Kate said. How marvelous that these ladies were so open and friendly with her, trusting her with their secrets so completely. It seemed too much to hope for, really.

“I must say, I’m a bit surprised,” Kate murmured.

“Whatever for?” Annie asked.

“James…” She cleared her throat. “Lord Medford doesn’t seem entirely convinced of my innocence, but both of you—”

Lily tossed a hand in the air. “Oh, ignore Medford. He fancies himself a businessman. And we don’t always see eye to eye. Knowing Medford, I’m surprised he hasn’t taken over your defense himself and seen to it that you’re acquitted by now.”

Kate’s blush heated her face. Lily must have noticed it. “He has, hasn’t he?” she asked, plunking her hands on her hips again.

Kate bit her lip and nodded. “Mr. Abernathy, the barrister, was here, at Lord Medford’s request.”

Annie nodded. “Now that sounds like our Medford.”

“Yes,” Lily agreed. “He’s a fixer. Always putting things to rights. It’s just in him. He cannot help but rescue a damsel in distress.”

Kate shook her head. “Oh, but he’s not trying to save me … really. He just wants his pamphlet and—”

“Do not believe that for one moment,” Lily replied. “First of all, look at you, you’re absolutely breathtaking, and secondly, Medford may seem calculating, but he isn’t. Not at all. He couldn’t be if he wanted to. He’ll do anything in his power to help you, Kate. Truly.”

Kate couldn’t help her blush again. The marchioness had called her breathtaking. And coming from a lady who looked much like a goddess herself, that was a true compliment. But Kate wasn’t about to argue with Lord Medford’s close friend about his intentions. He’d made it clear that the pamphlet was all he wanted from her and she clearly had a much different relationship with him than his friends did, which stood to reason, of course.

Locke carried in the tea tray just then and Annie clapped her hands, changing the subject. “Oh good. Cakes!”

They waited for Locke to slide the tray onto the low table in front of them, serve the tea, and retreat from the room before Lily spoke again. She turned to Kate. “So, Medford tells us that you want to enjoy yourself while you’re here.”

Kate gulped. When she put it that way, it sounded positively indecent. Oh, how could these ladies think she wasn’t guilty if she was such an awful wife that she wanted to enjoy herself while her husband lay dead in the ground? “You mustn’t think badly of me for saying that,” Kate answered. “It’s just that … I may not have much time left.” Her voice trailed off for a bit and then she said softly, “It’s complicated.”

“Oh, we don’t judge you. Not one bit,” Lily replied. She reached over and placed a hand over Kate’s and squeezed. “I cannot imagine how difficult it must be for you. How frightening. Besides, I was once a widow with very few choices. I know how difficult it can be for a woman in our Society. I could never judge you.”

“Thank you for that,” Kate replied, swallowing the lump that had unexpectedly formed in her throat.

Annie delicately picked up a cake from the silver tea tray and dropped it onto her saucer. “Tell us. What is it that you wish to do, Kate? What is your fondest dream?”

Kate plucked a cake from the tray too, then she laughed. “Oh, I fear you’d think me quite silly if I told you.”

“Oh, please do,” Annie replied with a conspiratorial grin just before taking a sip of her tea. “I am ever so fond of silliness.”

“Yes, tell us,” Lily prompted, swiping a teacake of her own. “You wouldn’t believe the silliness the two of us can get up to if given half the chance.” She motioned toward Annie.

Kate smiled at that. The sisters seemed like such lovely ladies. They would have been the types of women she could well have been friendly with had she been a part of the world her husband had inhabited. If things, everything, had been different. As it was she wouldn’t know them very long. She shook her head and swallowed the second lump that formed in her throat over that thought. She pressed her lips together and faced the marchioness and the countess. “Very well. The truth is, I should like very much to visit a farm.”

Annie blinked rapidly. “A farm?”

Lily joined in the blinking. “A farm?”

Kate glanced away, wondering briefly if she could hide under the settee. “Oh, I knew you would think it was silly.”

Annie shook her head. “No, no, not at all. I was just making sure I had heard you correctly. I don’t think I ever met a duchess who wanted to visit a farm.”

Kate blushed. “I know, it’s ridiculous, but you see, I was raised on a farm and I miss it. The animals, the meadows, the fields, the barns.”

“I don’t know that I’ve ever been to a farm,” Lily said, taking another nibble from her cake. “It shall be an adventure for us, Annie. Though I cannot believe the meadows are much to look at in winter. But we shall make the best of it.”

Annie nodded rapidly. “Oh yes, a farm sounds absolutely lovely. You must show us what a farm is like, Kate.”

Kate furrowed her brow. “What do you mean?”

“Now who is being silly?” Lily asked. “We mean we intend to take you to a farm.”

Kate’s heart beat rapidly. “Do you truly think we could sneak off to a farm?”

Lily handed her another cake. “Consider it done.”

When Abernathy returned that afternoon to meet privately with James in his study, the news was not good.

“It appears it shall be a difficult case, my lord,” Abernathy announced. “More difficult than we first imagined, I’m afraid.”

James sat forward in his chair, bracing his forearms on the desk, and shook his head. “That’s saying something. What’s happened?”

Abernathy cleared his throat and pulled his ubiquitous stack of papers from his bag. The stack hit the desktop with a loud thunk, and Abernathy tapped the papers with a finger. “I’ve reviewed all of the evidence gathered at the inquest. The witnesses’ statements are most damaging. A number of the servants, including his grace’s valet, and Lady Bettina Swinton overheard the argument between the duke and the duchess just before he was killed.”