Read Online One Night in London by Caroline Linden - Free Book Online Page B

never certain—or never had solid proof. He may have been certain in his own mind; he never spoke a word about this to me or to either of my brothers, and yet now we must find this woman and learn if her marriage to him might invalidate Durham’s marriage to my mother.”
    Saying the words caused the familiar surge of fury, and he paused to brutally press it away. Being angry wasn’t going to help anything. “I’ve already engaged a solicitor to examine the legalities. After so many years, it’s unlikely she is still alive, or would come forward to press a claim now, but it is something we must prepare for. If a single stone is left unturned . . .” He sighed. “ . . . it would be a disaster.”
    She didn’t say anything. Edward looked closely at her; she had gone alabaster pale and hardly seemed to breathe, her gaze glassy and fixed on his face.
    “Good God,” he exclaimed, catching her in his arms. “Are you about to faint?”
    “No,” she said, her voice a thin gasp. “I—I don’t think so. Oh, Edward, that cannot be true!”
    “No matter how hard I wished and prayed, it has not evaporated like a bad dream,” he replied. “I hated to burden you, but it was only fair to tell you. But you must promise me to keep it in confidence. It will be unpleasant enough to wade through my father’s distant past without gossip spreading like a plague through the town.”
    Again she didn’t reply. Louisa turned out of his arm and stumbled away to a bench, fanning one hand in front of her face. Edward felt suddenly awful for telling her; he could see how hard it hit her. He sat beside her on the bench and waited for her to recover.
    “And—And you are certain nothing will come of it?” she asked at last, her chest still heaving as if she’d run a mile.
    “Absolutely,” he answered immediately. “The solicitor agrees.”
    Louisa dipped her head in a shallow nod. “That is good,” she murmured. “Oh, Edward—how terrible for you if it did not!”
    He sighed. “Terrible indeed. The title was never to be mine, but the rest . . . My brothers and I wouldn’t be destitute, as Durham left us modestly provided for, but losing Durham would be a mighty blow.” And they would still be bastards. Edward knew it wasn’t nearly enough recompense.
    “That—That was very thoughtful of him . . .”
    “Yes.” There was nothing else to say about it. It was only a small amount. Much of Durham’s income was tied to the estates that produced it, and most of them were entailed. They couldn’t be left to anyone but the next duke, and if that person should wind up being someone other than Charlie . . . he and Gerard would lose their share of the income as well. And worst of all, the entail on some of the properties ended with Charlie—or whomever assumed the dukedom next—and it had been their father’s explicit wish that Charlie give each of his brothers an estate of his own: the Sussex property to Edward, and a similar one in Cornwall to Gerard. His expectations had been very grand indeed, until a few days ago.
    After a few moments Edward stirred. He still had things to do, and couldn’t linger in the garden with Louisa. His terrible news had thrown a pall over their time together in any case. “I must go, Louisa. I’m sorry to have brought such unhappy news, but I couldn’t keep it from you.”
    “No,” she said thinly. “No. I—I am glad you told me. What a dreadful secret to keep!”
    He glanced at her sideways, unsure if she meant it would be dreadful to keep it a secret herself, or that his father had been dreadful to keep it from him. “But you will keep it in close confidence?”
    “Oh!” She looked up at him with wide blue eyes. “Of course I will—not a breath of it shall pass my lips.”
    Edward smiled at her. “Thank you.” He pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
    “But Edward,” she said anxiously, “how much longer must we put off the wedding, do you think?”
    He turned her hand