Read Online The Hallucinatory Duke by Meta Mathews - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Meta Mathews
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she do?”
“She was already irritated with me, and my refusal to let her touch me merely made her angrier. She claimed that I am bothering her, rather than the other way around. But before that she said something I really didn’t understand. She said I should stop romanticising the past. I started to tell her I wasn’t romanticising anything, because I don’t know what the hell is going on, but she didn’t wait around to listen. I blinked and she was gone.”
“You know, this whole thing is getting stranger and stranger.”
Jack rubbed his eyes. “Is that coffee almost ready?”
Four short beeps from the coffeemaker provided the answer he was looking for.
Amelia opened a cabinet door and pulled out a couple of mugs. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black.”
“Good. I have cream, but I don’t have any of that artificial sweetener that Ben likes so much.” She poured two cups and set one on the counter in front of Jack.
Jack wrapped his hands around the mug. “What happened between you and the duke tonight?”
“We had a conversation.” Amelia picked up her coffee and blew on the steaming liquid, then set it down again. “I don’t know what year he’s coming from, but he mentioned Amy, so I’m guessing it was after they were married.”
“And we know now that she’s the one visiting me.”
“Why either of them would be visiting either of us is a question I can’t answer, unless it’s because Ben has us researching them. But I’ve researched a lot of people from the past during my studies and this is the first time any of them have ever visited me.”
“It’s almost as though they have something to hide.”
“Or something they want us to discover.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t they just tell us whatever it that they want us to know and then go away?”
Amelia shrugged. “Beats me.”
Jack took a sip of coffee. “I did a lot of reading before I went to sleep tonight but I still don’t see why you and Ben are so interested in the Hardwicke Marriage Act, unless you think Amy’s mother was illegitimate.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt that Miss Comstock was illegitimate. What makes her being born on the wrong side of the blanket important is the fact that she and Mr Pennycut were married by licence and she was a minor. This means, according to the law at that time, Miss Comstock didn’t really have parents, which means no one could have given her the required permission to marry as a minor, thus making the marriage void.”
Jack stared at her. “Did no one think it important at the time of Miss Comstock’s wedding?”
“I’m sure they didn’t. After all, no one could have foreseen that the Pennycuts would have a daughter, Amy, who would grow up and attract the attention of Jackson Lattimore, third son of the Duke of Durbane.”
“Third son? Oh that’s right, he was third in line for the dukedom. I believe Uncle Ben said Jackson’s father had expected him to go into the church.”
“That’s correct. But then illness struck the neighbourhood. The duke and both the older sons died within days of each other. Suddenly Jackson became the sixth Duke of Durbane, and little Amy Pennycut was a duchess.”
“So I’m assuming this is when her mother’s illegitimacy became important.”
“Yes, particularly to one person. Jackson and his cousin Charles were the only living heirs to the dukedom, meaning Charles was next in line. However, if Jackson and Amy had a legitimate son, he, of course, would precede Charles. Charles questioned the legitimacy of the duke’s marriage to Amy based on Amy’s mother being illegitimate and a minor, which would have voided her marriage and made Amy illegitimate. It’s believed he did this after discovering that Amy was expecting a child.”
“If Jackson’s and Amy’s marriage was void as a result, their son would not have been the heir, right?”
“Correct. As strange as that seems to us now, that was the law
“She was already irritated with me, and my refusal to let her touch me merely made her angrier. She claimed that I am bothering her, rather than the other way around. But before that she said something I really didn’t understand. She said I should stop romanticising the past. I started to tell her I wasn’t romanticising anything, because I don’t know what the hell is going on, but she didn’t wait around to listen. I blinked and she was gone.”
“You know, this whole thing is getting stranger and stranger.”
Jack rubbed his eyes. “Is that coffee almost ready?”
Four short beeps from the coffeemaker provided the answer he was looking for.
Amelia opened a cabinet door and pulled out a couple of mugs. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black.”
“Good. I have cream, but I don’t have any of that artificial sweetener that Ben likes so much.” She poured two cups and set one on the counter in front of Jack.
Jack wrapped his hands around the mug. “What happened between you and the duke tonight?”
“We had a conversation.” Amelia picked up her coffee and blew on the steaming liquid, then set it down again. “I don’t know what year he’s coming from, but he mentioned Amy, so I’m guessing it was after they were married.”
“And we know now that she’s the one visiting me.”
“Why either of them would be visiting either of us is a question I can’t answer, unless it’s because Ben has us researching them. But I’ve researched a lot of people from the past during my studies and this is the first time any of them have ever visited me.”
“It’s almost as though they have something to hide.”
“Or something they want us to discover.”
“If that’s the case, why don’t they just tell us whatever it that they want us to know and then go away?”
Amelia shrugged. “Beats me.”
Jack took a sip of coffee. “I did a lot of reading before I went to sleep tonight but I still don’t see why you and Ben are so interested in the Hardwicke Marriage Act, unless you think Amy’s mother was illegitimate.”
“Oh, there’s no doubt that Miss Comstock was illegitimate. What makes her being born on the wrong side of the blanket important is the fact that she and Mr Pennycut were married by licence and she was a minor. This means, according to the law at that time, Miss Comstock didn’t really have parents, which means no one could have given her the required permission to marry as a minor, thus making the marriage void.”
Jack stared at her. “Did no one think it important at the time of Miss Comstock’s wedding?”
“I’m sure they didn’t. After all, no one could have foreseen that the Pennycuts would have a daughter, Amy, who would grow up and attract the attention of Jackson Lattimore, third son of the Duke of Durbane.”
“Third son? Oh that’s right, he was third in line for the dukedom. I believe Uncle Ben said Jackson’s father had expected him to go into the church.”
“That’s correct. But then illness struck the neighbourhood. The duke and both the older sons died within days of each other. Suddenly Jackson became the sixth Duke of Durbane, and little Amy Pennycut was a duchess.”
“So I’m assuming this is when her mother’s illegitimacy became important.”
“Yes, particularly to one person. Jackson and his cousin Charles were the only living heirs to the dukedom, meaning Charles was next in line. However, if Jackson and Amy had a legitimate son, he, of course, would precede Charles. Charles questioned the legitimacy of the duke’s marriage to Amy based on Amy’s mother being illegitimate and a minor, which would have voided her marriage and made Amy illegitimate. It’s believed he did this after discovering that Amy was expecting a child.”
“If Jackson’s and Amy’s marriage was void as a result, their son would not have been the heir, right?”
“Correct. As strange as that seems to us now, that was the law
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