Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter!

In response to Chantel and your interest in seeing the children more often...I will try to include them when I can, even though the main focus is always MerDer. Now on to Cordelia's arrival, and what's happened with her since we saw her last...

Chapter 33
Cordelia's Tale

"Oh dear..."

"Indeed..." Derek stood and offered Meredith his arm, as they considered the news of the unexpected arrival. "Winston, I expect Miss Cordelia will be staying the night, at the very least. Make sure there is a room ready for her, with a cradle, apparently."

Winston nodded. "Very good, sir."

"This can't be good," Meredith murmured as they made their way towards the front foyer. It was close to dinner, and the household was relatively quiet. They found Cordelia waiting for them, a baby in her arms, with no maid to assist her. Meredith hurried over, and put her hand on Cordelia's arm.

"Oh, Lady Meredith, I am so sorry to disturb you, but I had nowhere else to go." Her eyes were damp with unshed tears, and her bottom lip trembled. She looked tired, with dark circles under her eyes. Her usually lustrous hair was looking dull and unkempt, and her cloak was splotched with mud.

"I don't understand, what happened to Rhys?"

"He's disappeared...I just didn't know what to do... and I couldn't go home...we were in London..." Cordelia's words didn't make sense, but Meredith just pulled the younger woman into her arms, baby and all. They could straighten out the details later.

"Hush, now...you must be exhausted. The best thing for you now is to rest and to have that little child taken care of." Meredith smiled gently. "Boy or girl?" She touched the blanket wrapped bundle, looking at the small face.

"A girl, Rebecca Margaret."

"Oh, how adorable she is..." She took Cordelia's arm, and guided her towards the stairs. "I will have one of the maids prepare a bath for both of you, and bring some dinner up on a tray. Once you have rested, we can talk. Whatever is wrong, we will deal with it later."

Cordelia nodded, leaning against Meredith. "Thank you, I appreciate this so much."

Derek had been quiet, observing without interrupting, as he leant against the wall. He would let Meredith deal with the immediate crisis, and they could discuss it later. For now, he conferred with Winston.

"Did she come by carriage?"

"Yes, my lord. There is only a small trunk with her belongings that we brought inside, and I have taken the liberty to send the driver to the stables. I trust John will be able to find the man a place to sleep."

"Excellent. It appears we will have a guest for awhile. Again." Derek ran a hand through his hair, wondering exactly what Rhys Huntington had gotten himself into this time.

"What did she tell you?" Derek asked, once they were seated at dinner.

"Not much. Poor girl was so tired, she was barely able to bathe before falling asleep, according to Rose. The baby is doing well, just rather hungry and tired. We have arranged for one of the younger maids to help Cordelia."

"So we will need to wait until morning then to discover what happened." Derek took a sip of his wine, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I'm afraid so. Do you have any ideas?"

"Any number of scenarios come to mind; perhaps Rhys wasn't as reformed as she led us to believe. If they were in London, he might have gotten involved with gambling again. There are far too many temptations for someone who can't resist the lure of the gaming halls, or the horse races. We already know he enjoyed the race tracks."

"Yes, that is true. He may have done well for a time, but then fallen into his old ways. But she seems frightened, Derek," Meredith said, toying with the heavy silver fork in her hand. "Something has scared her..."

"Let's hope it isn't Rhys himself frightening her," Derek commented coolly. "That would be unacceptable."

"Oh, I hadn't considered that. I suppose not all women are as fortunate as I am." She thought of the time Derek had taken care of the man who had tried to blackmail her, based on scandalous paintings he'd done of her. She shuddered to think what her life would have been like, had she kept on with Jack St. Vincent.

Derek reached over and covered her hand with his. "We are both fortunate, I believe we had this discussion already today," he smiled warmly.

The comment made her smile in return, a pleasant ache of remembrance in her limbs. "You're right, we did. Very convincingly, too, I might add."

"Oh, so you don't need another demonstration?" His voice was warm with sensual innuendo, while his fingers stroked hers.

"Perhaps..."

The next morning, Meredith settled at the table in the dining room, spreading the skirts of the pale green muslin gown around her, before she contemplated her plate of eggs and toast. The sideboard was well stocked with food, and pots of tea and coffee were on the table. Derek helped himself to the same thing, adding ham and bacon to his own plate, and joined her. As usual, he was dressed in simple black trousers, white linen shirt open at his throat, and black waistcoat.

"Any word on our guest?" he inquired, pouring coffee for himself, while one of the footmen hovered nearby Meredith with the teapot.

"Mmm…Rose talked with me this morning as she did my hair. Anne, the maid I assigned to Cordelia, saw bruises on Cordelia's wrists last night. That does not sound good, Derek."

"What about the baby?"

"No sign of harm, thankfully."

"Thank god for that. Well, she can stay here as long as she needs."

Meredith touched his arm. "I knew you would say that. You have a good heart, Derek."

He picked up her hand and kissed her fingertips. "And you have a gentle heart, my love…"

They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps, and then Cordelia appeared at the doorway. "Oh! Pardon me…" She looked flustered at seeing them together, seated closely, Meredith's fingers still clasped in Derek's. "I did not mean to disturb you." Taking a few steps backwards, she was ready to leave them alone, before Meredith held out her hand. Derek stood, giving her a welcoming look as well.

"Oh no, you are not disturbing us," Meredith smiled. "Please, sit...are you hungry?"

Cordelia sank into a chair that the footman had pulled out for her, before Derek took his own chair again. In the bright sunlight of morning, she still looked a little worse for wear, but the smudges under her eyes had disappeared somewhat. "I believe just some tea for now; I haven't had much appetite lately."

"You must keep up your strength for the baby," Meredith chided her. "She is very tiny and she depends on you, my dear."

"You are right, of course, my lady. I am not accustomed to having someone depend on me." She warmed her hands on the tea cup for a moment, keeping her head down. "I will try to eat for her sake."

Meredith beckoned the footman, and quietly instructed him to fill a small plate with some eggs and some toast, and to fetch a glass of milk from the kitchen. For a few moments, they were all quiet.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Meredith asked finally, once the plate was in front of Cordelia. "Or would you like to wait?"

"I owe you both an explanation," Cordelia sighed, doing her best to eat some of the eggs. "Here I have appeared on your doorstep, completely unannounced; with a baby in my arms...you must think I am completely mad."

"Just upset...what happened in London?" Meredith exchanged a glance with Derek, and he nodded for her to keep going. Cordelia would likely feel better talking with Meredith.

"We were there to visit some of Rhys' friends. I would have rather stayed at Whitely Manor, but he said it would be a chance for me to buy some new gowns, and some things for the baby." Cordelia paused. "And I thought it would be all right then, as well, even though Rebecca is very young for travelling. Rhys had been very attentive all winter, and I thought he had abandoned his rakish ways. He even seemed thrilled about the baby.

"Once we were in London, however, he started to leave me alone in our hotel suite. At first it was only an hour or two, after dinner. He said he had met up with friends at his club, and merely lost track of time, having a drink or two. I could smell the whiskey on him, and cigars, so I took his word. But the absences became longer and longer, and he would stumble in long after I went to bed, waking the baby up. He was drunk, and he smelt of more than just cigars…" Cordelia said quietly. "I believe he was seeing another woman, or perhaps more than one woman."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Cordelia," Meredith murmured.

"Not only that, I believe he was gambling. I was to visit with the seamstress, but he told me to hold off, that he needed some cash for an investment he was thinking of. I suspect that he merely needed the money to place bets, or some such thing.

"This continued for some time, and I was growing more frantic, and feeling isolated there without anyone to talk to. Then one night, he didn't return at all, nor the next, and all I could imagine was that he was in some other woman's bed, past the point of wanting to return to me. By then, the manager at the hotel was demanding some form of payment, and there was nothing I could give him. I gathered Rebecca and a few things, and with the help of my driver, escaped London in the middle of the night. He is loyal to me, he used to work for my family, and he was angry at Rhys' behavior towards me. Thank god for him, or I would have been in dire straits indeed.

"Thankfully, he had some idea of where you live, and we were able to ask along the way for directions. You are very well-spoken of, Your Grace," she said, looking towards Derek. "It was not difficult to find the way here."

"So you do not know where Rhys is, or what happened for sure?" he asked gently.

Cordelia shook her head. "No, and I couldn't face his family again, or even my own, after everything else that happened. So I came here, but I truly do not wish to be a burden. I just did not know who else to turn to…" Her voice broke, and tears slid down her cheeks. "Why would he do this? I know he didn't love me, but still, I thought…I thought I was a good wife for him…."

Meredith stood up, and moved to put her arm around the younger woman. "Hush…perhaps he did not leave you for another woman, Cordelia. Perhaps there is another explanation for his disappearance."

Cordelia only cried harder, too emotional to speak.

"Did he hurt you in any way?" Meredith had to ask, knowing about the bruises.

Cordelia shook her head silently, but Meredith wasn't entirely sure that was the truth. However at this point, she wasn't about to press for more information. "All right then, I believe you should rest for awhile again," Meredith soothed her, and with Derek's help, they guided her towards the foot of the stairway. The footman had scurried ahead, and summoned the maid to assist, and Anne met them there. "Here, Anne, help her to bed. I will check on her later."

Anne bobbed a quick curtsey, and led the sobbing Cordelia to her bed chamber, leaving Meredith and Derek alone. Meredith turned to him with an expression that was partly sad and partly angry. "That man is a cad for doing this to her," she murmured. "Promise me you would never take a mistress, Derek."

"Meredith, you know I would never do such a thing…" he assured her, slightly bewildered at her vehemence.

"Just say it, Derek."

"I would never take a mistress, Meredith." He pulled her against him, hugging her tightly.

"Thank goodness, or I would have to castrate you," she half- laughed, her cheek against his chest.

"That is a very good deterrent on its own," he agreed, tipping her chin up with his fingers so he could see her. "However, the fact that I adore you, and could never live without you, and a host of other reasons far outweigh any need for that. You know that, my love." He kissed her gently. "I agree, Rhys has behaved terribly, but there may be more to his disappearance than just some courtesan's bed. From the sounds of it, he could have fallen into debt further, and someone decided to make him pay, and not just fiscally."

"Are you taking his side?"

"No, I'm not, Meredith, just looking at other possibilities, just as you pointed out. And I believe I should go to London, and see what I can discover, to put to rest Cordelia's fears."

"Oh, are you sure that is a good idea? Perhaps we could send Marcus a letter, ask him to help?"

"I will be home long before you have the baby, my love. Nothing would keep me away during that time. This will be a short trip, one that I will combine with checking on the mares at the royal stables, and I will be home within a fortnight, I promise."

"I could go with you…"

"No, not in your condition, and I can travel more quickly alone." He took her hands and kissed her knuckles. "You know I am right. You can look after Cordelia, and I will be home before you know it."

"The time never passes quickly when you are away," she sighed. "Just promise me you will be careful."

"I promise."

"How soon will you be leaving, then?"

"As soon as I can arrange it, and make sure that everything will be all right in my absence."

By the end of the day, Derek's plans had been finalized, and his valet had packed the trunk for a short stay in London. John was prepared to look after the mares ready to foal, assuring Derek he was still capable of handling the stables. Cordelia had kept to her rooms for the day, unable to find the ability to do anything but rock baby Rebecca, and then fall asleep again.

They spent some time with the children after dinner, reading to them in the library. Michael had been rather melancholy about his father's impending journey, wishing that he could go along to perhaps watch some horse races.

"Another time, son," Derek assured him. "You need to stay home and look out for your mother and sisters and brother. I can count on you, can't I?"

"Yes, Papa." Michael nodded solemnly.

"Good, and when I come home, we will go for a good long ride, just the two of us," Derek grinned, ruffling Michael's hair. The girls were settled beside Meredith, and James was on her lap. "And we will have a picnic when we're together again, the whole family, how does that sound?"

"Perfect, Papa," Hannah smiled. "Even Henry will be looking forward to that!"

"Perhaps by then he will be ready to be set free," Meredith commented with a smile.

"But he likes it here!" Ella protested.

"He likes what he can hoard," Derek laughed. "Are you all ready for bed now?"

Hiding yawns, and rubbing sleepy eyes, they all tried to deny it, knowing that he would be gone in the morning before they woke up. Meredith felt a little pang of sadness as well, but she knew it was only a short time he would be gone. And they still had the rest of the night together...