Page 40 of Her Beast of a Duke

On the other side of the garden party, Oscar stood with Lord Kirworth and Edmund, who enjoyed the attention he was receiving from ladies from afar.

“Forgive me, Your Grace, but I see my wife waving me over. Undoubtedly, she has yet another friend she wants me to meet.” Lord Kirworth nodded at the two of them before walking away, and Oscar was left with Edmund.

“And what of your wife?” Edmund enquired, raising a brow. “Have you abandoned her this afternoon, too?”

“She is right over there.” Oscar nodded, pointing at where Isabella stood with a red-haired lady whose eyes were too sharp to be as genuine as her smile tried to be.

All they do is wear masks, he thought, grimacing. Some masks were ones of faux confidence, a pretense to endure a night, a conversation, but some masks were to hide a truer personality beneath.

He turned away from them, trusting Isabella to handle herself. He could intervene if she needed him, but he knew she was plenty capable of diplomatically approaching anything if she needed to.

“How are things?” Edmund asked. “Have you had dinner with her yet?”

Oscar sighed, shaking his head. “I have actually thought about it a lot.”

“Sometimes it is the thought that counts, certainly. In this case, Oscar, it is theaction.You must show that you see her. You are not a man who speaks his mind, hisdesires?—”

“And what of my desires?” he asked sharply.

“You know what I mean, you incessant idiot,” Edmund snorted, and Oscar quirked a smile. “And yes, I am using my close-friend privileges, for I know you would strike any other man who dared speak to you like this.”

“If you were anybody else, you would already be on the floor.”

“I would expect nothing less?—”

A cry came up from a passing footman, who was slightly stooped, and Oscar turned in time to see the older man trip over a fallen napkin that was being toyed with by the wind. The tray soared a short distance, sending the glasses on it flashing to the grass.

Immediately, wine soaked the ground, and the glasses thankfully didn’t smash, but the elderly footman was kneeling. He heaved for breath, already scrambling to collect the glasses as people turned to look and whisper.

Oscar was already moving as the laughter began to rise, the sniggers at the man’s expense. The footman’s face bloomed with a terrible shade of red, and his hands shook as he tried to compose the tray once more. He spared a glance up.

“Heavens, what an embarrassment!” a lady shouted, getting more people around her to laugh.

“If we cannot pay our staff to do their job properly, whatdowe do?”

“Poor Lord and Lady Kirworth, equipped with incompetent footmen. They ought to reassess their roster.”

Oscar paid them no mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Isabella already making her way over to the fallen footman, but Oscar was closer, and he approached first. Falling to one knee, he picked up the tray as the footman continued scooping up the glasses.

Gently, Oscar pried them from his trembling hands, quickly arranging the tray once more.

Then, he turned to the man, helping him up.

“Are you all right?” Oscar asked quietly.

Around them, the crowd gathered closer to watch the spectacle, still laughing at the footman’s expense. Nobody thought to assist; nobody thought to do anything, thinking themselves too good to help clean up a mess.

“I… I am fine, Your Grace,” the footman said quickly.

“You must compose yourself,” he said bluntly, but without his normal harsh tones. “Do not pay any mind to the onlookers.”

“Your Grace?—”

“Take a moment,” he ordered, even though he truly had no place to give the footman such instruction. “And then return when you can. I will speak with Lord Kirworth regarding the ordeal.”

Together, they stood properly, and Oscar handed him the tray back, including the empty glasses, but the mess was already being cleaned up by more staff. Oscar finally felt the pinpricks of attention on him, and his shoulders tightened with the weight of it.

“What a beastly man,” one whisper went up. “He should not be getting himself involved with a poor footman. Heavens, the Duke has likely condemned him.”