Later that night, Jack headed downstairs, intent on foraging in the kitchen for something to eat. As he passed by his brother’s study, light shone out from under the door. Forgetting about his late-night snack, he paused just beyond the door. Would his brother even want company? Annoyed his first reaction was to keep walking, he turned and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” came the slurred voice of his brother.
Jack opened the door and entered the study. The room was exactly as he remembered it from his childhood. Paintings of all the Dukes of Gilchrest covered the dark green walls. A large fireplace dominated one wall, and his father’s enormous oak desk sat under the windows at the far end. Jack almost expected to see the old man sitting behind the desk, smoking his cigar.
Andrew sat slumped in a large leather chair by the fireplace. Next to it, a side table held an ornate, stained glass lamp and a bottle of brandy. His brother looked up and then raising his glass, he said, “The prodigal son returns.” He took a drink from his half-empty tumbler.
“Can I join you, Andrew?”
“Help yourself.” Andrew gestured widely at a sideboard that held a selection of spirits. Jack poured himself a drink and sat in the matching leather chair across from his brother.
“Why are you here, Jack? What’s brought you home after all this time?” Andrew asked.
Jack took a sip from his glass, debating what to say, whether he should be honest.
“Mother wrote to me and asked me to come. She is worried about you and the boys. Although God knows why she thought I could help.” He studied his brother. “What is this, Andrew? Why are you in here night after night drowning yourself in brandy? Do you miss her terribly?”
“This, Jack, this is self-loathing.” He was quiet for several moments. “I killed her, Jack. My boys are without a mother because of me.” He slumped forward, elbows resting on his knees, head hanging down.
“What? I don’t believe it. Mother said Lydia became ill with a terrible fever that hit the whole house.”
“That is true, but it was because of me she was here at the house instead of at Stoneleigh with the boys and me.” He took a deep breath. “She was never happy spending too much time in the country, she wanted to come back to town, and we quarreled. I told her to go back alone, that I would bring the boys with me later in the month.” He straightened, taking a swallow of brandy.
“I suspected she picked a fight on purpose so she could come back alone to London to see her lover. It turns out I was right. He also came down with the fever, but managed to recover. He was here when she became ill, and it was he who wrote to tell me the whole house was sick. She died by the time I arrived.”
Holy Shit. Jack shook his head. “I am sorry to hear the circumstances, but that does not make her death your fault, Andrew. Her own selfishness was the cause of her returning to town. The fever was pure bad luck.”
Andrew’s head popped up, his eyes haunted. “I could have kept her at Stoneleigh, insisted she stay until the end of the month so we could all return together. I was so angry and tired of dealing with her, I let her go to her death. I am the reason my boys are without a mother.”
“Andrew, you could not possibly have known.” He reached across and laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “Your boys may not have a mother anymore, but they still have a father. They won’t if you drink yourself into an early grave. Then where will they be? You must stop blaming yourself and move on. They need you.” He sat back in his chair. “Tell me about them. Grayson must be, what, eight?”
Andrew straightened up. “Yes, he is eight and Tyler is five. They are both quite precocious. Their governess can barely keep up with them, and Grayson has been keeping the tutor on his toes as well. He should be heading to school this fall, but I can’t bear the thought of sending him away when he has just suffered such a tragedy.
“Tyler is just as smart; he is already reading and writing, but very shy. Grayson does all the talking for him. Since Lydia died, I haven’t heard him speak hardly at all, even with family.”
“Will you take mother’s suggestion and bring them with us to Stoneleigh in a couple weeks’ time? Do they have their own ponies yet? We can take them out riding and swimming. It could be good for them. And for you.”
“Yes, I think I will. The boys love it at Stoneleigh.” He paused. “Are you really staying around this time, Jack? I know in the past you always avoided Gilchrest House because of Lydia. She told me about how you two had been lovers.”
“What?” He looked his brother right in the eye. “Andrew, Lydia and I were never lovers.”
“She told me you had seduced her the summer before I came home from university. That you had a brief affair, but you refused to marry her. She appeared so sad, saying she was used goods. Father had already written to me to say he and her father would like very much to see a joining of our two families. So I offered for her. You’d disappeared off to sea with your new commission.”
“That bitch!” Fury unfurled in his chest like a sail filling with wind. “What a master manipulator. The truth is I was infatuated with her that summer. Followed her around like a puppy, thought I was courting her.” He let out a harsh laugh. “We were never lovers. In fact, after a few stolen kisses, I got down on one knee like a fool and asked her to marry me. She laughed in my face and said she had only been practicing her flirting. And she would never settle for a second son. She had bigger fish to catch. I assume now she meant you. Why should she not go for the heir?” he said bitterly. “Her betrayal is the reason I asked Father for the commission. And you are right; she is the reason I distanced myself from you and Gilchrest House.”
Andrew took another large swallow from his glass. “I am sorry I believed her, but she was not a virgin on our wedding night, and it seemed to confirm her story.” He sighed. Sitting back in his chair, he faced Jack squarely. “We did not have a happy marriage. She was a very difficult person to live with. After Grayson was born, we grew increasingly distant from each other. I suspected she was already unfaithful to our vows, but I was too stubborn to admit it.”
“We had a brief reconciliation which gave us Tyler, but it didn’t last more than a year after he was born.” Andrew pinched the bridge of his nose. “No matter her faults as a wife, she was a good mother. Grayson and Tyler both loved her. But I do regret she was the cause of our estrangement, Jack.”
He leaned back wearily, “I regret that too, Andrew.”
Chapter Fourteen
“Captain Aston is Caroline’s brother? I can’t believe it.” Gabi exclaimed. “Did you know this, George?”
Vivian sat with George Davis and Gabrielle in the drawing room at Dunmore House.
“No, I had no idea. Anyone can tell he is a gentleman. You can’t hide good breeding. But a duke’s son? That I did not know. And you say theLady Louiseis in port? I would like to go down and see some of the lads,” George said.
