Julian gave a snort of laughter. “Remind me never to look to you for sympathy.”

  “I will offer sympathy when I feel the situation warrants it,” she assured him. “This situation happened two years ago. As such, it does not require anything but a feeling of regret on your part and one of understanding on mine. We have both expressed that, and it is now time to move forward again. For instance, I cannot help but think that, despite how many people we have talked to these past two days, we have still overlooked someone,” she murmured, her brow creased as she sat back in the chair.

  Julian shook his head. “Dalton said we have spoken to everyone I employ.”

  Georgiana continued to frown in thought for several more minutes before that frown gave way to an expression of triumph. “Correction. We have interviewed all the household servants who are still working here.”

  “I already told you that none of the servants have left my employ⁠—”

  “None of your servants, but what of the duchess’s maid, for example? I am presuming that, unlike me, she did have one?”

  “Well…yes,” Julian acknowledged. “But with Annabel gone, there was no reason for her to remain here. She left the household within a week of Annabel’s disappearance and returned to London. I presume she is now working in the household of some other society lady.”

  “But you do not know that for certain?”

  “Well…no, I had no reason to.” Again, Julian had been too preoccupied with Annabel’s disappearance to take notice of where her maid had gone or care for whom she was now working.

  “Did the duchess have any other personal servants?”

  “No, just the maid she brought with her.”

  “Then I will write today and have Lily and Chloe look into that situation for us,” Georgiana stated. “It will mean explaining my true whereabouts to them, but that is a small price to pay if we can locate the duchess’s maid and talk to her.”

  “And what of St. Albans when they learn he has not told them the absolute truth?”

  “He has not lied to them either,” she defended.

  “If those two young ladies are anything like you, I do not think they will consider that a reasonable explanation,” Julian drawled.

  Georgiana gave a dismissive grimace. “St. Albans is more than capable of defending himself. In any case, what is important is that your duchess’s maid will have had a far more personal knowledge of her mistress than any of the other servants.”

  “More than me, I am sure,” Julian stated harshly

  Georgiana’s brows rose. “The two of you were married.”

  “Annabel was not…an affectionate or confiding person once we were married.” Julian’s embarrassment was such that this was as close as he could get, for the moment, to admitting the marriage had never been consummated. Indeed, he could no longer look at Georgiana, in case she saw the truth of that humiliation in his expression.

  “How long did you know each other before the wedding?”

  “A week,” he admitted grudgingly. “Annabel thought it would be romantic for us to run off to Gretna Green together.” Julian admitted to what he already knew had been beyond impetuous behavior on his part.

  A week was barely enough time to know anyone. As he had learned to his cost!

  “I had only recently returned on leave after we had defeated Napoleon.” He attempted to defend his actions. “I was enjoying a stroll in Regent’s Park when I first saw Annabel. The sun was shining, and she appeared to me as a golden-haired, blue-eyed angel of innocence and beauty. Everything, in fact, I believed I had been fighting to protect. I was instantly bedazzled and immediately engaged her in conversation.”

  “The two of you met while strolling in a park?” Georgiana eyed him incredulously.

  “Yes.”

  “And she simply allowed you to walk up to her and begin a conversation?”

  “Well…yes.”

  “Her chaperone allowed such familiarity?”

  “Annabel was alone that day.”

  “But— No unmarried lady of the ton would be allowed to go outside without a chaperone,” she pointed out. “As I no longer wish to be a part of London society, I do not include my own behavior in that statement.”

  “Annabel was not a member of the ton. Her father had been a sailor and her mother a seamstress. But they were both dead, and she was living with an aunt in London. Not a fashionable part,” he recalled. “I only met the aunt once, but I was unconcerned by Annabel’s lack of social connections, deemed it to be unimportant when we were in love and wished to marry. Except I quickly learned that it was only I who felt that way.”

  “Oh?”

  His nostrils flared. “The ink was barely dry on the marriage certificate before Annabel informed me she was not in love with me, that she never had been.”

  “Then why did she marry you?”

  Julian stood up to restlessly pace the room. “For the Moreland fortune? The prestige of being a duchess?” He shook his head. “I have no idea. I only know that once she was officially my duchess, she wanted nothing to do with me.”

  Georgiana’s eyes widened. “Such a thing had never occurred to me… Nothing at all?”

  He stopped pacing to glare at her, his jaw clenched. “At all.”

  “Does that mean…?”

  Julian could no longer look at her but turned to stare sightlessly out of the window. “Perhaps I should not be revealing this to you. I have not done so to anyone else. Possibly because, initially, I tried to protect Annabel, and later because of my own humiliation over the situation. The servants possibly knew. As you said, they see much more than we are aware.”

  “Whatever this was, I am sure they will have known,” Georgiana confirmed. “See much more of what, Julian?” she prompted softly.

  He sighed heavily. “I had believed, because she was so young, that when Annabel barred me from her bedchamber on our wedding night that it was purely a case of nerves, and that we would come together another night.” His mouth twisted. “We did not. I tried for months, did everything I could to make her feel comfortable with the physical side of marriage, but Annabel remained adamant I was not welcome in her bed.”

  It was perhaps selfish of Georgiana to feel so elated upon learning Julian’s marriage had been such a monumental failure.

  Very selfish, she acknowledged self-reprovingly, when that failure had obviously hurt Julian so badly. Initially, his heart, and then his pride.

  “You could have had the marriage annulled,” Georgiana pointed out.

  Julian turned to face her. “I already felt ridiculous enough, without every member of the ton being made aware of my total humiliation. My closest friends, St. Albans and Hellsmere, had advised me before the elopement to stop and take a breath, to think the matter through before hastening into marriage. I refused, felt sure that their caution was unwarranted. I even felt a little indignant on Annabel’s behalf. I have paid a severe price for not heeding their warnings.” He sounded weighed down by this occurrence.

  Which was perhaps why, Georgiana realized, St. Albans had been so hellbent on helping Julian by employing a secretary on his behalf.

  Knowing the Duke of St. Albans as Georgiana now felt that she did, he might even have had more than that in mind, aware of Georgiana’s vow not to marry for anything less than love when he asked her to travel into Norfolk to work for his friend.

  She stood to move out from behind the desk. “I am very sorry you had to go through that.”

  Julian huffed out a self-derisive laugh. “It was a hell of my own making.”

  Georgina crossed the room to stand in front of him before lifting one of her hands to cradle the side of his face. The fact that his cheek felt slightly rough to the touch came as no surprise. She had noticed that although Julian was newly shaved each morning, by the afternoon, that facial hair had grown long enough to cast a shadow over his jawline.

  She smiled at him encouragingly. “You believed you were marrying for love, and no one should ever fault you for that.”

  Julian lifted his hand and placed its warmth on top of hers. “Then why does even talking about that situation still make me feel such cringing humiliation and embarrassment?”

  “Because, like the rest of humanity, you had only wanted to be loved and to love, but instead, you found yourself condemned to living with a woman who obviously did not, and never had, returned your affections. A woman, moreover, who it seems never had any intention of being your wife in more than name.” Which, Georgiana acknowledged, she found very strange when Julian was such a handsome man.

  “I was a first-class fool and old enough to know better,” he growled.

  “As you said, you had recently returned from war, and the innocence of her beauty bedazzled you,” she reminded. “Perhaps deliberately so,” she stated.

  Julian frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Georgiana was unsure, her thoughts still a little jumbled, but the underlying thought that persisted through all that she had learned today was that something about this situation did not add up. It was almost as if…

  “Did her aunt come to live with you after the marriage?” It was the custom in many society marriages when an older relative would be left to live alone after a marriage took place.

  Julian shook his head. “Annabel told me her aunt was perfectly happy staying where she was, and being a newly married man, I did not push the subject.”

  “Did the two of you spend that Season in London?”

  “We did.”

  “Did you see the aunt during that time?”

  “Annabel said she preferred to visit her aunt alone.”

  “How often?”

  “Once a week when we resided in London.”

  From the little Georgiana now knew of the other woman, she did not believe Annabel Sotherby would have banned Julian from accompanying her on those weekly visits out of a feeling of embarrassment for her humbler beginnings. The duchess’s nature, from her treatment of Julian after the wedding, her rudeness to the servants and her disdain for Meggie, was not indicative of those softer emotions.

  Georgiana’s eyes narrowed. “I know St. Albans and Hellsmere to be close friends of the Prince Regent. Can I assume you are also part of that inner circle?”

  “I am, yes.”

  “Hm.” An idea was starting to formulate in Georgiana’s thoughts, but she would need more information before she voiced any of those thoughts. “Did Annabel ever meet the Prince Regent?”

  “Only when she was first presented to him, as is customary.”

  “And…?”

  Julian looked nonplussed for several seconds before his brow cleared. “And Prinny complimented me on the beauty of my duchess.”

  “And your duchess?”

  “I do not recall her saying anything of consequence.”

  “She met the Prince Regent and voiced no strong opinion afterward?”

  “Yes.”

  “A young girl from a middle-class household is introduced to the Prince Regent as the Duchess of Moreland, and she had nothing to say about that meeting?” Georgiana repeated incredulously.

  His mouth twisted. “I believe she might have said he was fatter than she’d imagined.”

  Yes, well, a lot of people said that about their Prince Regent, but never within that gentleman’s hearing. Luckily, Prinny also managed to maintain a royal bearing and could be more shrewdly intelligent than most people realized from the joviality of his outer appearance. Indeed, a mind such as the Prince Regent’s might have been useful in untangling the suspicious events surrounding Julian’s marriage.

  “Have you spoken to Annabel’s aunt since the duchess disappeared?” Georgiana changed the subject.

  He gave a slow shake of his head. “I have not.”

  “Why not?”

  He winced. “Because when I attempted to do so, I discovered she had moved from her modest house in Bloomsbury almost immediately after Annabel and I were married. Nor had she left a forwarding address. No doubt Annabel was informed of one, but she did not pass that information on to me before she too…disappeared.”

  “Then where did Annabel go every week when she said she was visiting her aunt?”

  “I have no idea.” Julian sighed heavily. “I could find no record of her aunt’s whereabouts anywhere in Annabel’s rooms after she disappeared. In fact, I did not find any correspondence amongst the things she left behind, let alone letters from her aunt,” he added with a frown.

  “Let me see if I have understood this situation correctly…” Georgiana spoke slowly, her thoughts still racing. “You met your future duchess when you were both strolling in a public park. You learned she lived with her aunt, whom you met once and who was, at best, middle-class. The two of you were married at Gretna Green a mere week after that initial encounter. Her aunt seems to have left her house in London almost immediately, and you have no idea where she now resides, despite your duchess claiming to be visiting her every week?”

  “Yes,” Julian confirmed through what sounded like gritted teeth.

  “Is it only me, or do these circumstances seem strange to you too?”

  “Now that you have so eloquently stated the sequence of those events, I can see that the whole situation is…questionable.” He winced. “But I fail to understand what the purpose could have been for any of it.”

  Neither did Georgiana.

  Not completely.

  But she had several scenarios she was contemplating. Ones she did not as yet feel comfortable sharing with Julian. She needed more information before doing so.

  Finding out what had happened to Annabel Sotherby’s aunt was part of that information and would require Georgiana to send another letter to Lily and Chloe, with that request.

  And sooner rather than later, when this situation was the reason Julian refused to kiss her again.

  Although, Georgiana was becoming more and more frustrated with that situation. So much so that she believed she might be forced to take matters into her own hands.

  “I trust you will be joining me for dinner this evening?” she now prompted. To her disappointment, despite working together in his study the past three days and eating a light luncheon together, Julian had still avoided her company in the evenings. “We still have much to discuss,” she added as she sensed he was about to decline.

  “If that is your wish,” he instantly conceded.

  “It is,” Georgiana confirmed.

  She had grown to hate that look of almost defeat in Julian’s beautiful green eyes. Indeed, she hated this whole situation for him.

  But she was not willing to wait any longer to have Julian kiss her again.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “You look very beautiful this evening,” Julian complimented when Georgiana joined him.

  He had been so eager to see her again that he had arrived in the family dining room far too early, only to then spend the remaining time pacing impatiently in front of the lit fire as he waited for Georgiana to arrive.

  It was well worth the wait.

  The purple of her evening gown was an acceptable color for a woman in mourning, which Georgiana was, even if she had told him she had not particularly liked her father. The gown’s scooped neckline revealed the top of her creamy breasts, the high waist emphasizing their fullness. The dark color perfectly complemented her pale porcelain complexion. It also darkened her blue eyes until they almost reflected that same purple. Her dark hair was a cluster of curls secured at her crown.

  Georgiana was always beautiful to him, but this evening, she appeared even more so than usual.

  Julian believed that might have something to do with the fact that he was coming to enjoy her company more and more, and that any time spent away from her now irritated him in the extreme.

  His spirits felt lighter just from being with her.

  A warning, if he had needed one, that with every day that passed, he was giving more and more of his heart to this beautiful young woman. Until, it seemed, he could think of nothing but Georgiana’s warmth and beauty.

  “Thank you.” She accepted his compliment with a smile. “You look very handsome too. But, in the interest of honesty, I believe I should tell you that I intend to use all my feminine wiles this evening, including my appearance, as encouragement for you to kiss me again.” Her eyes gleamed with mischief.

  Julian drew in a sharp breath. “I thought we had agreed that could not happen until we have the evidence to prove my marriage is over.”

  God knows his resistance to Georgiana had worn very thin these past three days of working so closely together. Indeed, by the time it came to the evenings, Julian had forced himself to continue to dine alone in his study rather than risk giving in to the desire he felt to kiss Georgiana again.

  The self-pleasure he allowed when he was alone in his bedchamber each night was not something he cared for anyone else to be aware of. Most especially Georgiana.

  “You suggested that should be the case, and, at the time, I agreed to it.” She nodded. “But it is taking far longer than I would wish to attain the evidence we need. Indeed, I have never before felt such impatience with the time it takes for a letter to be received and a reply sent, answering the questions asked. As such, it has become extremely frustrating, on my part, to continue to adhere to your earlier ruling. Do not look so shocked, Julian,” she teased when he felt his eyebrows rise to his hairline. “We have spent three days in close proximity, and every minute has been an aching reminder of how attracted I am to you. So, of course, I am now impatient to bring an end to that torment.”

  Julian’s admiration for Georgiana, already more than he had ever felt for any other woman, grew deeper still. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful and openly honest woman he had ever known. Something he appreciated even more after suffering through Annabel’s lies.

  Even so… “You gave me the impression that you have little respect for women who use female machinations to claim a man’s attention.”

  She smiled. “You have already admitted that I have your attention. And, as I have just clearly stated, it is my intention to break down any lingering resistance on your part over the course of this evening. As such, I do not see that my behavior could be in any way attributed to the use of feminine wiles.”