The Marquess’ Temptation Page 5

  “I agree, my Lady.”

  “We will meet you tomorrow evening. I will bring Abigail. I agree that it would be best to have both of our testimonies that it is your brother who committed this act.”

  “The repercussions from this will have long-lasting effect.” Abe looked at Abigail when he said it, assessing her reaction. She was the one who would be feeling it the most. She would have a child to raise, one that could easily look just like William. It would remind her of a huge mistake she had made in her life. A very bad decision that led to an illegitimate child and a lifetime of shame and humiliation. He wondered if William had promised her anything. If William said he would take care of her or divorce Liza for her. He wanted to ask, but didn’t. He would not shame her in front of her mistress. She had already done that on her own.

  He turned his eyes to Lady Worthington. “May I have a moment to speak with Abigail, alone?”

  She looked momentarily taken aback, staring at him. He could tell she was wondering if he would be anything like his brother. He waited for her to assess him and was relieved when she nodded. “All right. You may walk here in the garden and talk. Please do let me know before you leave, so I might send you off with good wishes.”

  “I will do that, Lady Worthington. Much obliged.”

  The Duchess nodded and stood up. Even in a casual gown, she looked as elegant as a queen. Duke Worthington was a lucky man. Abe watched her as she walked back toward the house. When he turned to look at Abigail, he could tell she was frightened. Her hands were clutched tightly in front of her and she stood stock still, staring at him.

  “You need not be frightened of me, Miss. I will not hurt you. I am assuming my brother did not hurt you either? Not in a physical way?”

  Abigail sat down when he gestured that she should do so. “No, my Lord. He did not hurt me.”

  “He was gentle and kind with you?”

  “Yes, my Lord.” Abigail didn’t want to look at him. This Lord Montgomery was even better looking than his brother, and he was the one who was single. It was a shame it had not really been him that night all those weeks ago.

  “I’m glad that he was not a brute. I feel I should apologize for what he’s done. I know that you feel guilty and ashamed. I understand why and it must not be said that what you did was wise or in any way the correct thing to do, but we all make mistakes in life and we must pay the consequences, do you agree?”

  “Yes, my Lord.”

  “I tell you these things because I want you to know that despite the fact that my brother is a member of elite society and you are not, he will not be treated any differently than you in this. While I want to keep what has happened quiet from others in society, I do not want you to feel we have abandoned you,. I will not abandon you. I will help you in any way I can.”

  “I appreciate that, my Lord. I really do.”

  Abe nodded. “My brother is reckless, with other people and with their hearts. I will not let you be destroyed by this.”

  “Thank you, my Lord, for thinking of me. Thank you.”

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  “Please excuse me, William.” He said, standing up. “I must find a privy.”

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  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CONFIRMATION

  Abe was happy to see the restaurant was full, even though he knew most of them and would be unhappy if Abigail made a scene in front of them all. She didn’t strike him as the type to do that, but one could never be too sure when it came to maids and other household staff. Their personal lives were their own, and the master of the house rarely got to know any of them on a deeply personal level. Typically, they knew less about their servants than the servants knew about them. Many of them were very knowledgeable, observant and intelligent. Their job status did not dictate their worth. Abe had learned this well and always chose to respect those he employed in his house. It was never a good idea to be cruel to your servants. They were fully capable of taking matters into their own hands if they were unhappy with the way they were treated or the way they were being forced to live. Being a servant did not mean they were not worthy of respect.

  Behavior dictated that.

  At that moment in time, his own brother, a lord of the manor with a family of his own, deserved less respect than the servants, in Abe’s opinion. He had no regard for his wife or the rest of his family. His pleasure would take priority over them all.

  He tried not to let his thoughts overrun his mind. It would surely show on his face and William would know something was up.

  “Please excuse me, William.” He said, standing up. “I must find a privy.”

  William just waved him away, his attention elsewhere in the room. Abe looked in the direction his brother’s attention was focused on, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He did see several beautiful women and turned away in disgust, assuming that was where his brother’s attention was focused on.

  Abe moved quickly away from the table. He had already spotted Lady Worthington among those who had recently come into the restaurant. He was glad there had been no big fuss made of the famous lady’s entrance, as that would have alerted William immediately. He weaved through the tables and the people walking around, to get to the woman. Her son, Shawn, a young lad of ten, accompanied her; he was just a few years shy of his own son’s age. On the other side of Shawn stood Abigail, looking completely different in a regular dress, her long, red hair falling down over her chest and rippling down her back. Abe could see why William had been so interested. He had to avert his eyes so that he would not be caught staring at the beautiful girl.

  “Thank you for meeting me here, Lady Worthington,” he said, bowing at the waist. She nodded to him.

  “Where is your brother?”

  “I wish to allow Miss Abigail or yourself to find him in the restaurant if that is acceptable to you. I do not wish to taint the judgment by pointing him out.”

  She smiled at him. “I hope you do not think that we would falsely accuse him.”

  “No, my lady, not at all, but it would be more conclusive, should you decide to accept my proposal.”

  The Duchess nodded. “All right.” She turned to the maid. “Abigail, look around and see if you spot him. I will do the same. If I see him first, I will say nothing until you find him, but if you see him, you let me know immediately. All right?”

  “Yes, my Lady.”

  Abe nodded, and moved to the side to allow them to scan the entire restaurant.

  “There he is, my Lady.” Abigail put one hand on Lady Worthington’s arm and lifted her finger to discreetly point at William. “That is the man I met that night.”

  Lady Worthington focused on William and nodded. “That is also the man who introduced himself to me as Abraham Montgomery.” She looked at Abe. “It appears you were correct about your brother, Lord Montgomery. I am sorry to see that this has happened.”

  “As am I, my Lady.” Abe replied. “But I beg of you, do not allow anything to happen to my father or our accounts with Duke Worthington. We mean no harm. I know what my brother did was wrong, but I ask you to please allow me to make things right.”

  He was surprised to see the subtle anger that flickered over the gorgeous, Lady Worthington’s face. “I fail to see how things can be made right.”

  “Well, there can be no reversal to what has been done, but we will take care of Abigail.”

  “Do you have a plan in mind?”

  “May I ask? Do you know Lord Nigel Huntington, Duke of Paddington?”

  “Not personally, but I know that my husband has business dealings with him. His father passed away when he was a child, did he not? He took the title at a very young age.”

  “Yes, that is Nigel. He has always been a prodigy. He learns very quickly and is one of the most intelligent men I have ever met. I have consulted with him about this situation and he would like to help us.”

  The lady raised her ey
ebrows with a thoughtful look on her face. “I welcome his suggestions.”

  “Thank you, my Lady.”

  “During your consultation, did you come up with a plan?”

  “Yes, my Lady, but it seems a bit complicated and I need to consult with you about how to go about it before we can proceed.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “We need to know how much you and Duke Worthington are willing to do for Abigail, before we can make plans. She is not a slave and therefore we cannot and would not dictate her life. However, as her employer, you have a great deal of say over what happens to her. She does board with you, does she not? She has her own quarters?”

  “Yes, she has a loft in the mansion.”

  “I suspect we should strive not to disrupt her life in too many ways, so that she has a comfortable and successful pregnancy and birth.”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you discussed the situation with the Duke?”

  “I have.”

  “May I ask what he said was the right thing to do?”

  “We did not go into details. I informed him at the beginning, he spoke with you when he thought you were the man we were looking for, and I told him that we were meeting you here today to see if William is the culprit.”

  “What would you like to do, Duchess? Do you want Abigail to go abroad to have the baby, returning after the birth or are you partial to keeping her here?”

  The lady looked at Abigail. “Do you want to go abroad?”

  Abigail’s eyes widened. She shook her head.

  The Duchess turned back to Abe. “We will keep her here. We will not allow her to go out in public until after the birth. That is, once she starts showing her pregnancy.”

  “Yes, my Lady. Allow me a few days more to speak with William and with Nigel. We will come up with a way to keep Abigail safe and secure, along with her child.”

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  “Is there somewhere we can go where we could speak in private?”

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  CHAPTER TWELVE

  WILLIAM SNEAKS OUT

  After Abraham told him that Abigail would be having his child, William found it impossible to get the idea out of his head. He could see the little Irish girl in his mind constantly. His dreams were filled with her laughter from that night, and she haunted his every thought.

  There was nothing he could do. It would be a disgrace for him to divorce Liza to have a life with the maid and their child. His family wouldn’t allow it. The Worthingtons might charge him with a crime and send him to the stocks. He didn’t know what would happen to him, but he knew that he would need to avoid it all by just letting go of what he’d done.

  He sat up in bed with the first morning light, deciding he had to see the girl one last time. He’d wanted to go back and visit her nearly every day since they had been together. He hadn’t gone, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t wanted to.

  He washed up and got dressed, going out the door quietly. There was no one about. He could hear the servants downstairs preparing breakfast and once outside, he saw the groundskeeper and the gamekeeper chatting while leaning on a fence post that surrounded the horse yard. He went to the stable and saddled his horse. He knew that they were watching as he rode away. He didn’t care.

  The air was crisp and clear. He thought about all the things he wanted to say to her and knew he couldn’t. He just wanted her to know that he really did care for her, but his hands were tied and there was nothing he could do. He wondered how she would react. He wondered if he would even be able to see her at all.

  He arrived at the Worthington manor almost two hours later. He hadn’t given his horse a rest, so he tied him up near a tall barrel of water and patted him on the side after his slid down.

  “Sorry about that, Bolt. Next time, you’ll get a rest, I promise.” He murmured.

  He approached the servants’ entrance cautiously. Perhaps he should have come in disguise. If anyone recognized him, they would surely wonder what he was doing at the servant’s entrance to the Worthington Manor.

  He knocked heavily on the door and was grateful when it was opened immediately, as though someone had been standing on the other side right when he knocked.

  The woman looked shocked and stood staring at him for a moment in silence, without greeting him.

  “I am looking for Abigail. Is she here?” William tried smiling at the short, round woman.

  The woman raised her eyebrows. There wasn’t a trace of a smile on her face. She took a step back and turned her head.

  “Abby! There’s a gentleman here to see you.” She called over her shoulder.

  When Abigail came around the corner into his view, a strange feeling swept over William. He denied that it was a deep and overwhelming love. Such love was not possible and not fortuitous. Nothing could come of it, however. He had already made up his mind about that.

  “Hello, Abigail.” Her reaction to him was the same as the other woman’s. She stood stock-still and stared at him through soft green eyes.

  “Hello, Lord Montgomery,” she finally said.

  “Is there somewhere we can go where we could speak in private?”

  Abigail looked at the woman who had opened the door. “Do you know of a place, Cook?”

  Cook looked from Abigail to William and back again. “Follow me,” she said somewhat reluctantly. As she moved, she picked up a lit lantern from a small table.

  The two walked side by side behind the large woman as she made her way down a narrow hallway that led from the kitchen and down into the bowels of the house. They reached a doorway and Cook stepped to the side. That left very little room for the couple to walk past her. She tried to suck in her stomach but failed. They managed to get around her and open the door, passing through in silence. Cook handed Abigail the lantern.

  “Be safe.” She whispered.

  Cook watched them pass, and when they were both in the room, she leaned over and pulled the door closed.

  William looked around the room briefly, before settling his eyes on Abigail. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and now that he knew she was carrying his child, she appeared to be glowing to him. Her skin was radiant. Her eyes flashed in the light of the lantern.

  “What do you want, William?” She asked. He was taken aback by her abrasiveness. It made his heart sink. He wished things were different between them, he wished that he was not married and they could be together forever. He hesitated, wondering whether he should say such things to her. It didn’t seem wise to him.

  “So you know who I am then.”

  “Yes, your brother has been here several times talking to the Lord and Lady about this.”

  She sounded very hurt. He felt ashamed. He lowered his head, taking one of her hands in his and lifting it to his lips.

  “If only you were a lady of the ton, Abigail.”

  “Whether I was or not, you, my Lord, would still be married. I would never be a woman that would help a man betray his wife for simple pleasures.”

  Every word was like a crushing blow to William’s heart. He had fallen for a servant. Not just any servant but one with a fiery Irish temper and a heart of gold. He failed to see how any man could resist her. He remembered telling Abraham that Abigail had probably been with many lovers over the course of the last few months. Seeing her now, he knew this was not true. He knew that what she had done had been a reaction to the chemistry that pulled the two of them together. It was more than on a physical level. It was as though their souls connected.

  “I am sorry for what I’ve done.” He said quietly. “If I could change it, I would.”

  “I will raise my baby without you, just so you know. I will not let you see it, no matter what happens.”

  William fought back tears. There was no way he was going to cry in front of Abigail, or anyone for that matter.

  “I just wanted you to know that...I regre
t that things turned out this way. I don’t regret that night, Abigail. I never will. I know you won’t be able to, because you will be caring for our child, but I assure you, I won’t forget it either. It was a…wonderful time and…I only wish there was a way there could be more.”

  “I would not share, my Lord. I will not be a woman on the side.”

  “I understand.”

  Her voice was not quite as harsh but it was still firm and slightly angry.

  “I could easily have loved you, Abigail. I hope you know that.”

  “It makes no difference, my Lord. No difference at all.”

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  “Lord Montgomery here to see you, my Lady.”

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  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  ABIGAIL EAVESDROPS

  Abigail remembered watching William ride away on his horse. She’d peeked through the kitchen window, trying to stay in the shadows as much as possible, in case he turned back or someone else saw what she was doing.

  She was scrubbing a candleholder that was attached to the wall, rubbing the same spot over and over, as she replayed his leaving over and over again in her mind. She was angry with herself for having feelings for him, knowing what a scoundrel he was.

  She heard voices in the hallway. She couldn’t help moving closer to the door as they passed by the doorway.

  “When Lord Montgomery comes, bring him directly into the study, Jackson.”

  “Yes, my Lady.”

  “He will be arriving shortly. You may wait for him on the front porch so that he is immediately received.”