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Will lifted his head up and looked around the room. He couldn’t give up. There had to be something here. Walking to the fireplace, he put his hands on the wood moldings above the mantel. The first panel didn’t budge so he moved to the one on the right side. The panel moved and groaned slightly.
Examining the panel, Will realized that it lifted up. As it opened, he breathed a sigh of relief. He’d found it! He reached inside and pulled out a small leather-bound journal. After wiping off the dust on his trousers, he sat down in the chair by the fireplace.
He traced the gold initials JMK with his finger. He should wait and give the book to Elizabeth, but curiosity overcame his good intentions. Slowly, he opened the book. As he read the first page, a wave of disappointment crashed over him. This was not her mother’s diary. It belonged to the late duke.
Will paged through the journal, hoping to find some mention of the duchess’s infidelity. Instead, all he found was the infidelities of the duke. Apparently, the man had a voracious sexual appetite that his wife couldn’t satisfy. Then again, neither could half the female servants in the house, and several ladies of the ton.
No wonder his wife had had an affair. The poor woman was probably out for revenge. Will tilted back his head and stared at the white ceiling. He couldn’t show this to Elizabeth. It would break her heart to discover what her mother had gone through.
Will glanced back down at the open page on his lap and shook his head. The entry for the day simply read:
Camille and I have created the most intriguing wager. Whoever gets the first servant into bed with them at the country party this month wins one hundred pounds. I have no doubt it will be me.
Knowing Elizabeth’s mother was named Mary, Will briefly wondered who Camille was, but assumed it was most likely his mistress at the time. He turned a few pages and read more.
Camille bested me after all. Of course, she did not realize that I also had the pleasure of watching her fuck that footman. Or maybe she did. She continued to turn with a smile toward the small peephole Langford has in every bedroom. The woman was glorious with her big tits bouncing as she rode that man. I had to stop myself from joining them. Not that Camille would have minded.
Good God, the man was a pig. Feeling rather dirty, he scanned the rest of the journal for some entry regarding the duke’s wife. After finding nothing, Will decided to return the diary to its hiding place.
Elizabeth waited for Sophie in the small salon while her friend finished with a client. Finally, she entered the room her blue silk swishing at her feet.
“I am sorry.” Sophie sat down on the sofa next to Elizabeth. “I’m having difficulties with Lady Cantwell today. She overexerted herself and needs to rest before returning home.”
“Oh,” Elizabeth said with disappointment. “Would you like me to come back later?”
“No,” Sophie said, waving her hand at her in dismissal. “Lady Cantwell will be fine. She just needs a few moments to catch her breath. I left a servant to attend to her needs. I could sense you needed me more.”
“It’s awful, Sophie.” Elizabeth blurted out the story that Caroline had told them. She stared at the ornate rug on the floor. A fire burned across her cheeks heating them with shame. How did she get into this mess?
“This is a dreadful situation.” Sophie frowned and glanced away for a moment.
“Is there anything you can do?” Elizabeth asked.
“Me?”
“Is there any way you can tell with your powers if what Caroline said is the truth?”
Sophie fell silent and stared at the empty fireplace. Finally, she answered, “I am sorry, Elizabeth. If your mother had intense feelings for the man, I might be able to read that from an object. Perhaps even getting a mental image like a portrait.”
Before Elizabeth could ask her next question, Sophie continued, “But it would need to be a very important object. Something that he gave her or something that she poured her feelings into.”
“Like the diary,” Elizabeth said, deflated.
“Exactly.” Sophie stopped and looked away from Elizabeth again.
“What aren’t you telling me, Sophie?”
Sophie sighed. “If your mother did not have intense feelings for this man, I might not be able to tell you anything.”
Elizabeth sat back against the chair. “What do you mean? My mother would have had strong feelings for this man. They made love!”
“Elizabeth,” Sophie said quietly. “We both know that many women among the ton have affairs for nothing more than physical enjoyment.”
She could not be speaking of her mother! “That may be, but my mother was not one of them. She constantly warned me about the hazards of courtship. About the importance of finding a man who loved me, and whom I loved in return. She cautioned me against infidelities and the problems…” Elizabeth’s voice trailed off as she realized that all her mother’s warnings might have come from her own experiences.
Sophie nodded. “Elizabeth, we have no way of knowing how your mother felt for this man. She might have loved him with all her heart.”
“Or she might not have loved him at all,” Elizabeth muttered. “Will suggested I speak with some ladies close to her age.”
