The Duke's Secret Heir Read online

  With a bow the elderly retainer proceeded on his stately way, leaving Max standing in the hall. It was clear that Ellen had made a good impression upon the household, so that was a relief, and heaven knew there were plenty of other things to worry about. The interview with Tony had shown him that the financial situation was worse than he had suspected. He was tempted to summon Dorcas down to his study and have it out with her now, but that required a cool head, and he needed to think things through, first. The chime of a distant clock reminded him of the time. He had yet to change, so he headed for his room, taking the stairs two at a time.

  * * *

  When he entered the drawing room some forty minutes later he found Dorcas alone, idly flicking through the latest copy of the Lady’s Magazine.

  ‘Is the Duchess not with you?’ she asked, putting aside the periodical. ‘I made sure you would escort her, in case she should lose her way. After all, she will not be accustomed to living in such palatial surroundings.’

  Max ignored this.

  ‘I am glad to find you alone,’ he said. ‘There is something I want to say to you.’

  ‘No doubt it is about money.’ She plucked restlessly at her skirts. ‘Are you going to scold me?’

  ‘I would not be so impolite.’ He rested one hand on the fireplace, looking down into the empty hearth. ‘I have been going over the accounts with Tony. None of the economies I suggested have been put in place.’

  ‘You left me in charge. I did as I thought fit.’

  ‘You have blocked him at every turn, yet you know he was trying to carry out my wishes.’

  She hunched a shoulder. ‘Grisham is a soldier, as are you. What does either of you know of running a duke’s estate? The changes you suggest are ludicrous.’

  ‘They are necessary, if we are to survive.’

  ‘Survive? What nonsense is this? There have been Colnebrookes at Rossenhall since the Conqueror.’ Her lip curled. ‘It was never intended that you should inherit the title. You do not understand what is due to your station. You were not brought up to it. We must maintain our standing in the community. Would you have us live on air?’

  ‘Of course not, but neither would I have us living beyond our means.’ He glanced at her. ‘And it is not only the estates that are causing concern. You have been running up large bills, Dorcas.’

  ‘Fiddle. A few little purchases here and there.’

  His brows rose. ‘And last month’s bill from Tattersall’s for a curricle and pair? That was for your brother, I suppose.’

  ‘Giles must have something to drive.’ Her expression softened to a genuine smile. ‘He drove out to see me in it and he was so pleased—you are frowning, Maximilian. Would you begrudge the boy his happiness?’

  ‘Not at all, but it must not be at my expense. Hugo provided a handsome jointure for you, Dorcas, and I am happy for you to live here, but I will not fund your brother’s extravagance.’

  She hunted for her handkerchief. ‘Giles is all the family I have now.’

  ‘But there is no reason I should pay his gambling debts.’

  ‘It is but a few hundred pounds.’

  ‘A few thousand pounds,’ he corrected her.

  ‘Giles went to Brighton and had a run of bad luck—that is all.’

  ‘Do not try to fob me off. Tony has gone back through the books; this has become a regular occurrence.’

  ‘You would take that... that cripple’s word against mine!’

  ‘He lost an arm fighting for his country, madam, but it has in no way affected his brain!’ Max stopped, taking a deep breath while he regained his temper. He said more quietly, ‘I tell you now, Dorcas, any future expenses for your brother must be paid from your own funds. And if you will take my advice you will tell Giles that he must make his own way in the world. It is doing him no good to be so reliant upon you.’

  ‘He must live as befits his rank. Our father was a viscount—’

  ‘Without two groats to rub together,’ said Max brutally. ‘As a younger son Giles should have found himself some profession. Since he prefers not to do so, he must learn to live within his means.’

  She glared at him, angry spots of colour staining her cheeks.

  ‘No doubt you have gleaned these miserly ways from your wife,’ she said spitefully. ‘Trade is in her blood, after all. I am sure the merchant in her is cock-a-hoop at catching such a prize as you.’ She gave a savage laugh. ‘You do not think for one moment I believed that farrago of lies you set about? You never agreed to her living incognito, Maximilian.’ Her lip curled. ‘Oh, you need not worry. I shall not give away your secrets, but within these walls let me tell you that the woman is nothing but a charming fortune hunter. You have been duped, sir! Have you never wondered why she should keep herself hidden from you all these years, only to reappear once you had become Duke? She allowed you to find her!’

  ‘That is a lie.’

  Max frowned. Ellen could not have known he was going to be in Harrogate. He had not known it himself until Georgie’s last letter had arrived, but a glance at the Dowager’s confident smile shook him. He cast a challenging glance at her.

  ‘If that was the case, why did she not contact me as soon as I inherited the title?’

  Her eyes slid away from him, but she replied with a thin smile, ‘That would have looked very mercenary. How much better to let you think it was all your own doing, that she was reluctant to foist herself upon you?’

  Before Max could reply there came a soft voice behind him.

  ‘I beg your pardon. Am I very late?’

  Max turned, the breath catching in his throat when he saw Ellen hesitating in the doorway. She was dressed in the red silk net she had worn the first time he had seen her in Harrogate, a matching ribbon threaded through the golden curls artlessly arranged about her head and a glitter of diamonds at her neck. In the ballroom she had looked ravishing, her cheeks flushed, eyes sparkling with laughter. Now she looked pale, a little apprehensive, but no less desirable, as his body was making very clear. Angrily he trampled those feelings, forced them deep. What he felt now was not love, merely lust for a beautiful woman. Four years of bitterness and pain had wiped out any affection he might feel. However, it was not his plan to show any discord before his sister-in-law, so he moved forward to greet Ellen, briefly carrying her hand to his lips.

  ‘I trust you managed to rest,’ he said politely.

  ‘Yes, thank you. How did you spend your time?’

  ‘I have been with my steward, Anthony Grisham.’

  ‘Ah, yes, you mentioned him when we drove in. He lives in the lodge we passed, near the gates.’

  Max nodded. ‘Yes. He was sorry not to be here to greet you earlier, but you will meet him tomorrow.’

  ‘I shall look forward to it.’

  Max thought of the way old Perkins had unbent towards the new Duchess, the smile that lit up Mrs Greenwood’s face when she talked of her new mistress. Doubtless Ellen would charm Anthony, just like the rest of his staff.

  She would charm you, too, if you would let her.

  He pushed the thought away. Once burned, twice shy. He would not trust her with his heart again.

  ‘And how do you like your rooms, Your Grace?’ Dorcas asked Ellen.

  Max noted his wife’s hesitation and said quickly, ‘The Duke and Duchess’s suites were refurbished by my brother, in a manner befitting his rank.’

  His own bedchamber was a masterpiece of ostentation, the massive bed hung with heavy damask hangings decorated with strawberry leaves and each of the bedposts topped with a gilded coronet. The Duchess’s room was similarly ornate, with no expense spared on gold leaf and rich embroidery. Max guessed it was not to Ellen’s taste, but he did not wish her to voice her opinion. He might hate it, but he could never say so. It would seem like a criticism of
Hugo.

  After meeting his eye for a pregnant moment she replied with a smile.

  ‘How could I be other than delighted with my apartment?’

  The Dowager gave a thin smile and began to explain how she had designed the hangings herself.

  ‘And the Indian wallpaper, too. Dear Hugo was determined on having the finest furnishings at Rossenhall and spared no expense.’

  Dorcas trailed off and glanced nervously at Max. She was obviously recalling their earlier conversation, but he had no intention of referring to it again. That money was spent and there was no point in more recriminations.

  * * *

  Ellen felt the tension in the room, but for once it was not between her and Max, and she was thankful for that. Dorcas rose and shook out her skirts.

  ‘Shall we go in to dinner?’ She turned to Ellen. ‘I hope you do not think it is too late an hour, anything earlier is considered quite provincial, you know. I have no idea what time you were wont to dine. Harrogate society has its own rules, I suppose.’

  Ellen ignored the sneering tone and said she was perfectly ready to dine at any hour that suited her sister. The Duke escorted both ladies to the dining room, but as they entered Dorcas stopped and stared. She gave an outraged gasp.

  ‘Did you order this, Maximilian?’ she snapped.

  ‘It was my doing, Dorcas,’ said Ellen. ‘I spoke to Perkins and asked him to put us both at this end of the table, near the Duke. When we are dining alone it is quite ridiculous that I should sit at the far end, where I would have difficulty both seeing and hearing what is going on.’ She turned to Max. ‘If Your Grace is opposed to it, I shall order it to be put back.’

  He said shortly, ‘As mistress here now, madam, you must order things as you wish.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  Ellen tried to meet his eyes, but he would not look at her. Nevertheless, she was grateful for his support.

  * * *

  Dinner was a quiet affair, the conversation polite but desultory until the covers were removed and the servants withdrew, leaving the diners to enjoy their sweet wine and the little dishes of bonbons. Dorcas sighed.

  ‘Really, I do not know what they will be saying below stairs, to see us so crowded up in this way. Hugo would never have allowed such informality.’

  ‘There are always changes with a new master,’ said Ellen gently. ‘I hope it will not be too distressing for you, Dorcas.’

  ‘Oh, dear me, no,’ replied the Dowager. ‘I am not concerned for myself, dear, but for you. Living in a ducal household will be a great change for you.’

  ‘I am sure it will,’ agreed Ellen. ‘No doubt I will grow accustomed to living in the grand style.’

  ‘Not so very grand, if Maximilian has his way,’ tittered Dorcas. ‘He will have us all living on bread and water.’

  ‘Oh?’ Ellen turned to look at him. ‘Did Mr Grisham have bad news for you this afternoon?’

  ‘He did. We are not reduced to penury, but the estate is not paying its way and it has not done so for years.’

  ‘I hope you are not blaming dear Hugo for the straits you now find yourself in,’ said Dorcas sharply.

  Ellen noticed Max’s hesitation, as if he was loath to criticise his brother.

  ‘You must admit he did nothing to help,’ he said at last. ‘Instead of improving the land and making the tenant farms more profitable, there were too many ambitious schemes and wild speculations, to say nothing of the lavish entertaining.’

  Dorcas sat up very straight. ‘And why should we not entertain?’

  ‘No reason at all, but was it necessary to have the town house completely refurbished?’

  ‘It is expected that the Duke of Rossenhall should live well.’

  ‘To live well, yes, but not beyond our means.’

  ‘Hugo’s inheritance was severely diminished. It was your father’s crisis of conscience that has put us in this position,’ stated Dorcas. ‘He was very foolish to sell the family’s interests in the West Indies and free the slaves. Atherwell was against it and Hugo tried to tell him, but he would not be swayed.’

  ‘That was ten years ago,’ Max replied shortly. ‘The finances should have recovered by now.’

  ‘How would you know that?’ Dorcas threw at him. ‘You have rarely been here.’

  ‘I know and I am beginning to regret it,’ he replied. ‘If I had spent more time at Rossenhall and seen for myself what state things were in rather than taking yours and Atherwell’s word that everything was in order, at least I would have been better prepared for what I would find.’

  ‘So now you are going to make life a misery with your cuts and economies,’ snapped the Dowager. ‘It will be so uncomfortable.’

  ‘If you do not like my economies, Dorcas, then I suggest you remove to the dower house and live on your widow’s jointure.’

  ‘I am sure it will not be so very bad,’ said Ellen pacifically. ‘And perhaps we might increase our income with wise investments.’

  Dorcas nodded eagerly. ‘Max could buy back the West Indian properties.’

  ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘I will not do that.’

  ‘Surely you do not think there is any risk in it?’ Dorcas selected a sweetmeat from the dish in front of her. She said comfortably, ‘Slavery will never be abolished. How can it be, how would we survive without slaves to work the plantations?’

  Max set his glass down.

  ‘Let me be plain with you, Dorcas. If I had been in England at the time I would have agreed with Father and supported the bill,’ said Max steadily. ‘I cannot condone slavery; I have seen too much of it.’

  ‘There are other investments we could make,’ put in Ellen. ‘There are any number of possibilities in this country, the new canals, for instance, or coal and steel. Or perhaps the new manufactories that are growing in the north. It need not be speculation, but sound business sense. The returns could be used to improve your estates and make them profitable.’

  Dorcas gave a little snort of derision. ‘That smacks of trade.’

  Ellen waved one hand. ‘It is all trade, whether it is importing sugar or tea from the Indies or producing goods here.’ She turned back to Max. ‘Papa used to say a wise man would spread his investments to protect against a calamity in any one of the markets. I could put you in touch with his old friends in the city who could advise you. I am sure they would remember his name.’

  ‘No doubt.’ Dorcas sniggered. ‘Especially now it is linked to the Duke of Rossenhall! Really, Max, it is not to be thought of. We would be besieged by toadying mushrooms.’

  Ellen felt a little spurt of anger. She said quietly, ‘Some of those toadying mushrooms could purchase the entire Rossenhall estates twice over.’

  Max gave a bark of laughter. ‘Very true.’ He looked at Ellen. ‘It is worth considering. It could do no harm to talk to your father’s contacts.’

  ‘Maximilian,’ Dorcas said sharply, ‘Cartwright and Busby have always handled the family’s investments.’

  ‘And they have done nothing for us for years,’ he retorted. ‘We will look into it. We could sell one or two of the smaller properties to fund it, perhaps.’

  ‘That might not be necessary,’ replied Ellen. ‘I have capital that is not invested.’

  The Dowager pounced on that. ‘I would remind you, Duchess, that everything you own now belongs to your husband. He does not need your consent to use it as he wishes.’

  ‘Yes, thank you, Dorcas.’

  Ellen reeled at Dorcas’s words and barely heard Max’s impatient retort. Foolish of her to forget even for a moment that she and Max were not equals.

  When they had married, in the heat of the pitiless Egyptian sun, she had trusted Max implicitly. Mrs Ackroyd had suggested that they should wait and have settlements drawn up, but Ellen
had been too impatient, too in love with Max to consider such a thing necessary. In a moment of recklessness, at the age of two-and-twenty, she had given up her life and her fortune to a husband. Her step-mama had always maintained with some amusement that when Ellen finally fell in love, it would be very heavily indeed. How right she had been, but it was no laughing matter.

  She glanced at Max now, as he frowned at his sister-in-law. Dorcas had only spoken the truth. Ellen had no doubt she could run the Duke’s households, manage his staff and even stand up for herself against the Dowager, but the thought that everything, including her beloved child, could be taken away from her at the whim of the man sitting at the head of the table sent a chill running down her spine. Better not to think of that. She pushed back her chair.

  ‘I think we should leave the Duke to his brandy,’ she said quietly.

  * * *

  Dorcas followed Ellen back to the drawing room and at first she seemed intent upon making up for her previous ill humour. She drew Ellen into conversation, but it was soon clear that her only intention was to convey in the subtlest way that she thought the new Duchess wholly unsuited to her role. After listening silently for a good ten minutes to her strictures, Ellen had had enough and when the Dowager paused for breath she broke in, speaking quietly, but leaving her sister-in-law in no doubt of her displeasure.

  ‘Let us be plain with one another, Dorcas. I know you do not want me here, you think me nothing better than a tradesman’s chit.’ The Dowager’s eyes widened at that and she looked suddenly anxious. Ellen nodded. ‘I am well aware you think my birth is far too lowly for this elevated position, but I am the Duke’s lawful wife and I shall fulfil that role to the best of my ability. Max did not marry me for my money, but it is not unusual for a nobleman to choose a rich wife, regardless of her birth. In fact, at least half a dozen of my schoolfellows married titles and some of them came from far more dubious backgrounds than mine. So I have no fear of being ostracised by society when we go to town next spring.’ Dorcas was looking quite furious and Ellen decided she had said enough for one evening. She rose and declared that she was going to bed. ‘I hope we have cleared the air a little and can start afresh tomorrow.’