“It may be true, Your Grace, but you did send an invitation to your mother for the first one. Lady Grisham will wonder about this particular gathering.”
The young maid had a point, but Victoria could not imagine going through this particular problem on her own. She had already made a decision.
“I am less worried about my mother than the scandal that may rock the ton,” the duchess replied, only partly telling the truth. “We must show a united front. It must be clear to society that my family has always been aware of Melody because there is nothing to hide.”
“Pardon me, Your Grace, if I have offended you,” Bessie said with a blush.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, Bessie. You were simply expressing your concern, and at this point, all ideas are welcome if it means we are striving toward either keeping Melody a secret or providing a non-scandalous reason for her presence.”
The maid nodded, pressing her lips into a tight smile.
Victoria never thought she would be affected by any kind of scandal, but this was different, and Bessie understood thegravity of the situation. It could wreck the quiet, independent life she had always dreamed of.
Richard was just as intent on handling the situation. All his life, he dealt with strategies in managing his estate. Even when it was not his own to command, his father had ensured he and his brothers knew what to do during various situations.
But he had not been taught how to deal with a scandal. Not like this. He avoided tainting anyone’s reputation by having liaisons with widows and women who did not belong to the ton or did not care much for it. As a man, he could survive the embarrassment.
However, it would be different for Victoria.
The ton could see her in two ways. One, they might think of her as the scorned wife, too inadequate to keep her husband faithful. She would be an object of ridicule. Two, they might think it was her baby, no matter how ridiculous that sounded. This second hypothesis would ruin her completely.
No. He would not let that happen.
The duke had quickly turned to action, sending for his solicitor, Mr. Graves, and sending a letter to his friend, Jonathan. He sought help discreetly, investigating whether there were any scandals near Hawksford Hall. Staff misconduct. Unusual female visitors. He listed things that he wanted to probe.
What if it were part of Penwike’s plot? Perhaps they wanted to strike them in a different way. Or, they weren’t behind it, but would exploit knowledge of it. He would not let either destroy Victoria. She did not ask for it. He had married her to protect himself through her family, but he realized he was just as willing to protect her as much as possible.
Richard had been careful. He had abstained the whole time he and Victoria were separated. He had not even consummated their marriage. He respected her and their union.
The child is not mine.
The thought persisted in his mind. He knew the truth, but he also knew that his wife did not believe him. Her accusing eyes stung worse than any of the Penwikes’ threats. Of course, she would not believe him. Their marriage was not built on intimacy or trust, but merely on a bargain.
He perused the scrap of note that came with the infant. Whoever wrote the note might be a woman or a man who wrote with such flair. But why would the person abandon the child at his townhouse? Was the person trying to gain financial support or merely to ruin him?
Richard rang the bell pull, and Mr. Hawthorne appeared almost instantly. The butler still looked a little rattled by the duke’s arrival, or perhaps he was also feeling the stress of recent events.
“Hawthorne, when you found the baby, did you notice a carriage leaving? Did anyone spot an intruder leaving the premises?”
“No, Your Grace. By the time we found the baby, it might have been there for some time. At first, we thought it was a kitten crying. We sought the source of the sound to provide it with milk, thinking we would have something to care for and probably send home for one of our children. Then, we found the dear girl,” Hawthorne explained.
“Mm. The person planned it well, then,” Richard mused. “We must use discretion when dealing with the child. We will refer to her only as a ward while we decide what to do with her. We don’t know who sent her. It could be someone who should have left the babe in a church or orphanage, or someone who seeks to destroy Hawksford. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly, Your Grace,” the butler replied, looking a little calmer.
Richard stared at Hawthorne, feeling the older man’s relief. “How is the duchess? How is she handling this? I know she is distraught and that she does not trust me. She has been avoiding me.”
The butler hesitated, looking slightly away as if choosing what words to say.
“She is exhausted, Your Grace. She has been caring for the child with the help of Mrs. Davies and Bessie. It’s a struggle for someone who …” The butler faltered and looked at Richard as if seeking permission. The duke merely nodded. “She is struggling with the practicalities of motherhood, Your Grace, perhaps since she had not truly prepared for the possibility.”
Richard felt an unexpected pang. He had never dreamed of marrying for love, and he knew that Victoria felt the same way. He just did not want her to feel forced into bearing an heir, like many women before her who had been in arranged marriages.
“I am sorry that she is struggling, but I know she will manage,” he murmured.
He knew she would, even though his wife was made for adventure and the stage. There was nothing traditional about her, but scandal did not choose its victims, and he would do everything in his power to keep her from it.
“You may go, Hawthorne. We still have many things to do in the daytime,” he dismissed the butler.
