both to their rooms as the footmen were dispatched to collect their belongings.
Simon followed a footman up the stairs but glanced back to see Louisa and Harry glowering at each other. Miss Drake trailed behind, looking slightly pale and out of sorts. What an interesting week this would be.
After washing and changing into clean clothing, he proceeded to find his dear brother and discover what had happened. Hearing raised voices, he headed toward the library only to find Miss Drake already there eavesdropping on their conversation.
“How could you have invited her when I had invited your brother?” Louisa asked.
Miss Drake gave him a quick nod and put her finger on her lips to keep him quiet. She leaned against the door frame with a look of concern as she listened to the conversation.
“Oh Lord,” Louisa said in a quiet voice. “I do not like the idea of them being here together. I love your brother, but...”
“I know he is not an appropriate suitor for your sister,” Harry said in a low voice. “But I also highly doubt he is interested in being a suitor. And I’m quite sure Emma would never want an untitled gentleman as a suitor.”
Miss Drake glanced up at him and shook her head.
“Your dear brother would never want to leg shackle himself to any woman, much less my sister. He’s far more interested in the less seemly women in Society.”
“He’s not that dreadful,” Harry started. “I know his reputation—”
“Harry, before our marriage when you fled to Worth Hall to get away from me—”
“I wasn’t fleeing,” he retorted. “I had business to attend to.”
“As I was saying,” Louisa continued, “I went to Hell with Emma to discover where you’d gone. We interrupted Simon in the middle of a tryst. She saw him and some wench going at it like dogs.”
Simon had had enough. He pushed the door open and said, “Hardly dogs, Duchess.”
Emma walked in behind him. “This has to stop. I have no interest in Mr. Kingsley, nor does he have any interest in me.”
Well, that might not be accurate, Simon thought. But the inappropriate interest he had in her was better left unsaid. “I agree. It doesn’t matter how we all came to be here. I say we do what we can to take our minds off the past and enjoy the present.”
“Well said, Simon.” Louisa smiled over at him in approval. “Now, what shall we do for the fortnight.”
“One week,” both Simon and Miss Drake said at the same time.
“I can only stay a week,” Simon said with a casual smile. “Someone has to run Hell.”
“I must attend the Lancasters’ ball a week from tonight,” Miss Drake added quickly.
“Very well,” Louisa said with what looked like a forced smile. “What shall we do for the next week?”
“I believe I shall work on my sketches until dinner.” Miss Drake waved her hand at them all. “I will be in the conservatory.”
Miss Drake made her speedy escape from the tense room. With Harry and Louisa still annoyed, Simon thought Miss Drake had the right idea.
“I think I shall take a walk to ease my muscles from the ride here.”
Simon strolled out of the room and then quickly out of the house. After inhaling a deep breath of country air, he walked through the gardens. For the first time since Simon discovered he was the son of a duke, he wanted to know more about the house and his family.
Exploring the family burial ground near the remains of a medieval chapel, he wondered if they were all turning in their graves at the idea of the bastard son roaming the lands. They probably had had their own bastards to feel guilty over...or not feel guilty over. He stopped in front of one gravestone and sighed.
In memory of Her Grace,
Duchess Elizabeth Alden Worthington
Born 1769 Died 1810
Now she must be spinning in her grave. He often wondered how Harry’s mother must have felt knowing her husband had kept a mistress. Most likely as horrible as Albert Kingsley had when he realized Simon’s mother had lied to him about the affair. What a mess these people made of their lives and so many others.
Simon glanced around for his father’s headstone. Assuming it would be near his wife’s plot, he walked around the area near the duchess’s stone. Looking over at the old chapel remains, he realized why there was no headstone for the duke. A man who committed suicide would not be buried in consecrated ground.
Deciding the graveyard had dampened