Page 4 of Duchess By Accident (The Matchmaker’s Scheme #5)

Chapter Four

A drian left before Lady Natalie could say anything else. He watched as her sisters surrounded her, her eyes still wide with shock.

He smiled, noting her shiver as their eyes met briefly, and the faint colour in her cheeks.

“She was right, I do enjoy theatrics.” Adrian smiled to himself as he hauled himself onto his horse and made his way back home.

The sun was nearly setting as he arrived back at Blackwood Manor, his London home. He handed his horse to one of the stable hands and strode into the dining room.

A young girl of about eight glanced up at him. Her blonde hair was untidy, and Adrian noticed a few leaves in it. She smiled when she saw him, but did not make any move to come closer.

“Did you have a good day, Father?” Melody Stone asked, as he bent down and plucked the leaves from her hair.

“I did.” He smiled at her, brushing a few specs of dirt from her shoulder as he cast an assessing gaze upon her. “Have you been climbing trees again?”

“There is a bird’s nest and I wanted to see it.” Melody explained, pointing out the window in the direction of the garden.

Adrian followed the direction of her gesture, and saw a small bird’s nest in one of the lower branches. A knot of tension eased in his chest. “Just ensure that you are careful. I do not want you to get hurt.”

“Yes Father.” She looked at her feet.

“Is today a hug day?” he asked, canting his head towards her.

She chewed her lip, took a step towards him and then shook her head. Alexander’s heart sank, but he took care not to let it show on her face.

“I understand, little one.” He offered her his hand and she pressed her fingertips against his. “Some days a hug is just too much.”

“Maybe tomorrow?” Melody offered.

“Maybe.” Adrian smiled. “But only if you want to.”

Melody smiled back at him, but it faded quickly. Adrian took a seat at the table and gestured for her to join him. He made his smile even brighter. Melody sat on his right side and absently swung her legs back and forth.

“Did you manage to see the nest?” Adrian asked after several beats of silence.

Melody nodded, glancing out of the window and then back at the table. Adrian waited for her to elaborate, but she did not.

“What kind of bird do you think has made its nest there?” he gestured to the tree.

His daughter shrugged.

“It is too well built for a pigeon’s nest. And too little besides. Perhaps a robin?” Adrian watched his daughter’s face, waiting for her to point out that a robin would not nest in a tree.

“Maybe.” Melody said, placidly.

Adrian swallowed. His daughter delighted in the natural world. She could spend hours telling him about the differences between birds. They had spent many days out in the country birdwatching together.

“Although on second thought, perhaps it is some other kind of bird.” Adrian made a show of frowning in thought. “What were the birds nesting in the hedgerow at the castle?”

“Song thrushes.” Melody said, briefly perking up.

“That’s it! A song thrush.” Adrian nodded. “Do you think you would recognise the eggs if I lifted you to look again?”

“Maybe.” Melody said.

Silence settled between them. It was not stifling or oppressive, the opposite. It made the space between them seem vast and empty.

“What did you do today? Did you have lessons with Nanny Green?” Adrian leaned towards her, mindful not to accidentally loom over her. She is so small still.

Melody nodded.

Adrian waited, hoping she would expand on her nod, but when she remained silent, he asked. “What did you learn?”

“Some letters. Some numbers.” Melody shrugged, her quiet voice flat.

His heart twisted. “No music?”

She shook her head.

“Why not?” Adrian canted his head. “Did Nanny Green tell you no? I shall have words with her if so.”

“I did not feel like it.” Melody avoided his gaze.

Adrian’s brow furrowed. “But you love music. It is your favourite lesson.”

Melody absently pulled a few strands of her hair, and Adrian caught her small hand in his.

“Please do not do that, little one.” He murmured, holding her hand gently. “Why not shred this instead?”

He fished around in a pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper. He handed it to his daughter. “Or I am sure we could find some embroidery to unstitch?”

“Sorry, Father.” Melody gripped the paper and then tore a small corner of it.

“You do this when something is the matter. What has happened?” Adrian asked.

“Nothing.” Melody replied, tapping her fingers on the table and swinging her legs even faster. “Are you angry?”

“Angry? Of course not. Do I seem angry?” Adrian gestured to himself, making his voice as soft and gentle as possible, as though he were talking to a scared animal.

Melody surveyed him, her green eyes so like her late mother’s. “No.”

Adrian pushed the image of her mother from his mind, an unpleasant sensation stealing over him.

“Dinner, your Grace.” A servant laid several plates upon the table.

“Thank you, Yates.” Adrian served Melody a healthy portion of everything.

He watched as Melody idly moved the food back and forth around her plate. She nibbled a little here and there, but soon stopped eating entirely.

“Would you prefer something else?” Adrian asked, hastily swallowing his own mouthful. “Perhaps a nice stew? Or some bread?”

He began to beckon to a nearby servant, but Melody shook her head. “I think I would like to be excused.”

“Oh.” Adrian looked at Melody’s barely touched food. “I shall have cook bring something to your room.”

“Thank you.” Melody got up, fidgeting from foot to foot.

As she prepared to leave, Adrian called, “I thought perhaps tomorrow we might go for a walk in Hyde Park.”

Melody paused and then shook her head.

“Perhaps a visit to the menagerie?” he offered, smiling. “I hear they have some new birds in from the far East.”

The child shook her head again.

Adrian suppressed a sigh and nodded. “Well, perhaps we shall think of something in the morning.”

Melody nodded and disappeared. As he watched her retreating back, Adrian ran a hand through his hair. He turned in time to see his housekeeper, Mrs. Hawthorn, enter the room wringing her hands.

“How much has she eaten today?” he asked.

“Less and less, your Grace. That is the most I’ve seen her eat in days.” Mrs. Hawthorn said.

“I was afraid you would say that.” Adrian rubbed his temple with the knuckles of his hand.

He muttered to himself, “hatever am I going to do with you?”

Green eyes flashed in his mind, and he felt venom on his tongue. It does not do to speak ill of the dead. But that would not stop him thinking it.

“Your Grace, you have a visitor,” a maid said to him the next day. “Lady Natalie Rokesby is waiting in the drawing room.”

Adrian nodded. “Thank you, tell her I will be with her in just a moment.”

The maid nodded and left. Adrian glanced out of the window, half hoping to see Melody playing beneath the branches of a tree, but the garden was eerily empty. He sighed and shook himself. There would be time for that later, for now he had other issues to deal with. He left his study and began to make his way to the drawing room, but as he reached the hallway he saw something that turned his blood to ice.

Melody was on the floor, Lady Natalie looming over her with her maid fluttering uncertainly a step away. Panic shot through him, but as he moved towards them, he saw Lady Natalie bend down so that she was eye-level with his daughter.

“Are you hurt?” Lady Natalie asked. “I am told I have rather bony shins.”

Melody shook her head. Adrian itched to go to her, to comfort her, but something held him in place. He could see that Lady Natalie was holding herself back from reaching towards Melody, that she was genuinely concerned for her.

“That is good.” Lady Natalie said, her voice gentle as she smiled at Melody.

Melody canted her head towards Lady Natalie. “You are not cross with me?”

Lady Natalie asked, “Why would I be cross with you?”

“Because I should have been paying attention.” Melody looked away and Adrian clenched his fist.

Lady Natalie shrugged and gestured to herself. “The same might be said of me. And it is far more important that someone as big as me pay attention to what is going on around her.”

“You are very tall.” Melody looked up at Lady Natalie, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Adrian tensed, ready to intervene if Lady Natalie thought to reprimand his daughter, but to his surprise she laughed.

“It is a family trait. I am lucky that most ceilings are so high or I would be constantly hitting my head.” Lady Natalie rubbed her head. “One of my sisters has a rather small cottage by the sea, and whenever we visit for the summer, I leave with the most horrendous headache.”

“Does your sister hit her head too?” Melody asked, and Adrian saw her brow furrow.

“Less than me. She is a little shorter, and she is used to the cottage.” Lady Natalie explained, glancing over her shoulder at a servant who was approaching her and Melody, looking worried.

“Do you need any help, my lady?” the servant asked, reaching towards Natalie and Melody.

Adrian saw his daughter shrink back from the man’s outstretched hand. Anger flared in him—they knew not to touch her without asking—but before he could say anything Lady Natalie had intercepted the servant’s hand and said, “we do not need any assistance, thank you.”

“Are you sure?” the servant asked.

“Quite sure. We were just talking about the beauty of the floorboards, and well, I could not resist such a close inspection.” Lady Natalie winked at Melody who smiled back at her. “Though I see that perhaps the time for such appreciation has passed. I would not want to keep my fine companion from her important work.”

Lady Natalie slid so that she was between the servant and Melody, and drew herself up with dignity. “Perhaps I do require your assistance after all. I need to find the drawing room.”

“Of course.” The servant looked from her to Melody. “It is this way.”

“Thank you.” Lady Natalie let herself be helped to her feet whilst continuing to shield Melody, and then she turned to face the child. “It was a pleasure meeting you…”

“Melody.” His daughter smiled.

“A beautiful name. I am Natalie Rokesby.” Lady Natalie curtseyed. “And I thank you for taking such good care of me.”

Melody curtseyed and smiled at her. She waited a moment, and then darted down the hall and away. The servant led Lady Natalie into the drawing room, and Adrian decided to make his entrance.

He walked into the drawing room and saw Lady Natalie standing in a corner, looking out of the window.

The sunlight caught the sharp lines of her face, and made her amber eyes seem full of warmth.

“I am glad to see that you know how doors work.” Adrian swept into a bow. “I expected to see you sooner.”

He let the implication hang between them, not wanting to give the woman’s maid information that she might not already have.

Lady Natalie scoffed, her eyes narrowing as she inclined her head to him, a challenge in her eyes at her refusal to curtesy. “By my count, this is the fourth time I have attempted to meet with you. I had no idea that you could actually accept someone’s request to be seen.

“Well, it would be a very poor show if I refused to see my fiancée would it not?” Adrian replied smoothly, waiting for the predictable flash of rage.

“I am not your fiancée!” Lady Natalie growled, striding towards him. “Nor will I ever be if you do not explain yourself.”

He let a smirk steal over his face, folding his arms across his chest as she closed the distance between them. He could see the tightness in her muscles, the fury in her blazing eyes.

Adrian arched an eyebrow at her. “I warned you there would be a price to pay for my help, did I not?”

“Yes, but I had no idea your price would be to force me into the exact same thing I was trying to escape!” Lady Natalie shook her head as she stopped, just out of arms reach of him. “If I had known I would be saved from one marriage to be forced into another, I would not have bothered asking for your help.”

“You made the bargain, Lady Natalie. I simply claimed my prize.” He met her gaze and closed the distance between them. “You are what I want as thanks.”

“Men! You are all exactly the same. You think you can just take what you want and no one will stop you.” Lady Natalie prodded him hard in the chest.

“Do not equate my actions with those of Lord Bolton’s.” Adrian gritted his teeth, anger flaring in him.

“Why not? From where I am standing you are two sides of the same coin.” Natalie gestured at him.

“We are nothing alike.” Adrian growled, fury coursing through him as he loomed over the young woman.

Her eyes widened and she took a step back. Sunlight fell across her face, and Adrian saw the slight tremor of her jaw, the way her hand went protective to her chest. You are worrying her. He shook himself.

With a great effort, he force his anger away. It would do no good. Control yourself.

“I just want to understand.” Lady Natalie’s voice was soft, almost kind and it melted the last shreds of his rage.

Adrian nodded. He gestured to the sofa and pulled a cord on the wall as he did so. A moment later, a servant appeared.

“Your Grace?” the footman bowed.

“We require refreshments, Green. Kindly ask someone to arrange tea and biscuits, perhaps some sandwiches as well.” Adrian said.

“I shall see that it is done.” Green bowed once more and left the room.

Adrian turned around, and joined Lady Natalie on the sofa. She was still watching him, the edge of suspicion clear on her face.

“I should not have let my temper get the better of me. It was not my intention to make you feel trapped once more, and I regret that this is how you see the situation. But I will not stand for being equated to that loathsome man.” Adrian clenched and unclenched his fist, letting his fingers flex in an effort to keep his cool.

Lady Natalie canted her head towards him. “But you must see how it feels to me.”

“I do. But I am nothing like Lord Bolton.” Adrian’s lip curled, the name an unpleasant taste in his mouth. “The man’s abandonment of his children is most egregious behaviour. To be a father is… It is more than a duty, and to have been so cavalier with so many lives is inexcusable.”

Adrian thought of the women he had spoken to, of the state of destitution they had been forced into, and his anger flared once more. “Many of the women shared how he had coerced them into the situation, using and abusing his power to do as he pleased. There are other details, but I will not share them. They are gruesome and do not bear repeating in such company.”

“I am not a delicate little wallflower.” Lady Natalie swallowed. “I understand how unkind the world can be.”

Adrian nodded. “His disdain for his fellow man is reflected in what has made him wealthy.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“His wealth comes mainly from the colonies, the selling and exchange of our African brethren.” Adrian wrinkled his nose. “No man should own another. William Wilberforce has the true measure of things.”

“Then you support abolition?”

“Can any man claim to be enlightened and do otherwise?” Adrian made an expansive gesture. “It is no wonder the man views lives as cheap.”

Lady Natalie nodded. “I understand why you did not want to be tarred with the same brush.”

“His reasons for marrying you were about control, power. He wanted to break you, to make you pay for what he thought was an unkind rejection.” He shook his head.

“And how do you know that?” Her brow creased.

Adrian let one corner of his mouth quirk upwards. “Men speak rather freely in front of people they believe inferior.”

“I imagine that must be a lot of people, in Lord Bolton’s view.” She laughed.

It was a pretty sound and caught Adrian off guard, making his half smile into a full one almost before he realised. “Exactly. Remember, little Sparrow, we are rarely as alone as we think.”

“I do wish you would stop calling me that.” Lady Natalie’s mouth drew into a thin line.

“And what would you wish me to call you?” Adrian leaned forward. “Natalie?”

Spots of colour appeared on her cheeks, but she did not turn from him. “And I suppose you expect me to call you Adrian?”

“If you would like.”

“I would like to know why you want to marry me.” She leaned away from him, and some of the heaviness that had filled the air faded.

“Two reasons. The first is honour. I could not break apart your wedding and then leave you to the mercy of the ton.” Adrian gave her a meaningful look.

“Well, you were the one who chose to indulge in such theatrics.” Lady Natalie pointed out.

“Do not tell me you did not enjoy the show.” Adrian teased. “I saw the way your eyes followed my every move.”

“Do not flatter yourself over much, I just wanted to be sure to see if someone hit your pretty face.” She smiled sweetly at him.

He chuckled softly. “You think I have a pretty face?”

“Most men would prefer to be called handsome. They would think pretty a rather feminine description.” Lady Natalie raised an eyebrow at him.

“I am not most men.” Adrian made an expansive gesture. “And a compliment from you is a most precious gift. If only for its rarity.”

Lady Natalie opened her mouth as if to say something, closed it, shook her head and said, “What was the second reason?”

Adrian swallowed and glanced out of the window. “My daughter.”