The Broken Duke Read online

  Graham stared. “She put her hands around your throat?” he repeated, shocked and horrified.

  She nodded. “Emma interrupted, and that’s why I came to their home yesterday.”

  “You can’t go back to that woman, Adelaide,” Graham said through clenched teeth.

  She shut her eyes briefly. “Legally she is my guardian, Graham. And in the fourteen years I’ve lived with her, those are the only two times when she’s lashed out at me.”

  “It escalates,” he said through clenched teeth. “A slap. A punch. A choke. A burn. And then he’s murdering your mother in the east parlor.”

  Adelaide’s eyes filled with tears and she slid across the carriage to him, touching his cheek and smoothing her thumb across his jawline. “I’m so sorry, Graham. And I know you want to protect me. But I promise you that my situation is not like your own.”

  He frowned, for he wasn’t as certain about that fact as she was. “Adelaide,” he began.

  She shook her head. “Right now you and I must focus on the situation with Sir Archibald.”

  “I didn’t kill him,” Graham said.

  She drew back, shock flooding her features. “Of course you didn’t,” she gasped. “I never believed you did. Even if we hadn’t been together the last two nights, I wouldn’t have believed it.”

  “Even after my losing control?” he pressed.

  She leaned up and brushed her lips to his. “I know you.”

  It was a simple statement, but it hit Graham straight in the gut. She knew him. Yes, she did. Despite the short time of their acquaintance, she had wound her way inside of him, she had inspired him to whisper secrets he’d vowed never to tell. She had become a part of him.

  And he found he didn’t want to lose that part, no matter how terrifying a thought that was.

  He pushed it aside and sighed. “Either way, I think we both believe his murder is associated with the theatre.”

  “If his body was found so close by, I cannot imagine it is a coincidence. He had plenty of enemies there.”

  “Whoever killed that man should be given a medal, not transported,” Graham said, sliding an arm around her and tucking her into his side.

  She nodded. “Yes, I tend to agree. But the world isn’t always fair.”

  “No,” he agreed softly. “It isn’t.”

  The carriage turned a few times as they sat there quietly together, and then it began to slow. He felt Adelaide shift against him, watched her sit up straight, and when he looked at her face, he was shocked to see Lydia there. There was a hardness to her expression, a wariness. He’d never recognized that before when he thought they were two different women. But Lydia was…jaded.

  And he found he wanted the real Adelaide back. As much as he’d given to Lydia, as much as he’d needed her in the beginning, now it was different. Lydia represented all the pain that Adelaide sought to escape. Her presence here now only broke his heart.

  When the footman opened the carriage door, he climbed down first and helped her do the same. As the vehicle pulled away so it would no longer block the street, Adelaide took a long breath.

  “I’m Lydia—don’t forget,” she said as they made their way toward the theatre.

  “Of course.”

  Her expression changed for a fraction of a moment, as if she was fighting to keep the mask on. But then she was serene again, focused, as they moved around the side of the theatre to a small door he’d never known was there.

  “Actor entrance,” she explained as they stepped into the cool darkness.

  It took a moment for his eyes to adjust as she closed the door and left them in dusty, filtered darkness. During the day the building was quiet, with none of the bustle or noise of a night of a performance.

  “Is anyone here?” Graham asked, whispering like they were in a church or on other hallowed ground.

  She nodded. “Yes, there’s always someone hard at work here. Actors rehearsing, stage people working on props or other set dressing. There’s a world of effort that goes into entertaining the ton, Your Grace.”

  She guided him through back hallways that he’d never seen during his times visiting her here, and finally they popped up behind the stage. A lady stood in the middle of the stage, a seamstress adjusting her hem as she read over lines, testing out different ways to say the same words as she called them out to the empty seats before her.

  “Katie?” Adelaide called out, and the actress turned her head. When she saw Adelaide her eyes went wide.

  “Good Lord, Lydia! Melinda has been worried sick.” Her gaze moved to Graham, curious, wary, and he inclined his head slightly as a greeting.

  “Have you heard about Sir Archibald?” Adelaide asked, her tone carefully neutral.

  The actress flinched. “Aye, it’s all the talk. After what he did to you, to Melinda, and to some of the others, I can’t say anyone’s sorry for that bastard’s demise.”

  Adelaide’s lips pursed. “Yes, there were plenty just within our walls who might want to see him dead. Does anyone know what happened?”

  Katie’s cheeks paled slightly, and the way her gaze darted away made Graham think she did know more. But with him standing there, she clearly had no intention of saying anything.

  Adelaide sighed. “Is Melinda here? Or Toby?”

  Katie motioned off stage. “Back in your dressing room.”

  Adelaide reached back and took Graham’s hand. “Thank you!” she called out as she guided him down another hallway, the familiar one he’d traveled when he came to call on Lydia after her shows.

  “She didn’t want to speak in front of me,” he said.

  She nodded without looking back at him. “For many of these women, a title just means a rich man who does as he likes. Not safe.”

  He shook his head. “Life for a woman is so very dangerous.”

  She stopped before her dressing room door and turned to him, smiling. “Yes. Most men don’t recognize that, but it’s true. And the less power a woman has, the more dangerous it becomes. We have very few laws to protect us, so we must depend on men to do what is right.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “Thankfully, some do.”

  “Not enough,” he said softly.

  She leaned up to kiss him briefly, then set her shoulders back and opened the dressing room door. As they entered, Graham caught his breath. Adelaide’s understudy Melinda was seated on a settee along the wall with a young man who had shown Graham back to Lydia a few times. Toby, he assumed, based on Adelaide’s earlier conversations. Melinda’s pretty face was battered, both eyes blackened and her cheeks swollen.

  Adelaide made a sound of horror and released his hand, rushing into the room as Melinda stood, silent tears streaming down her face while the two women embraced.

  “Oh, Lydia,” Melinda sobbed. “I was so worried about you.”

  “I’m fine,” Adelaide soothed her as Toby stepped aside and let the two women sit together on the couch. Graham noticed the man watching him warily.

  He supposed he’d earned that after the last time he was here and his behavior. All those who worked here must suspect he murdered Sir Archibald, just as the captain had. If he were in their position, he would, too.

  “What in the world happened to your face, Melinda?” Adelaide asked, tilting her friend’s head gently to look at the damage in better light.

  Melinda shot Graham a look, and he frowned. Here was more proof that men of his kind were a threat to women like this. That they lived in fear until they knew a man wouldn’t use his power over them.

  Adelaide followed Melinda’s stare and smiled briefly at Graham. “His Grace is a friend, my dear. I promise you he is not here to do any harm, but to help. You may speak in front of him.”

  Melinda didn’t look entirely certain of that fact, but she swallowed hard and her gaze flitted to Toby. “If Lydia says he’s safe,” Toby said softly.

  “Very well.” Melinda took a deep, shaky breath. “After you and His Grace left here two nights ago, Sir Arch
ibald was escorted back to his carriage and sent on his way. But he…but he didn’t go home.”

  Graham clenched his hands behind his back. He could already see the trail of this story. He already knew the end.

  “He came back,” he offered when the young woman seemed to struggle with the telling.

  Fresh tears filling Melinda’s blackened eyes. “Yes,” she whispered. “He snuck in and he found me. He…he…”

  She ducked her head, and Adelaide caught her breath. “He did this to you?”

  Melinda nodded slowly, and it was Toby who stepped forward. The young man was slender and wore spectacles and didn’t look like much at first glance, but now Graham recognized a deep protectiveness in his stare. And a deep love as his gaze fell on Melinda.

  “He did that and more,” Toby snarled out, pain making his voice sharp. “When I came in he was—”

  He cut himself off and turned away, his shoulders shaking with rage and heartbreak. Graham couldn’t help it—he reached out and placed a hand on the man’s shoulder as comfort.

  “You couldn’t have known, Toby,” Melinda gasped out. “If you had you would have come sooner. You would have prevented—”

  “But I didn’t, did I?” Toby asked, turning back.

  Adelaide shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Melinda. I’m so sorry that it happened to you. But what happened next? Because the man was found floating in the river just beyond the theatre with a bullet between his eyes.”

  A heavy silence hung in the room then, a silence that seemed to last forever. Finally, Toby lifted his chin and said, “I shot him. I killed Sir Archibald. And I’m not bloody sorry about it.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Adelaide rose to her feet slowly, staring from Toby to Melinda and to the twisted, horrified face of Graham. Pain and empathy flooded her, for what her friend had endured. For what both her friends had endured, for she could see that murdering a man, even if justified, weighed on the kind and gentle Toby.

  “My God,” she whispered. “Oh Melinda, oh Toby. I’m so very sorry.”

  “I’m not,” Toby repeated, just as strong as the first time he’d said it. “I’m only sorry I didn’t do it before he touched her.”

  Melinda rose then and rushed to him, wrapping her arms around him as they trembled together. “It’s not your fault. It’s not.”

  Adelaide’s eyes went wide as she realized she wasn’t seeing two friends who comforted each other. She was seeing two people who were in love and had gone through almost the worst thing imaginable. They leaned against each other, giving comfort and taking strength. She couldn’t help but look at Graham in that moment and wish she were so free as to do the same.

  But they had not spoken of feelings. Or anything else to do with whatever their relationship had become in the past few weeks.

  “We’ve been hiding here for two days,” Melinda explained as she broke away from Toby’s arms. “When the Home Office captain comes to question us, as he has a handful of times, the others put us where we can’t be found. But we both know it won’t last. They’ll figure out what happened eventually and then…then...” She bent her head and began to sob softly.

  Toby lifted his chin. “I’ve told you, Melinda, I won’t let them know your part in hiding the body. I’ll happily be hanged or transported.”

  Melinda glared at him. This was obviously an argument they’d had more than once. “As if I’d let you take the blame alone. We will go down together.”

  Graham had been mostly silent since entering the room, allowing Adelaide to manage the exchange, but now he straightened his shoulders and his presence filled the room just as it always did when he chose to allow it.

  “I will not let that happen,” he said. “I will put all my power behind stopping it.”

  Toby and Melinda both stared at him, confusion and disbelief in their mutual stares. “Why would you do that?” Toby asked.

  Graham hesitated and then said, “Because I understand the drive to protect a woman you…you…” His gaze flitted to Adelaide. “A woman you care about.”

  Adelaide took in an unsteady breath. Care about? It wasn’t exactly a grand declaration of love, not that she had expected one. Caring for her was perhaps the best she would ever get. And yet it felt hollow.

  “Besides,” he continued, oblivious to her thoughts. “I was asked to watch Sir Archibald months ago, for the very kind of bad acts that he perpetrated upon you, Miss Melinda. I was…I was distracted from that duty. If I had not been, perhaps I could have prevented this. Or if I hadn’t attacked him the night he moved on Ade—Lydia he would not have returned and vented his rage on you. Whatever the answer, I see it as my duty to see that you don’t pay for a crime that was my fault.”

  Melinda stared at him, then to Adelaide. “He would truly do this for us?”

  Adelaide nodded, her gaze firmly on Graham. “He would, for he is the best of men.”

  Graham paced the small room. “I’ll arrange for a carriage to pick you up and you’ll be taken to a small estate I own just outside London. It will be as good a place to hide as any while I contact a solicitor and we come up with the best plan of attack.”

  “Could we be married at your estate?” Toby asked, his gaze flitting to Melinda.

  Her lips parted, as did Adelaide’s. “Marry me, Toby?” Melinda whispered. “Can you mean that?”

  He faced her and pushed up his spectacles nervously. “I love you, Melinda. I always have. If we are to be destroyed, I would like a few moments of happiness before it happens. If you’ll have me.”

  She nodded without hesitation, tears flooding her eyes again, though this time they were happy ones. “I will, of course. I do love you, Toby.”

  She reached out a hand and he caught it, drawing her against his chest. Graham shifted, as if this display of emotion made him uncomfortable. He didn’t look at Adelaide as he said, “A marriage could very well make a defense easier. I’d be happy to arrange a special license and have the duty performed at the chapel on my estate.”

  Adelaide smiled at her friends, happy in this moment, despite the horrors they had so recently endured. She’d known them both for months and had no idea of their feelings for each other. Yet there they were, so clear and so real on both their faces. She felt foolish for not seeing them before.

  “You are too kind,” Melinda said, breaking from Toby’s embrace and reaching out to hold out a hand to Graham. He took it with a gentle smile.

  “I don’t think you should suffer any more than you have, my dear,” he said softly. “If I can prevent it, I shall do anything in my power to do so. Now, if there are arrangements to be made on your side, I suggest you make them. I’ll send a carriage for you to the theatre in an hour.”

  Toby moved forward, his hand outstretched, and the two men shook. In that moment, they were equals. Men who would protect those they loved. Then Toby looked at Melinda. “There are a few things to gather in my office.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I’ll come help you.” She faced Adelaide and her lips trembled. “You have been such a friend to me, Lydia. I cannot find the words to thank you.”

  Adelaide held back a sob as best she could. “It is I who should thank you. You helped me when I was a green beginner, terrified of the stage and of myself. I couldn’t have become…me without you.”

  “I hope—I hope we’ll see each other again.”

  Adelaide embraced her gently. “We will, Melinda. We will see each other again.”

  She watched as the two left the room, leaving her alone with Graham. When they shut the door behind them, she moved into the arms he opened for her. He held her like that for a moment, his hands smoothing over her hair as she struggled to come to grips over what had happened.

  Then she stepped back. “You were kind to offer them help,” she whispered.

  He shrugged, like he hadn’t just offered two drowning people a lifeline. “We all know Sir Archibald deserved what he got. If I can help them, I will.”

  Ad
elaide pursed her lips, looking around the room. She had loved coming here as an escape to the empty life she’d been leading with her aunt. Putting on the costume of Lydia Ford had made her feel confident and powerful and free. But now being Adelaide didn’t seem so terrible.

  Because of Graham.

  And in that moment, a plan began to hatch in her mind. A plan that could save her friends even more than any solicitor or powerful ally Graham could create for them.

  She smiled and then took his arm. “Come, we should go back to Emma and James’s home. I know they’ll be worried.”

  Graham took a long breath and looked around the room with her. “This was the first place I kissed you,” he said.

  She nodded, all the memories of that first night flooding back. “It was.”

  He turned her toward him and bent his head, brushing his lips to hers. She lifted her hands to his forearms and clung there, not swept away as she had been that first night, but anchored. Anchored by his strength and by her love for him.

  And even though she knew she might lose that and soon, she still clung to it in that moment and prayed that somehow she would find the strength to go on, no matter what happened.

  Graham had been almost entirely silent as they rode in the carriage, but he sat across the way from Adelaide, just watching her. She couldn’t read what was in his mind, but she shifted under the weight of his very focused regard.

  At last he cleared his throat and he said, “Your friends are not the only ones to marry soon. You and I will have to do the same, Adelaide.”

  She caught her breath as she stared at him in shock. “What?”

  He tilted his head. “Come, you know it’s true. You confessed our affair not only to our friends and your aunt, but to Captain Black. The man has a vendetta against those with a title, anyone can see that just looking at him. He may not pursue me for the murder again, but I wouldn’t put it past him to let the truth of our relationship out.”