The Duke's Love (8 page)

Wisely, some
of the men kept silent
upon hearing
the revealing statement. It did not matter, as long as these men knew to stay silent if they knew what was best for them.

Jake did not bother to respond, he just ordered another drink, hoping to forget about the whole incident
that had happened
earlier at the theater. All the other men exchanged their own female troubles.
Jordan
was beside him and
both of them drank
and wagered a huge amount throughout the night. Jake lost a huge sum of money
, but
Jordan
gained some. The games continued into the early morning hours. By the time they were done, they were foxed. Both men had a hard time climbing into the carriage. This was splendid. He was numb and could not feel anything. This came as a huge relief, which was his last thought before drifting
off into
sweet bliss.

Sarah
had gone
home last night furious with herself and with everyone around her. She fell asleep wondering why she was even bothering
,
when it was clear, Jake was not interested in her. She woke up late in the morning and had decided she deserved this chance, it was owed to her
,
and she was not going to stop until she reached her goal.

Sarah wanted Jake Trent, the
Duke
of Ashbury, no matter what. After the hell he pu
t her through, she deserved him
. Jake was gone so long, she was afraid he had left. She
had
recognized
the exact moment he had
spotted Lady Ana Carmichael
across the way
and was
preoccupied
from that moment on
.
Jordan
went with her to see what
was detaining him
and that is
w
hen they came upon them in the hallway.
The
hallway of
the
theater! Of all places to be humiliated, it was inexcusable. His behavior afterwards was no better. Jake rushed out the first chance he got. His rude manners and boorish behavior outraged her.

If Jake wanted her after all this time,
then
she would take him. She would be a
D
uchess and no one would
ever again
dare
to
slight her. She would have the world at her feet and everything she ever wanted.
Finally, she
would get back at all the people who made fun of her and talked about her behind her back. If Jake thought she would allow him to associate with that harpy, he ha
d
another thing coming. She
would
not stand for it. She ha
d
waited too long
for marriage
not
to have a title with money
along with it.  N
ow it is in her grasp
,
and she
was
not about to let anyone interfere with her plans, no matter what it took to accomplish them.

“Hurry up
! I have never known a
more useless
maid
.
You
are too slow,
” Sarah snapped.
The maid, whatever her name was, was useless! What a fumbling idiot.

The maid paled and started stuttering. “I’m sorry miss. I’m trying to hurry
,
” s
he said, trying to appease her.

Sarah was frustrated
, so she
waved her hand and dismissed her.
She was in a hurry
and she knew
she
c
ould be ready faster by putting herself together.
I
n hopes of running into her
Duke
, she
would get
dressed and go
for a
stroll around
Hyde Park
.

Surely if she
threw
herself at him, he
would
take the bait. He is a man,
they
only want one thing
,
or
at
least that was what her mother constantly reminded her of, and for once, she agreed with her mother. It was obvious
it was
what Ana had done to catch Jake in the first place. If all else fail
ed
to get him to offer for her, she
would
just make sure they
were
found in a compromising situation. Then he
would
be forced to marry her. Sarah smiled to herself, satisfied she would get what was
due
her,
and in
whatever
way she planned it.

She finished getting herself together and went downstairs
for
a quick breakfast.
Her m
other was gone for the day, which was a good thing. Otherwise, she would want to tag along
, and she
hated when her mother shadowed her.
Her f
ather was in his study working, which was even better
,
because he probably would not let her leave the house in the gown she was wearing. It was a deep shade of blue and the bodice
was
cut
very low, showing a generous amount of her bosom. She could just leave a note and slip out before anyone could stop her.

The Duchess Lady Katherine stepped into her eldest son’s townhouse and grimaced. The smell of stale alcohol and burnt tobacco greeted her.  She walked into the study and found both her sons
passed out and
slumped over
. 
She went over and pushed Jake out of the chair. He landed on the floor with a loud thud.

“What the hell?” He grumbled as he awoke.

“Get up and
wash up
.
We need to
have a
talk. Get your brother up as well. I will be waiting. I’ll give you an hour to make yourself presentable
,
” Katherine smothered her chuckle as her son stumbled to get up, muttering the whole time. Jake went over and shook his brother out of his drunkenness.

She watched with amusement. She had an idea
as
to why Jake was in this state. 
The rumors had reached her ears from several of her friends who found it necessary to pay
calls
on her
in hopes
of digging
out more gossip
from her
.
How she
wished people would
just
mind their own business. It hurt a mother to know everyone was talking about a child she loved so dearly.
She
wanted grandchildren to fill her home
and she
wanted daughter
s
-in-law to come visit
ing
.
Most of all, she
wanted her children to settle down and be happy.
However, she
was not going to get any of that until her sons
were
marr
ied
.

Jake was the eldest and the heir, so he was her first project. It was not going to happen on the road Jake was traveling on
presently
. Jake would never admit it
,
but he ha
d also
changed. He
was
not the easygoing fun loving son
,
she once knew. He was guarded and kept to himself
, always brooding and being
angry
. 
It was a silent anger that
was
just simmering below the surface,
waiting to explode. 
Jordan
was following his example
,
and she did not like where they were heading.
When Jake had brought Ana home to her to announce the happy news, she had
not approve
d
of the girl.
It was because she
believed the
girl
did not have the proper pedigree and background
that
a future
Duchess
should have. Lady Katherine was ashamed of how she
had
treated the girl
,
especially since she felt personally responsible for her son’s anguish, although Jake would never admit such feelings.

Now, she
had a plan. Katherine
had
decided at the last minute to throw a house party at the Ashbury estate in the country. A weekend should be enough time for Jake to decide what he want
ed
. It would also help to reintroduce him back in
to
the
cream
of
society
. She would invite several matchmaking mamas, their daughters and of course
,
several eligible gentlemen as well.  Maybe she
would
get lucky and get
Jordan
to settle down at the same time.
For now, though, her
focus
was on getting Jake and Ana in the same room together, which would be a hard feat to accomplish in such
a
short time.

Right
now, she had other matters to attend. She knew it was last minute and many people would have to cancel
other
plans
in order to attend
.
However, she
also knew they would change them for the chance to attend one of her parties, especially since it would be the first one after her mourning period. She missed her husband dearly
. He had died too soon and she had
been picking up the pieces of her life ever since. For the first time in a year, she felt she was finally overcoming the loss. It was time to get up and live again, even if it
almost
killed her to do so.

About an hour later,
Jake and Jordan came downstairs. Jake was suffering
with a
pounding headache,
nausea
and
he
was not in the mood to listen to his mother’s lectures.
In fact, what he really
needed
was
to go back upstairs and sleep
. He heard
Jordan
stumbling behind him and was a little pleased to know he was not the only one suffering. Since
their
mother was still
t
here, it
must
be important.

“What do you want
,
mother dearest
?
You
can see we are not the best
of
company right now
,
” Jake said as he slouched down in the chair. He was a little ashamed about speaking to her like that, but he figured he had good reasons. He looked over at
Jordan
and saw he had his head in his hands.

“Good god
,
Mother
, what
is so important it couldn’t wait?”
Jordan
bit out.

“We are having a weekend house party at Ashbury estate.” Katherine waited a few seconds before she added, “This weekend. The invitations have already been handed out and I expect
the two of you there as well
,
”
s
he stated with a forced smile.

“Why do we have to
go
?” Jake
asked with his
expression
clear
. Jake didn‘t have time to placate his mother.

“I want
the two of
you there. We haven’t had much time together
since
your father died
,
and since you have finally come home, I thought now would be a perfect time to reacquaint ourselves.” She looked at Jake and frowned a little
,
“Surely you won’t deny me this. It’s no big event, just a
couple
of friends
to make it easy
,
”
s
he said.

"Why this weekend? Couldn’t you have given us more time?”
Jordan
asked.

“Well, I have actually had this planned and just decided to invite
the two of you a
long. It’s not like you have anything better to do
, do you?
” She
asked
hesitantly.