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“And Caroline?” Will asked.
“I would never turn my back on that woman. She will cut anyone down to get what she wants.”
Will didn’t doubt that. “And she wants to be duchess.”
“True, but if she cannot manage that,” Somerton said, “then seeing one of her children become duke will do.”
“And keeping me apart from Elizabeth might just help her gain one of her desires.” Will had a terrible feeling about this. Caroline seemed just the type of woman who could start a false rumor about them.
“I need proof,” Will quietly said aloud.
“I am working on that, too,” Somerton replied.
“How did you know?”
Somerton shook his head. “A man like myself would never reveal his sources.”
“Do you think you can help us?”
Somerton glanced away and stared at a rosebush. “I pray I can.”
Chapter 20
Lady Cantwell lived in a large home on Cavendish Square, and as Will approached the house with Elizabeth, an unnerving sense of foreboding stretched across his body. Something about the older lady reminded him of his late grandmother. She was a forbidding lady with a temper far worse than his grandfather. While she died when he was only seven, Will had never forgotten her.
“Come along, Will,” Elizabeth urged as they walked toward the door.
“You are in quite the hurry this afternoon.”
“Don’t you want to know what she has to say?”
A part of him did, but a bigger part didn’t want to know if there was a possibility they were related. “I suppose I do,” he said for her benefit.
Elizabeth glowed with anticipation. Her cheeks were rosy and her green eyes sparkled. Will hoped Lady Cantwell would not disappoint her.
A young footman opened the door as they approached it. “Good afternoon,” he said.
Will handed the man a card and watched as the footman immediately stepped back to allow him entry.
“Please come in, Your Grace. Lady Cantwell is expecting you both.”
“Very good.” Will still didn’t understand all the deference given him just because he was a duke. He took Elizabeth’s arm and felt her tremble. “Are you all right?”
She nodded. “Suddenly I am a little nervous.”
He patted her arm. “That’s understandable.”
They walked together up the steps to the countess’s salon. When they arrived, they found Lady Cantwell waiting for them in a large green wingback chair.
“It is about time you both arrived. I have been waiting for hours.”
Will glanced over at the clock and noticed it was only one in the afternoon. How long could the woman have been waiting?
“Your Grace, please sit down. I’m too old a woman to be craning my neck to see you.”
Will chuckled at the older woman’s demands. “Yes, ma’am.”
He took the seat closest to Lady Cantwell on a large sofa, while Elizabeth sat next to him. “So you have information that might help Lady Elizabeth?”
