Page 67 of Yours Truly, the Duke
Wyatt chuckled again and shook his head slowly. “You’re lovely, Fredericka.”
She smiled.
“Now tell me, what are you doing out here?” He looked up at the darkening sky. “Rain can’t be far away.”
“I know.” She tried to focus on their conversation and not the way he was making her feel. Kisses should be off-limits to her brain. He had a mistress for that. But her emotions didn’t seem to matter to her brain as she tried to make sense of wanting to be with him. “I came out here to go to the bench in the fairy garden and be alone.”
“Then I’ll be alone with you,” he stated in a calming voice. “Let’s go.”
The wind kicked up and blew strands of hair about her face and rustled the leaves on the trees and shrubs as they left the shelter of the house. Distant thunder continued to rumble overhead.
“I need to concentrate on what is important while I’m still in London,” she said. “I’ve spent more time getting proper clothing than working on how to defeat Jane. What good will it do to have ordered new clothing for the children if I’m not allowed to keep them?”
“You will keep them, Fredericka.”
His statement sounded firm. She wanted to believe him. The darkening clouds and whipping wind matched her erratic mood. She folded her arms across her chest as they continued toward the back of the spacious garden. “You say that but Jane was here while you were away.”
“Why did you see her when she always upsets you? You could have turned her away.”
“I couldn’t do that.” She didn’t bother to glance his way as she spoke. “No matter how intolerable she is at times, she’s family. If for no other reason, I must always receive her out of respect for her parents taking me and my sister into their home. Too, Angela and Jane were close. I know she loved my sister and in her own way she cares for the children. I couldn’t turn her away.”
Wyatt touched her arm and guided her around the corner of the yew as they entered the nook. After they were seated, he asked sincerely, “What did Mrs. Tomkin have to say?”
Fredericka steeled herself for a moment. “Enough to worry me. She brought copies of the gossip columns.”
“You didn’t read them, did you?”
“There was no need. She took great relish in telling me about them. Some were very close to the truth of what happened when I arrived at your house.”
He scoffed a disgruntled breath.
“Then there was the disgusting wager at White’s about which of us would win custody of the children.” Fredericka huffed softly. “That didn’t seem to bother her at all.”
“There was no reason for it to. Her brother-in-law is the one who placed the bet and probably with her blessing.”
“That’s outrageous even for Jane!” she exclaimed, feeling a moment of extreme anguish. “I should have guessed that was the reason she was so calm about it. She’s never stopped at anything to get her way.”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t hear about the wager.”
She stared at him. “Can you stop it?”
Frown lines of worry settled between his eyes. He leaned toward her and laid his hand on the top of her shoulder. It was warm. Intimate. Comforting. But she didn’t want comfort. She wanted action. She wanted to know this wager could be ended and Jane’s machinations would cease.
“There’s nothing I can do about the wager,” he insisted earnestly. “I can’t cancel another man’s bet at White’s. If I tried, the possible repercussions would be endless and only hurt your chances.”
The damp air seemed to be seeping into her soul, chilling her. Fredericka didn’t know why Jane was making such inroads while she was only running into dead-end roads. The possibility of her losing Elise, Charles, and Bella was very real and could happen very soon.
“None of that is the worst of it, Wyatt,” she said, weary with worry. “Lord Longington persuaded the Lord Chancellor to set a date to hear her petition. It’s in two weeks.”
“That soon?” The corners of his mouth tightened.“Sounds as if the viscount and Lord Chancellor have been busy today.”
Fredericka’s stomach was tying itself in knots. “I don’t know what we can do. It was bad enough with the gossip sheets vilifying us because you weren’t the welcoming husband and I wasn’t the courtly wife who stayed at Paddleton and left you to your untroubled life of cards and games. Now there is the matter of the wager and your political persuasion too.” She sighed softly and wrapped herself tighter in her shawl as she leaned against the back of the bench and stared straight ahead. “Sometimes I think I don’t have a chance against Jane.”
“Notyoubutwe, Fredericka,” he said softly and confidently as thunder reverberated directly over their heads. Placing his fingertips under her chin, he turned her head to face him. “It may not seem so, but I am working on this. I spoke to the Lord Chancellor this morning.”
“You did? Why didn’t you tell me this immediately?” Anxious to hear, she scooted to the edge of the bench.
“I came home to tell you but wanted to know about you first. And then what Jane had to say. Besides, I didn’t learn much more than he is a man of few words. He wouldn’t make any promises but gave me hope that he’d rule in our favor.”
