Her Fateful Debut: A Regency Romance (Three Gentlemen of London Book 1) by G.G. Vandagriff

Author:G.G. Vandagriff [Vandagriff, G.G.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Orson Whitney Press
Published: 2016-08-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Two weeks after Penelope had left for the country, Beau received a visit from the Duchess of Ruisdell. When Perkins informed him of the matter, he asked that she be brought into his library where he had been reading The Times and considering a visit to the club. His would-be assailant had not surfaced again.

“Duchess!” he greeted her. “How good of you to call. Have you news of Penelope’s father?”

“Dear Beau.” She offered him her hand. After he had bowed over it, she said, “Yes, I have just today heard from her. Her father is still very ill. I am concerned.”

“That is bad news. I had hoped that once he returned home he would improve.”

“Yes, and poor, dear Penelope is enduring this alone. Her father is her only close family. I feel that I should go to her. She must feel terribly abandoned.”

Without a second thought, he said, “I will go. It is a long journey for you, and you have your little child who needs you. I am feeling no small amount of guilt that Sir Gerald fell ill here in London. I should have listened to him, and we should have held the wedding in Northamptonshire.” When she looked as though she might press the matter, he said, “I can travel on horseback and make it in two days.”

“Are you certain, Beau? I do not know that she will be able to entertain you at all. She will be completely caught up in caring for her father.”

“I do not require entertainment. I am certain she is worn out from keeping vigil. Perhaps I can be of some help.”

He did not know why he was insisting on the matter. What would Lord Castlereagh say if he left London again so soon?

But the pull to Northamptonshire was strong. He had been out of sorts ever since his fiancée had left town. It would seem that he still felt the need to protect and comfort Miss Penelope Swinton.

The duchess gazed at him steadily. “You really are concerned, are you not?”

“You think I am incapable of proper feelings?” he asked with a small laugh.

“Not incapable, just unlikely to show them, that is all.”

“Do you think Miss Swinton will be displeased to see me?” he asked.

“I think it will be a shock. Perhaps you ought to send a letter ahead,” said the duchess.

“You think I ought not to go. Confess it.”

She gave him a small smile. “She is very worried about losing her father just now. Do not go there thinking to press her about this engagement of yours.”

“That is good advice, duchess. I will go only to offer support in her situation.”

“The sickroom is not exactly your milieu,” she cautioned.

He grew impatient with the bent of the conversation. Did the duchess think him heartless? “I am not expecting glittering conversation. I truly just want to help Pen. I do not know what she will do if her father should die and she is all alone.” Indeed, the matter had been troubling him more than a little.

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