Chapter Eight
His stay in London felt like eons, not a mere three weeks. There was not much he could do about it of course. As heir to the Duchy he was expected to make public appearances, to run charitable events and to generally make his family look very, very good. And ordinarily, he loved it.
He was an extroverted sort of a man, who liked being the social glue in a situation, the center of attention, the one who others groveled to. It meant he was not the one doing the groveling.
But he had missed Thomas.
It was odd for him to so acutely miss anyone, much less someone he had only known for a few short days. But, nevertheless, he felt the pull as though their souls had been separated at birth. Perhaps this was what people meant when they said they had found a soulmate? Although their time together had been so brief, he felt so certain that Thomas was the person he needed to spend the rest of his life with. It was all for which he had ever wished.
He was not yet certain how they could make it work. But however it came to be, he knew that it was what they must do. For their own sanity, and for their love.
The one thing he was looking forward to when he returned was locking lips with this beautiful young man again. Nothing else mattered to him at this point. He had thought of very little else while he was away, and now that he was almost home, he felt the anticipation rise like a tide of passion inside him.
He wondered whether Thomas had missed him so much as well. He hoped so. He hoped that what he felt was entirely reciprocated by the younger man. Otherwise his dream of spending a lifetime together would be shattered. What he wanted to do would never be accepted by society. Thomas needed to be willing to reject society to make it happen.
He had bought him a gift, a smart suit, to be tailored to size at home. It was nothing amazingly special, something either of them could have afforded anyway. But it was as intimate of a gift he could make publicly. And besides, when properly fitted, the bright blues of the suit would really accentuate Thomas’ features and slender shape. He would look beautiful, and Christopher would have the satisfaction of knowing that he had dressed his lover and that Thomas would be thinking of him whenever he wore it.
As his carriage drove through the village, he resisted the urge to ask the driver to take him straight to the Fitzroy house. He knew it would look odd if he were to visit Thomas first thing, so he restrained himself. He made a point of going home, setting some servants to task unpacking his belongings, changing out of his travel clothes, and having a cup of tea before making his way over.
Time seemed to drag out, seconds turning into minutes, as he waited for the right time to go and see Thomas. He felt like a small child waiting for Christmas morning to arrive.
When he finally arrived, the Fitzroy house seemed a little less bustling than usual, but Christopher did not mind this. Less commotion was just the way he liked things. And besides, it was not as though he were there for anyone else. He knocked on the door.
A servant gently creaked the door open, then, seeing who it was, went a little pale, pulled the door open wide, and bowed.
Christopher walked in and as soon as the door was closed he was immediately escorted to the front room. All he wanted was to see Thomas, but he knew he would have to go through the usual process of seeing the Baron, or the Baroness. It was their house, after all.
“Oh, we are so glad to see you, Your Grace!” Baroness Fitzroy proclaimed.
Looking around, Christopher did not see anyone else. He put his head to one side.
Baroness Fitzroy blushed a little. “Well, I am. I suppose my husband and daughter will be pleased to see you when they arrive, Your Grace.”
Christopher nodded. “I suppose they will be. And Thomas?”
Baroness Fitzroy paled a little and shook her head with a meek smile. “A very busy man at the moment, I am afraid. But Your Grace shall have company, fret not.”
“I would very much like to see Thomas,” he said.
Baroness Fitzroy seemed unnecessarily agitated by this suggestion. “I suppose I could ask him,” she said tentatively, “but do not be surprised should he turn you away. Oh, look, here comes Delilah, Your Grace. Perhaps the two of you ought to talk as I go and look for Thomas.”
Christopher sighed as Delilah walked in through the door. He knew that Baroness Fitzroy would not let the matter rest so long as she believed Delilah stood even the slightest chance of marrying him. After all, why else would he be there?
As Baroness Fitzroy left the room, Delilah sat down, glancing around nervously. “Thank goodness Your Grace is here,” she whispered. “Thomas needs your help. My parents are keeping him prisoner in his own room.”
Christopher shook his head a little. “I beg your pardon?”
Delilah nodded. “They... They believe that if they keep him locked away he will not bring any shame or trouble to them.”
“Why would he bring any shame to them?” Christopher asked, fearing the worst. But he could not just assume. He needed to hear it.
“He has... he has been discovered. You both have,” she said. She looked genuinely distressed. “Ever since they found out, my parents have kept him from leaving. They believe if he does not see other men, and if he finds the right woman, he will change his attitude.”
Christopher shook his head. “I cannot let them do that to him.”
“I hoped Your Grace would say that. At first, I thought that what they were doing was for the best. I thought it might help him. But after seeing what they've done... It's not helping anyone. Your Grace has to save him.” Delilah bowed her head in shame.
“Would it be at all possible for me to see him?” Christopher asked.
Delilah paused, then nodded. “I will do my best to get you both some time together. You deserve it. I shall keep a lookout for my mother and will warn Your Grace if she is on her way.”
“Thank you,” he began, but he saw her shaking her head.
“It is the least I could do.”
Unsurprisingly, Baroness Fitzroy was not with her son. She had simply claimed she was going to find him so that she could buy Delilah and Christopher more time together.
Thomas sat on the edge of his bed, still dressed in bed clothes, looking rather sorry for himself. Looking up as the door opened, his eyes landed on Christopher and he grinned with pure delight. “Christopher!” he exclaimed under his breath.
Christopher walked up to the bed and sat down beside Thomas, wrapping one arm around him and pulling him closer. “Thomas. Had I known you were going to be discovered and end up treated like this by your own family I would never have left. How are you coping? Are they feeding you well?”
Thomas shook his head a little. “They are treating me... fine, I suppose.”
“No, they are not,” Christopher contested. “They are keeping you in here like some sort of an animal.”
“Well, it is this or an institution,” he said and sighed.
“Or you could come home with me,” Christopher replied.
Thomas shook his head. “How? You are not even supposed to be here right now. I doubt my parents would allow me to just walk off with you.”
“They may do,” Christopher replied. “You are an adult, you can make your choice of where to live.”
“I am also their only son and their eldest child. They would rather call me insane and lock me up than have me somewhere else, living a life that dishonors them,” Thomas protested.
Christopher sighed. “I suppose you are right. I only wish we could spend some more time together.” Leaning in, he caressed Thomas’ uncombed hair and turned his head so they were facing one another.
He locked lips with Thomas, but the younger man panicked. He pulled back, and scooted further up the bed, so that there was a good foot of space between the two of them. He shook his head, staring with wide, fearful eyes.
Christopher shook his head and began to move up closer again. “Are you all right, Thomas?”
“No, this is what got us in trouble in the first place. Got me in trouble in the first place.” Thomas glared at him intently.
Christopher stopped getting any closer and sat back down. “Then what do you want? For us to never see one another ever again?”
“It is not a matter of what I want. It is a matter of what my parents want. If they decide you ought not to be here--”
“They have decided that. And yet I am here. They are nobody compared to a Duke,” Christopher interrupted.
“But you are not a Duke. You simply stand to become one someday. And they are my parents. They can choose what they wish for me to do,” Thomas said and sighed.
He wanted to help Thomas. But what could he do? He knew that the younger man could, theoretically speaking, go against his parents' wishes. He was a young man, not a child or a woman. He could get by in this world entirely on his own should he choose to do so. But only if he chose that. Only if he braved the uncertain. And Christopher was not sure Thomas had it in him.
The door suddenly swung open, causing them both to nearly jump out of their skin. But it was only Delilah. She looked as though she had just run all the way to the room.
“Mother is asking to see Your Grace,” Delilah said breathlessly.
Christopher nodded. “Very well. I shall see you again soon, Thomas. Do not fret.” He wanted to hug him, to kiss him, to tell him everything would be all right. But he knew he could not. Not now. He just stood up, smiled, and followed Delilah out the room.
“Does Your Grace think Your Grace can help him?” she asked.
“Please, just say 'you'. And I hope so,” Christopher replied.
“Oh, thank you!” Delilah exclaimed.
“No, thank you,” Christopher replied, hugging Delilah. “Without you, I would not have been able to see him at all. And without you, I shall not be able to help him.”
Delilah nodded. “I will do everything in my power to make sure you can do as you must.”
“Women like yourself are few and far between. Your brother is lucky to have you for a sister,” Christopher said as they walked down the hallway.
“Men like you are... a rare treasure,” she smiled. “I wish I shall someday meet a man such as yourself rather than the little boys who have been playing with my heart until now.”
“You will,” Christopher replied. “Your problem is you are too nice and too pretty. A less attractive woman would not attract so much attention. And a less eager to please one would scare off the vultures. You cannot change how pretty you are, so you ought to be a little meaner.”
Delilah nodded. “I suppose so. My brother and I... we have always attempted to be pleasant, good people. Our parents demanded it of us. But I am not so sure that it is a good thing.”
“It is not,” Christopher replied. “You need to be able to say 'no' and to decide upon your own fate.” But neither of them would decide their own fate as long as their cold, controlling parents treated them like little children and not like adults.
He needed to rescue Thomas. He was just not sure how. He would need to somehow persuade the young man to act against his parents' wishes. But if Delilah could, then there was some hope.
Sitting in the front room, Baroness Fitzroy completely bought the story that Christopher thought Delilah to be a wonderful partner. And of course, she did. Christopher did find Delilah to be a very beautiful woman, and although he felt no attraction toward her, it was easy to pass off his admiration as genuine interest.
“Your Grace would need to be careful about when Your Grace plans the wedding, though,” Baroness Fitzroy joked.
“How would that be?” Christopher asked. “A big event is coming up?”
Baroness Fitzroy nodded. “Why of course, Thomas is set to marry Victoria Byrd on the 15th of July.”
“That is rather soon. He never mentioned her,” Christopher said.
“Oh, it is sudden, Your Grace is right, but they are simply head over heels for one another,” Baroness Fitzroy smiled a knowing smile.
Christopher felt an acute pain in his chest. Thomas had not mentioned this to him. He knew from all that had happened that this was not Thomas’ choice. Were he to choose to marry this Victoria, he would have told Christopher. No, this was all down to the Baroness, and perhaps her husband.
“I don't suspect I could talk to him about this,” he remarked. “I simply wish to learn a little more about Victoria.”
“Oh, I am sure he will tell Your Grace when he has the time, but when I went to ask him, he was so very busy planning the wedding,” Baroness Fitzroy concluded with an exaggerated sigh.
“Of course,” replied Christopher.
“I know, I know, it is so rude to turn down the son of a Duke like so, but Your Grace will have to forgive him. He's been a little stressed. A little unlike himself.” She smiled and sipped her tea. “But something good has come from it, if Your Grace and Delilah are interested in one another. There is great potential there.”
“Yes, there is,” Christopher said, forcing out a smile.
He knew what he needed to do now. He needed to rescue Thomas. To rescue him before it was too late. It was not possible to convince this woman to cease tormenting her son. The only option was to take him away. But Thomas would certainly never leave so long as he continued to passively obey his parents. If nobody did anything soon, Thomas and Victoria would be married within a month.
No solution seemed truly obvious. But Christopher was sure something would crop up.