After leaving the ball,Harry took his unmarked carriage to his ex-mistress’s house. His driver knew to drop him off a block away, and he made his way silently in the night. Knowing to expect him, she greeted him at the back door under the blackness of night dressed in a her night clothes, her long auburn tresses down and brushed to a high sheen. Rose Albright was comely. He’d known her most of his life. Her mother had served in his father’s home and then she had.After his father and uncle’s deaths and Harry left the army she’d arrived in London on his doorstep asking for employment. She’d served as a maid for a time, before she became his mistress. Harry had turned down her offer of being his mistress from the beginning. Fought it for several months as she worked as a downstairs maid in his home. Until one night, she somehow knew the demons from war visited him in the dark of night, and she’d come to him and offered her body.
Thinking back now, he wasn’t proud of himself for given in to his sexual urges. She hadn’t been a virgin but that didn’t lessen the responsibility he felt for her and refused to allow her to continue on as a maid in his home. He Rented her a small residence and provided her with a lady companion. Rose was his mistress for the better part of a year. When the year ended things gradually changed. Their sexual relationship ended and they became friends. He still felt responsible for her and his support continued.
“Something is bothering you, Harry. Please join me in the parlor by the warm hearth, and I’ll pour you a brandy.”
Rose was the only person, other than those he worked with, who knew about his work with the War Office. He trusted her with his life. After dropping his weary body onto the settee and taking the offered drink, he stretched his legs out and sighed. Rose sat beside him and covered them both with a throw.
“So tell me what has you upset. And don’t say nothing. I know you too well.” She rested her head on his shoulder, and the sound of her even breathing traveled to his ears.
“I don’t know where to begin. Before you read it in the London Times, I offered for Lady Penelope Seabrook’s hand in marriage. Her brother accepted.”
“I see.”
“There is one more thing I’d like to talk to you about. Please keep an open mind and know I’m doing what I believe is right for you.” He stretched his arm around her back and hugged her close.
“I’m giving you a dowry, and I’ve written Mr. George Heatherford from Lancaster.”
“What…” She gasped and pulled out from beneath his arm. He tugged her back.
“Let me finish. George and I served together under Wellington. I trust him with my life, and I have. Just as he trusted his life to me. We served as brothers. If I could choose anyone in England to be my brother, I would choose him. George is the youngest son of a Marquess. Has lands and is working those lands. He needs and wants a wife who has no aspirations of becoming a Marchioness as he has five older brothers. He is a fine and honorable man and most of the ladies find him handsome. I have invited him to visit. He arrives the day after tomorrow.” Harry waited for some sound from Rose besides the sound of her crying and sniffling.
After a time, she said in a soft sad tone, “I understand why you are doing this. You won’t keep a mistress or an ex-mistress once you marry so you’re finding a worthy man who can and will take care of me. But why would Mr. Heatherford agree to this arrangement? I’m soiled goods.”
He never thought of her as soiled goods. He preferred to look at it as though she were widowed. And Heatherford, as a younger son, understood the plight of those less fortunate. It really did not differ from any arranged married. There were no guarantees the lady was pure and untouched. Honestly, Harry wasn’t brought up within the privilege of the ton so it didn’t matter to him. Harry had explained the whole situation to Heatherford, and he didn’t take offense to Rose’s plight. She intrigued him. And he knew if Harry cared enough about her to secure a wonderful future for her, then she was worthy of being his wife.
“Please never utter those words again. We have loved each other for many years, as friends, then lovers, then back to friends, and there is no shame in giving yourself to someone you love.” He turned and cupped her cheeks with his hands, his fingers swiping at her tears. “Whether or not you believe it, you saved me from myself. I’d been broken in body and soul when I returned from war and became a duke. I couldn’t sleep, or when I did I had awful nightmares, which made me afraid to sleep. I had no appetite. I didn’t socialize, nor leave my new home, unless I really had to for work.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “You brought me back. Your kindness, compassion, understanding, and love saved me. You do not understand how close I came many times to taking my life. Living had become too painful until you.
“My friend is honored that I thought of him. He knows how much you mean to me, and he is eager to make your acquaintance so you two can start your lives together. I believe in my heart you will come to love him and he you. Please agree to meet him and give this a chance?”
Rose had knownshe could not remain with Harry forever. Not once he became a duke. She’d spent most of her life around him. Her mother had been a maid in his father’s house. She’d been born there, educated there, and then served Harry’s father after her mother passed. When Harry’s father died, she’d traveled to Harry and begged for employment. As a youthful girl and a young woman, she’d had a secret crush on him.
It pained her heart to leave him. She loved him. When they first came together in the bedroom, there’d been passion. That passion eventually turned to a deep abiding love of friendship and a comfortability of intimacy. She knew one day they would part. As much as she loved him, she knew he would marry another. Him becoming a duke only solidified that for her. However, if he hadn’t planned to ever send her away, she would have stayed until death separated them. She owed him everything. He was marrying a lady of dubious birth, even though she was the half-sister of a duke, she was still a bastard. As Rose was. They had that in common. Her mother went to her grave pretending to be a widow, but Rose knew the truth. And so did Harry. He never cared. As far as it concerned her, there would never be a more honorable man than Harry. Lady Penelope was the luckiest woman in the world. And she was second.
His warm, large hands still cupped her face and his beautiful blue eyes, laced with concern, never looked away from her green ones. “I knew one day we would part,” she said. “Please don’t feel bad for me. I look forward to meeting Mr. Heatherford. If you sing his praises, they should be sung. I need not think about marrying him. I will.” There was no stopping as a new flood of tears dripped down her cheeks only to be absorbed by his hands. “Never feel guilty about this. I am happy for you and as much as it breaks my heart to move on, I will. Knowing we are both doing the right thing makes it easier.” She pushed his hands away and forced herself to be strong. “I will see you to the door.” Once there, she handed him his greatcoat and hat. “Please tell Mr. Heatherford when he arrives that I am packed and ready to travel to his home.” She gulped in air around the blockage in her raw throat. “I think it’s best if we say goodbye now. I pray Penelope understands what a good man you are. And can love you for your strengths as well as your weaknesses.” She rose on her toes for one last kiss.
The door closed behind Harry and she slid to the floor, hugging her knees to her chest, and sobbed.
“I’m sorry, child.” Mrs. Dinmore, her companion, a kind, plump woman in her forties with no family to speak of, joined her on the ground and hugged her tightly. “I know saying goodbye wasn’t easy. He is one of the finest men. Forgive me for eavesdropping, but this Mr. Heatherford sounds like a right fine man himself. I always worried about your future when the duke took a wife. I can worry no more.”
After Rose’s sobs quieted down and she found her voice, she asked, “Will you come with me? I don’t think I can manage without you?”
“Nonsense, child, you will manage fine. The splendid news is you won’t have to manage alone. If it’s agreeable with Mr. Heatherford, I will stay in your employ, or rather your soon-to-be husband’s employ until you no longer need me.”
“I’ll always need you, Mrs. Dinmore, always.”
“Now that that’s settled, let’s get you into bed. You’ll catch your death here on the icy floor. We have much to do in the next few days. What with packing and then traveling to your new home.” Mrs. Dinmore helped her stand up. “I have pleasant feelings about this new chapter in your life. Yes, indeed, good feelings.”
