How easily Devlin had gotten rid of the only living relatives he had. She was both impressed and scared. Impressed at his strength, and scared at how little they meant to him. Was he this cold? What if he ever decided to throw her out?
She couldn’t stop a giggle at the mental picture of Devlin throwing her out. Poor man, if he ever would try something like that. Her brothers had taught her how she best could defend herself if attacked. If her husband discarded her, she would use every last trick she had learnt.
Mrs. Blair offered her more tea, but this time Fanny declined. It was time for her to continue her investigation of her new home and leave the housekeeper to her chores.
As Mrs. Blair headed toward the kitchen, carrying the tray, Fanny decided there was no way she would sit in this room the whole day, not when the weather outside was warm and sunny.
When she passed the foyer, she gave a footman her letters for delivery and then headed toward the front door. Jarvis, the butler, frowned at her as he opened the door hesitantly for her.
“Wouldn’t you be much more comfortable in your parlor, Your Grace?”
“No, thank you, Jarvis,” Fanny smiled, a bit awed at being called Your Grace. “I’d rather go outside, as it seems to be such a lovely day.”
“But Your Grace…”
Sending him her most shining smile, she dashed out through the door and ignored his stuttering behind her. She didn’t care if she was being rude; she wasn’t the kind of person who enjoyed spending day after day in a secluded parlor, as the servants seemed to think she should.
Slowly she strolled in the gardens, enjoying the beautiful summer weather. The castle rose high overhead as she walked through the perfectly kept grounds surrounding it.
Upon her return to the entrance, she found an empty coach parked in front of the stair leading up to the front door.
Fanny hesitated for a second before entering the house in search of the visitor. A part of her wanted to do the impolite thing and avoid the guest, but as her mother probably would kill her if she ever learnt Fanny had eluded a visitor at her new home, she decided not to try.
And besides, she was pathetically desperate for some company.
So when Jarvis informed her that Mrs. Overton had arrived, she merely nodded her head in agreement.
“I’ve put her into the parlor next the foyer, Your Grace, as we do usually place visitors.” With that he showed Fanny into the room where the dame sat in the armchair beside the roaring fire.
Fanny sat on the sofa, facing the elderly lady who looked as fragile as an old parchment. White wispy hair surrounded the delicately lined face where large, somewhat faded blue eyes dominated. Her small frame was dressed in the most vivid pink dress Fanny had ever seen, a dress one would have thought better suited for a much younger woman than Mrs. Overton.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Mrs. Overton.” Fanny smiled politely and offered a cup of tea from the tray Jarvis brought, with impressive foresight, and set on the small table. “You are the first of my husband’s acquaintances I have met since we arrived here yesterday.”
“Thank you,” Mrs. Overton said graciously in an amazingly strong voice for such a small person. She accepted the cup of tea Fanny held out. “I have always made sure no newcomers arrive in our parish without being properly greeted and introduced to our small corner of east England.”
“How nice of you, Mrs. Overton.”
“I know,” the old lady admitted, and Fanny had to cough to cover her laughter. Mrs. Overton cast a probing gaze upon her, and Fanny forced herself to sit still, trying to look as innocent as possible.
“So where is your new husband?” Mrs. Overton continued. “I haven’t seen the young man for quite some time now, as he has been abroad for so many years. I do hope everything fares well with him?”
Fanny smiled inwardly at the lady’s transparent attempt to get information from her hostess. This visitor was no different from the ladies of her own home parish in Berkshire. In small communities, gossip was like air, and everyone constantly searched for information about others. No one could do anything without everyone knowing about it.
Living in the countryside had its benefits, but this wasn’t one of them. As Fanny didn’t know how Devlin felt about the ladies and their wagging tongues, she decided to tell the lady as little as she possibly could without being rude.
“He is just fine. Thank you so much for asking.”
Mrs. Overton bent forward and patted Fanny’s hand. “You poor little thing. You have to promise to come and see me if you feel lonely, as I know it can’t be easy for a young girl to be married to such a busy man as Hereford. And you must miss your family dearly, being such a young girl. This was your debutante year, I understood?”
Fanny nodded, thankful for not having to answer in more detail. Mrs. Overton frowned, a bit vexed with her hostess. She obviously had thought it would be easier than this to obtain the information she wanted.
“It must be hard for you, being so far away from your mother. I have always said a husband is just a husband, a friend is just a friend, but a mother will always be a mother, no matter the distance. You must come to see me if you feel lonely. You are always welcome, my dear child.”
“Thank you,” Fanny replied politely, silently promising herself to never go there alone. She really didn’t like the older woman’s gossipy nature, and loathed her probing questions. There were some things about people’s private lives you just didn’t ask.
She offered Mrs. Overton cakes, which were accepted with a little cry of joy; the lady obviously had a sweet tooth. Just as Mrs. Overton put the last cake in her mouth, Jarvis entered the room, closely followed by a young lady who gazed around her with eyes big as saucers and her mouth open wide.
She had obviously never been to Pendragon before and was now having the time of her life, finally getting to see what was inside this magnificent old castle.
“Your Grace…” Mrs. Overton’s carefully modulated tones became a high-pitched squeal in reaction to her excitement. “It is my pleasure to introduce to you my own dear, dear granddaughter, Annabelle.”
Mrs. Overton stared pointedly at the young lady, who stepped forward in a superior manner with a simpering smile on her pretty face. Fanny disliked her immediately, as Miss Overton was obviously spoiled rotten and too aware of her own beauty.
Fanny had no doubt this girl must be the incomparable one among the socialites in the parish. It was like seeing Charmaine in the shape of another girl. Yet even though this girl was prettier than most, she was far from the astounding beauty of the incomparable queen of the London
ton
.
For her part, the girl took one look at Fanny and apparently crossed her off the list of rivals for the place as the most popular beauty and instead gawked at the gloriously decorated room, obviously awed by its luxury. Fanny had no doubt the Overton family lacked large funds. Besides the staring, small details about their outfits and the worn old carriage at the steps told Fanny the truth.
“How nice to meet you, Miss Overton,” Fanny said with a slight bow of her head, silently putting a distance between her and the guests by being impersonally polite. Unfortunately, Mrs. Overton wasn’t a person who listened to others, not what they told her straight out and especially not what lay between the lines. She had already decided her own granddaughter, now that she couldn’t become the new duchess, should be Fanny’s best friend, and nothing was going to stop her from achieving her goals.
“Oh, you must call each other by your first names, being of the same age as you are. As her friend, you can feel free to call her Belle.”
Both Overton ladies looked expectantly at Fanny, waiting for her permission to use her given name in return. She cursed silently, not knowing how to get out of this awful situation.
But, being her special knight in shining armor, Devlin chose just this moment to search for his wife. “Ah, I see we have visitors,” he exclaimed as he entered the parlor, unaware he had saved his wife from a fate worse than death, that of becoming Annabelle’s friend.
Mrs. Overton cried out with joy and rushed forward to greet the magnificent man who stood before her. Her granddaughter, who obviously had never met Devlin before, looked unusually un-pretty as she stared at the duke, her mouth wide open.
Fanny hid a smile. She knew Devlin was a lot to take in even when one was already acquainted with him, and seeing this splendid-looking man for the first time had to be a shock like no other. Mrs. Overton had to say her granddaughter’s name four times before she woke from her stupor and was able to collect the pieces of her dignity enough to perform a stumbling curtsy in greeting.
“We have missed you sorely, Your Grace,” Mrs. Overton said as Devlin sat down in the only free armchair, opposite his wife. Fanny kept her gaze on her guests, but she could feel Devlin’s eyes on her.
She had no doubt her husband was very nervous about how he would be met by her today, and she could hardly blame him for his insecurity. She had been quite unstable in her behavior toward him these last days, from extremely happy during the wedding to extremely angry in the carriage to extremely passionate in bed. It was no surprise he wasn’t sure where he was with her.
She was a little annoyed with him, though, as he had, after all, left her this morning without one word and stayed away nearly the whole day. A part of her wanted to punish him for it, make him suffer a little, so he would know what she had gone through that day, not knowing where he was or who he was with. But her heart was too good, she thought with a wry smile, because her conscience told her not to give him pain.
Instead of ignoring him, she looked directly at him with a sweet, alluring smile. It turned him into stone for a second, before a fire started to burn in those golden eyes.
Poor Mrs. Overton and Miss Overton. They had no idea their host was now in desperate need of them to get lost, so he could hurl himself upon his duchess and kiss her senseless.
The lady chattered on, talking about this and that, who had done what during the years Devlin had stayed away, unaware of how unwanted she actually was. All the while, Annabelle sent Devlin flirty looks more like the ones a common whore would send a prospective client than those an innocent young miss sent a man of her liking, especially when the man’s wife sat right beside her.
After finishing three cups of tea and two plates of cake, Mrs. Overton and her granddaughter finally declared themselves ready to leave. But not before they forced a promise from Fanny that she and Devlin would attend an upcoming Overton dinner party.
“You certainly do know how to choose your friends,” Devlin said as he and Fanny finally were alone again.
“It’s almost impossible to tell the woman no.” Fanny laughed. “She won’t take no for an answer. Or actually, she won’t take an answer at all! Lord, how will I ever be able to get out of her dinner party without hurting any feelings, or ending up on the social black list?”
“You shouldn’t worry about black lists, my dear, as you are the Duchess of Hereford and as such the unmovable queen of social life here. Mrs. Overton knows this too, and I would hazard a guess that would be why she rushed here, so she could make sure she would end up on your good list. As your guide to society here and as the one to introduce you to others, she will climb the social ladder, and I dare say her granddaughter will have better hands in marriage to choose from.”
“It sounds so shallow.” Fanny frowned. “Everybody must know social standings are not important. It is the family who really count.”
Devlin gave her an amused smile. “You really don’t understand the slippery ladder most other debutantes and their families have to climb, do you?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t.
“So I am important to you, then?” he teased her, and she cursed silently as she felt a blush creep over her cheeks.
“Well, you are my husband, so I guess you should matter,” she replied with a wink.
He leaned back in his armchair and, with a sultry grin, beckoned her with a finger to come to him. At first she decided to refuse. She was still a little upset with him, first for dragging her away from her family, and then for leaving her all alone, without caring how her day was.
But again, she did find his kissing most wonderful, and so, before she could change her mind, she went to him. He grabbed her by the waist and hauled her into his lap, as if he liked having her close to him.
She leaned her head against his chest, and he kissed her hair as he put his arms around her. She sighed happily and felt him chuckle in response.
“I must say I find your honesty in speech and reactions most attractive.”
“Where have you been today?” Fanny ignored his comment, asked the question uppermost in her mind and, glancing up, saw he smiled with his reply.
“It pleases me more than I thought possible that you care enough to want to know where I’ve been.”
She frowned at him. “Of course I care about where you are. You’re my husband.”
“So I am.”
“I must admit I felt a bit abandoned when I woke up and found myself alone in bed, without any knowledge of your departure or your whereabouts.”
“I was making sure my aunt and my cousins got on their way.”
“So I heard.” Fanny sighed. “Please don’t tell me you threw them out of here because of me?”
“Of course I did. I don’t want your first time at Pendragon to be colored by that witch and her children.”
“Devlin, this is awful. You really shouldn’t have done such a thing.”
“Oh yes I should, and I did. It should have been done years ago.”
“But it’s so brutish. Your poor, poor aunt.”
Devlin snorted at her misdirected compassion. “Poor aunt? There is nothing poor about Delia. She would have made life terrible for you. It’s better this way, with all our relatives a couple of days away.”