Page 76 of Sincerely, the Duke
“I have a note from Eileen saying she’s run away to Slough to see Mr. Herschel. I don’t know how long she’s been gone but I need your help to go after her.”
He continued to hold the side of his head and hooded his eyes with his lids as if the sunlight was torture. “What time is it?”
“Midmorning.” Anxious relief flooded her. “I’m glad you are still here,” she said gratefully. “We must go after her. Quickly.”
Rick sat up and swung his feet off the bed with a grunt. He didn’t look or act like his usual morning self. In fact, he looked dreadful.
Fear rose up in her again. “Is something wrong? You don’t look well.” She scooted off the bed and looked at him more carefully. His damp hair lay limp across his forehead, his rumpled shirt hung off one shoulder. More uneasiness crept over her. They hadn’t been together long but she’d never seen him in such a state.
“Nothing’s wrong,” he rasped, and tried to clear his throat as he rose and stood in front of her. “I’m fine. Eileen left you a note.”
That’s when she smelled the brandy and saw an empty bottle on the bedside table. “You’ve been overindulging in spirits?”
“I… had a headache,” he mumbled as a shiver shook his shoulders.
Edwina huffed a frustrated breath. “You know brandy won’t cure a headache!” she exclaimed, upset to find him in this condition and worse, on a morning she needed him so desperately. “You’re dressed. Did you go somewhere after you left my bed?”
“Yes, I went—” He bent his head as if in pain and didn’t finish his sentence.
The most wounding of possibilities popped into her mind. Her heart started beating so fast she wasn’t sure she could breathe, but the words tumbled from her mouth before she could stop herself. “Did you leave my bed and go to your mistress?”
His head jerked as if she’d slapped him. He winced again. “Damnation, Edwina, what would make you ask that?”
“You’ve been drinking heavily.” Her hands closed into fists at her side as her body went rigid with thoughts of where he might have been. “What should I think? Your shirt is damp, your face is flushed red, and you mostdefinitely didn’t have on your trousers when you were in bed with me.”
His gaze focused and connected with hers. Anger filled his eyes. “I haven’t been with a mistress since the day we met, Edwina. I no longer have one. This isn’t something we need ever discuss again.” He punctuated each word with emphasis.
Edwina’s heartbeat and breathing slowed a little. “Thank you for telling me that,” she answered, softly. “I’m pleased, but why did you drink so much?”
Rick ran his hand over his hair to the back of his head and cupped his neck. “I woke with a headache and went belowstairs for a… headache powder.” He winced. “I know Eileen is gone because I caught her taking food from the larder.”
“So, you stopped her.”
“I tried.” He shook his head as if trying to clear a foggy mind.
A gasp of surprise pushed from her lungs. “You saw her last night and didn’t stop her?”
“She was determined to go. There was nothing I could say that changed her plan to leave.”
“What?” Edwina’s heartbeat raced again at the thought of her sister somewhere on the road in the dark and Rick letting her go. “Nothing? You must be three or four times stronger than she is.”
“I would never put my hands on her to force her to do anything and you know that.”
Edwina started trembling. “But she was running away? In the dark?”
“I tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined. I thought it best to let her leave and maybe she would realize it’s not the life she wants.”
“I can’t believe you would do this to me,” Edwina saidin a raised voice. “To her. You just stood by and let her walk out the door and into the night?”
“No, Edwina.” His angry tone matched hers as he shivered again. “I helped her.”
“What?” The lone word cracked with astonishment. “You aided her escape? How could you do that to me?”
Rick widened his stance and rested his hands on his hips. “I didn’t do it to you, but to aid her. Her maid was already at the back gate with their satchels. Eileen knew where to catch the mail coach and what time it was leaving. It was all well planned, including taking food from the larder. So yes, I gave her money, wrote a letter of introduction to Mr. Herschel, and sent a footman to keep her safe and us notified.”
For a moment, Edwina was so light-headed she couldn’t breathe or speak. She couldn’t move. Disbelief, anger, and betrayal swirled so quickly inside her it was too much to take in at first. “You did all that when you could have called for me to handle this. To stop her.”
“You couldn’t have stopped her,” he said tiredly as he blinked against the bright sunlight streaming into the room from behind her. “Eileen’s mind was made up long ago. She was going. If not last night, then another night. Another day or different week. She would keep trying until she made her escape. At least this way she is safe, has enough money to eat and find appropriate lodging befitting a duke’s sister. It’s what she wanted to do.”
