“I hope later you can tell me more about meeting my parents,” Julian said.
“I would be happy to,” Serafina’s aunt said, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. “I was with my beloved husband at the time. And we both enjoyed spending time with your parents so very much.”
“Thank you,” Julian said with a bow. “And I must also inform you all that I have spoken with Serafina, and I hope she forgives me,” he said, looking over at her.
“It seems that we both carried an uncomfortable secret. And all is forgiven.” She smiled, her dark eyes glowed with an inner light that took his breath away.
“That is good to hear. But speaking of secrets,” Richmond said. “Baron Grimsby has quite a few. You should all be aware of how dangerous he is. He has an unnatural fixation with Serafina,” Richmond said. “I’ve informed all the footmen here because the man is unpredictable. Two years back, in Sussex, Grimsby became obsessed with another young woman, a few years younger than Serafina. He kidnapped her and kept her hidden away until he…well, until he was done with her.”
“He paid a gang of thieves to kill her and bury her somewhere,” Danforth continued. “His men didn’t follow his directions, likely taking pity on the girl, and left her battered body in a field outside a village a few miles from where Grimsby had kept her prisoner. Luckily, an elderly couple, a squire and his wife, discovered her beaten and bruised body and rescued her. They sent for the local doctor, a friend who understood the importance of discretion, tended to her, and made a note of every single bruise and cut and wound that Grimsby had done to her…every vile thing he did to that poor girl.”
“What happened to the girl?” Julian asked, taking Serafina’s trembling hand in his.
“The girl remained at the squire’s home where she now lives and works as one of their maids,” Danforth replied. “They encouraged the girl to tell the authorities what happened, but since she wasn’t a member of the peerage, her word wouldn’t be enough against his, so nothing was officially done. Still, it wasn’t forgotten. The old couple had a nephew who was a runner, and they told him everything. The runner wrote a full accounting of it and submitted it to his superiors. They did attempt to locate Grimsby, but the blackguard disappeared and only resurfaced recently, here in Bath.”
“Serafina, you cannot go anywhere without an escort until we have caught this blackguard,” Richmond said. “And you are not to go to your shop without one. In fact, I insist that you take a footman.”
“Yes, Uncle, I promise,” Serafina replied. “Wait. I received this yesterday but forgot about it until earlier this afternoon when Martha discovered it in my pocket, as she was taking it to clean it.” She fished out a note from her pocket. “I think it’s from the baron.” She handed the note to her uncle. “It’s supposedly signed by Julian. Except I received it yesterday, while Julian was here, sketching the Golden Duchesses. I was going to mention it earlier but got distracted by our conversation.” She looked apologetically at Julian.
“It’s all right, Serafina,” he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.How dare the man pretend to be him? Julian turned to Richmond. “If you’ll permit me, my lord, I will be Serafina’s escort at all times.”
“Agreed, if you will join me for a drink in my office tomorrow afternoon,” Richmond said. “And I still insist that even with you, I want an additional footman to be present with Serafina at all times.”
“That’s exactly what I intended,” Julian replied. “And I agree to the extra footman.”
“We need to find the baron,” Julian said. “I have friends I can contact.”
“We are currently investigating him,” Danforth said. “Both Richmond and I have contacts with the Crown, and they have men looking into this. We suspect that there may be other girls he accosted, including the daughter of an earl. But we need to keep it quiet for now and give them time to follow all their leads. We are doing our best to take Grimsby down, but until we can, please always remain alert.”
From the spothe had secured behind a hedge of mulberry, Baron Grimsby pressed his eye as hard as he could against the spyglass. “I’m not sure what you are doing in that townhouse so often…but you’ll be out of my way soon, Kerr.” He slammed the spyglass shut and tucked it away. “Soon I’ll be rid of you for good. And then I’ll have her all to myself,” he said with a sneer before slipping away to his waiting carriage.
CHAPTER 10
Two mornings later
Serafina planned to stay home for a few days, shaken by the news from her Uncle Carlton and the Duke of Danforth. And that note that wasn’t written by Julian—but by Baron Grimsby.
“Good morning, my dear,” Aunt Dora said as Serafina entered the dining room. “This morning, Richmond sent word that Grimsby hadn’t been to his townhouse in days, nor has he been seen around town. His footman informed Richmond and Danforth that the baron was traveling but didn’t want to give any more details.We think it’s better if you stay with us today until this sordid matter is cleared up.”
“Frankly, the whole mess scares me senseless,” Aunt Rosalind said, sipping her tea. “I really like this lemon tea, by the way. I’m hearing good things about lemon in a woman’s diet. Everyone should try it.”
“Lemon is sour. It’ll dry out your face,” Aunt Sophy said, causing the women to look at her. “All right, I’m teasing. It’sjust that we’re discussing something important, and she talks about lemons. I’m going to ask Charles if any more missives have arrived.” She got up and walked out of the dining room.
“Is your young man expected today?” Aunt Bianca asked, stirring cream into her tea. “I’m anxious to see our portrait.”
It was no use to even comment on her aunt’s remark, because at this point, it was accepted that Julian was her young man. And during the sitting, they had invited him to refer to them the same as she did, as aunt. Her mind went back to their conversation the day before.My God! Julian is a duke. Serafina had no idea what being a duchess entailed and had lain awake most of the night thinking about their conversation and their kiss. The only thing she knew was that she loved him. Yes, she loved him. She didn’t know when it happened. So quickly. But it did. She knew Julian cared for her. He wasn’t the kind of man who would dally with women. But given this trouble with Grimsby and his own grief over the loss of his parents and brother, was he ready to get married at this point in his life? Would he even want to spend the rest of his life with a woman like her? And she loved her tearoom. How would he feel about her having a business? The sum of it all was almost too much to envision. A woman from a simple village background.
“He has asked that we visit his townhouse today,” Aunt Sophy said, walking back in, waving a missive. It arrived as I was speaking to Charles. “His Grace…Julian…said he’s started working with the colors and wants our approval before he gets further along.”
“I think we should each bring a swatch of material from our gowns, so he can match the shade,” Bianca said. “I wish we’d thought of it the day of the portrait sitting.”
“It’s still a good idea, Bianca,” Aunt Dora said. “We can leave the remnants with him, should he need them.”
“My, he works fast! What time did he ask us to be there, Sophy?” Aunt Rosalind asked, buttering a second slice of toast.
“We’re supposed to be there before noon.”
“That’s only two hours from now, “Aunt Bianca said. “Why didn’t you say that sooner? I need to prepare. Choose my gown, apply my facial creams, and do my hair,” she whined. “My beauty can’t be taken for granted.”
