Unease traversed Caleb’s spine. He tightened his hold on his mother’s hand. “No one came to find me, Mama. I returned of my own accord.”
“But then…” She swallowed and closed her eyes. Her lips trembled and it became suddenly clear to Caleb that she was making a stoic effort to maintain her composure. “You do not know.” The words were only a whisper.
“Know what?” he asked even though he sensed he had no wish to hear whatever it was she would say in response.
“Your father is dead, Caleb. A fire broke out at the Everly stables last week,” she said, referring to one of the dukedom’s larger properties. “He and George went to inspect some repairs. They were supposed to be gone only for a few short days but now…” A sob cut off her words, and her free hand rose to smother the sound.
Caleb’s heart thudded against his chest. “And George?” he asked, already dreading her answer.
“When your father didn’t come out, George went in after him.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “They’re both gone, Caleb. I buried them at St. George’s this morning.”
It was as if time slowed to a halt. A distinct feeling of disappointment and deep regret trickled through him, numbing his veins. Slumping back, he tried to make sense of it, to accept what his mother told him as fact, only to find that he couldn’t.
The door opened after a quick knock, and Murdoch returned carrying a tray. He placed it on the table, exchanged a few words with the duchess, and departed once more. Caleb’s mother withdrew her hand from Caleb’s and dabbed at her eyes. She then busied herself with pouring tea while he watched with a strange sense of detachment.
He shook his head. “No. It cannot be true.”
She sniffed and took a sip of her tea. “You know what this means,” she said, as if he’d not spoken. She waited for him to meet her gaze before saying, “You are the Duke of Camberly now.”
Caleb stared at her in dismay. “I don’t want to be.” It was the first thing that came to mind. He liked his uncomplicated life, free from all the responsibilities his father and older brother had faced. He’d never envied either of them. But he had cursed the way his father’s sense of duty and obligation had affected his life.
“Unfortunately, that hardly matters. With your father and brother gone, the title falls to you.”
He instinctively shuddered and bit back the comment that threatened. To say that he ought to have stayed away would only cause his mother pain. She was happy to have him home and probably quite relieved with the prospect of him taking over the day-to-day running of things. And for her he would do it, or at least he would try.
He drew a deep breath and felt his chest tighten. “Very well. But if I am going to do this, I will need something stronger than tea. Please tell me you still keep a bottle of sherry in that cabinet over there.”
Her wobbly smile tilted as if trying to find its balance. “Yes. I dare say I could do with a glass myself.”
Raising her hand to his lips, Caleb pressed a tender kiss to her knuckles before going in search of their fortification. He was conscious of his heart beating a dull tattoo, like a drummer marching him off to the gallows. Recalling the satchel he’d left downstairs, he closed his eyes briefly and muttered a curse. Everything he’d worked for these past ten years had been for nothing. His father would never know of his success. How ironic that the son he’d named his greatest disappointment would now be continuing his legacy.
As had becomehis habit in recent weeks, Caleb arrived at White’s shortly after nine in the evening to enjoy a drink and possibly a game of cards with his friend, Robert Moor, Viscount Aldridge. The two had known each other since childhood and had been sent off to Eton together as lads. The moment Caleb’s return to London had been announced six months ago, Robert had immediately come to call, and the two had spent an hour washing away the years wedged between them with a few glasses of brandy.
Since then, Robert had offered invaluable advice and support. He’d invited Caleb out for rides and to Gentleman Jackson’s boxing saloon whenever he’d needed to lose himself in something besides accounts, ledgers, investments, and his mother’s most recent obsession – his need to think about marriage.
He’d cut her off and walked away the first time she’d made the suggestion and every time since. But when the Season had been well underway and she’d produced a list of potential candidates she considered appropriate for courtship, he’d had no choice but to listen, even though he detested the extra pressure it placed on his shoulders.
“You look more somber than usual,” Robert said when Caleb found him. “Trouble with the dukedom?”
Dropping into a vacant chair, Caleb frowned at his friend, who poured a large drink and handed it to him. Caleb took a long sip, enjoying the powerful flavor and the heat it exuded as it slid down his throat. “I cannot stand it any longer.” Leaning back, he cradled the glass between his hands and stared at his friend as if he had the power to save him. “It is awful, Robert. I just…” He sighed and scrubbed one hand across his jaw. “I hate being a duke.”
Robert had the decency not to argue. Instead, he watched, his eyes increasingly somber until he finally said, “Then don’t be.”
Startled by the comment, Caleb grinned, the expression so foreign to him now it actually hurt his jaw. “As if it’s that simple, but you know as well as I that it is not.”
His friend inclined his head, paused for a moment as if on the verge of divulging some piece of information, but then set his own glass to his lips and drank. “Is it not getting any easier?”
Caleb thought back on the endless hours of work that held him hostage in his study. There had been little reprieve and no time at all to consider his own wants and needs since his return. Even now, the satchel holding his architectural designs remained unopened. He’d had no opportunity to share them with anyone or to dream up new ones.
“No,” he told Robert with unwavering honesty. “If anything, it is getting worse. The demands on me are increasing with each passing day. Women I’ve never met are showing up at my home, intent on praising their daughters’ charms. Meanwhile, every business in Town is paying me court, and every hostess wishes to make me her guest of honor. And that’s not considering repairs I am asked to fund and approve at my various estates and the tenants who all have concerns they’ve decided to air in a steady stream of letters I receive daily.”
Robert’s lips twitched as if struggling to contain his laughter. He cleared his throat. “I see.”
“Do you really?” Caleb wasn’t certain. “You were groomed for this sort of life from the day you were born, while I was largely ignored until I was dropped in the middle of it.”
“I also have the added benefit of being happily married to a woman who helps me endure the burden of the responsibility I carry.” Robert considered Caleb for a long moment before saying, “Maybe your mother has the right of it. Perhaps marriage is precisely what you need.”
Caleb groaned. “Don’t be daft. The last thing I need at the moment is another female to coddle.” He winced, aware he’d just referred to his mother in rather disparaging terms, but the truth of it was that as much as he loved her, her constant weeping and insistence he fill a mold he didn’t quite fit had driven him to the point of madness.
