“Always up to something.” Mrs. Howard shook her head. “Always trying to make something or figure out how something worked.”
“That sounds right too.” Gemma’s smile grew. She took a deep breath. This might just be her best opportunity to get answers to the questions about Lucian that continued to gnaw at her. She lowered her voice. “What was he like…with his parents?”
Mrs. Howard glanced back into the corridor before shutting the door behind her. Then she hurried over to where Gemma stood. A solemn look shone in her eyes. “If I tell you, you must never tell His Grace that I did so.”
Gemma nodded.
Mrs. Howard glanced back over her shoulder, then she expelled her breath and threaded her fingers together tightly in front of her. “His Grace grew up in a very strange household,” she began.
Gemma nodded again. “I’d gathered that much.”
“Yes, well. You see, his parents would go out into Society and smile and pretend they were happy together, if not madly in love.”
This time Gemma shook her head. “I can’t imagine anyone in this family being madly in love.”
A wistful smile touched the housekeeper’s lips. “His mother loved him dearly, but his father would not allow outward signs of affection. She had to sneak into this nursery to hold her son and hug him.”
Gemma gasped, her hand instinctively cupping her mouth. “No.”
Mrs. Howard nodded. “Yes. And if her husband found out, or even suspected, he wouldn’t speak to the duchess for days.”
Gemma’s eyes widened. “Days?” It was worse than she’d thought.
“That’s right. If she did anything he disapproved of, she was met with complete silence. He wouldn’t speak to her or even look at her. Sometimes weeks passed that way.”
Weeks? Oh, God. The indifference. That’s where it had come from. Lucian’s father. She’d suspected as much, and she’d been right.
“That’s awful,” Gemma said solemnly, trying to picture a young boy with no siblings growing up in a house devoid of love and happiness. “So they lived separate lives, the duke and duchess?”
Mrs. Howard shook her head. “No. That’s what’s so strange. They would have meals together. Sit in the drawing room together. They just wouldn’t speak.”
Gemma frowned. How would such a thing even work? She couldn’t imagine not speaking to Griffin or Meredith or Mama while they were having meals.
But then she remembered…the paper. It was possible to sit in the same room with a family member and not speak. She just hadn’t ever seen it until she’d come here.
Mrs. Howard cleared her throat. “As he grew older, His Grace was only allowed to see his parents upon occasion.”
Gemma bit her lip. Pain shot through her chest as she thought of a little boy being locked away in a nursery without his family. She’d grown up with Mama and Griffin and scores of servants she counted as friends. How must it have been for young Lucian? “I suppose he wasn’t allowed to speak to the servants?”
“Only me,” Mrs. Howard confirmed. “And his tutors when they came. If the old duke saw his son speaking to servants in a friendly manner, he was severely reprimanded.”
Gemma expelled her breath.Thatwas why Lucian treated the servants so cooly. He’d been taught to keep his distance. Punished for doing otherwise. It made her shudder.
“Of course, I was relieved when he was sent to Eton,” Mrs. Howard continued. “That’s where he met his friends. Including your brother, I believe.” Mrs. Howard winced. “I can’t tell you how many nights I spent with him before he left for school while he cried himself to sleep, wanting to know why his parents wouldn’t visit him. After a while, he just stopped trying to earn their love.”
Gemma gasped. The ache in her chest grew wider, making it difficult to breathe. “That is positively dreadful. Love shouldn’t have to be earned.”
“I agree.” Mrs. Howard’s voice was low and sad. “And I’m only telling you this now because I know you’re the sort of lady who can convince His Grace to try to love again.”
Gemma sucked in her breath. She’d never contemplated such a thing. In fact, just the opposite, she was trying toleavethe man. Or she had been. Now she was confused about her feelings. Still, she had no intention of telling Mrs. Howard about their arrangement, even if she hadn’t signed a contract keeping her from it. Lucian was proud. He didn’t deserve that sort of humiliation. When she did leave—if she did leave—she would take the blame.
“Did he—?” Gemma took another deep breath, shook her head, and tried again. “Did heeverspend time with his parents?” she ventured, already afraid of the answer. She couldn’t help but remember Lucian’s story about the hunting dogs and how his father hadn’t explained to him what they could do. But clearly, he’d been in his father’s company sometimes.
“His father would take him hunting upon occasion. Shooting or some other pursuit the old duke deemed as manly, but they never did much else together.”
Gemma swallowed the painful lump in her throat. She hated the idea of a little boy being told what was “manly.” Everything Mrs. Howard had told her made Gemma’s heart ache for the child Lucian had been. “Nothing else?” she prompted.
“I’m afraid not.” Mrs. Howard shook her head again. “And His Grace’s father wouldn’t allow His Grace’s mother to do anything with him either. Aside from the secret visits, she rarely saw him. And when His Grace did see his father, he was punished for showing any emotion.”
