Page 50 of Her Rogue of a Duke
Joshua realized at that moment how utterly in the dark he was when it came to Francesca. If he had asked for her hand, would she have turned him down?
He loathed this uncertainty. Loathed the way doubt clouded his thoughts regarding her. The only clarity he possessed was his unwillingness to lose her to a dandy like Hucklow.
His contemplation was interrupted by a knock at the study door.
“Enter,” Joshua called out, tossing aside Lady Susan’s correspondence.
The door opened and Warren stepped into the room. The butler’s gaze was apprehensive as he regarded Joshua with a slightly furrowed brow.
“Your Grace, Lady Francesca has departed for the ball,” Warren announced.
A sickening feeling churned in Joshua's stomach. He tried to ignore it, to tell himself it did not matter. This was what Francesca wanted. It really was not any of his business… he had to remind himself of that. Yet, his rationalizations did little to dent the growing sense of frustration and despair within him.
“Warren, would you fetch me some brandy? And not a new bottle, one of my unfinished ones from last night. Good man,” Joshua started, deciding that getting blind drunk was the only way he would make it through this night.
The butler blinked, seemingly taken aback by the suddenness of the request, but after a brief moment of hesitation, he acquiesced with a perfectly indifferent nod. “Right away, Your Grace,” he murmured before bowing and turning to exit the study.
As he awaited Warren's return with the brandy, Joshua rose and walked to the large window by his desk, gazing out over the darkened expanse of the garden of Elmcroft Manor. He hated how helpless and lost he felt. How much regret was weighing on his shoulders. Francesca would soon make her entrance at the ball, where Liam, amidst the throng, would undoubtedly seek her out. He would not miss her for Joshua had no doubt she would be the most radiant lady present, drawing the eyes of many. Liam would take her hand and escort her to the dance floor. He would pull her in his arms and hold her close, feeling the warmth of her waist... breathing in her sweet scent... drawn to the allure of her full lips as she looked up at him with a gentle gaze.
A surge of fury gripped Joshua, his fists clenching at his sides. If Liam laid a hand on what was rightfully his, Joshua would beat him into a bloody pulp, even if they were betrothed…
His increasingly agitated brooding was interrupted when the flicker of something unusual in the window's reflection caught his eye. Turning, he noticed a paper strewn on the edge of his desk, distinct from Lady Susan's correspondences. He frowned down at it.
Moving back to his desk and picking it up, he examined it more closely and recognized it in an instant. It was one of the documents Warren had compiled for him earlier, detailing the reacquisition of his ancestral land… the land that Francesca’s father had possessed before Joshua had taken it. It had been among a larger collection of documents and Warren must have mistakenly left it behind. He remembered glancing over it previously, his interest minimal since he was already familiar with the process of the land acquisition. He hadn't felt the need to pore over the report's specifics then, especially when it accompanied a tremendous amount of guilt.
However, as he scrutinized the document this time, his eyes instinctively fell on the date Francesca's father had lost his estate, and subsequently, most of his wealth to Joshua.October 14th,1914. He frowned. The date struck a chord, and as he tried to recall its significance, it came back to him with a flash—it matched the date of Joshua's carriage accident.
A tumult of confusion lined his forehead.
Wait a moment now… how could that…? How has that missed my eye?
Was it a coincidence? If so, it was a rather strange one. Such an odd alignment of dates seemed too significant to overlook.
However, a niggling thought began to take root in the back of his mind, challenging the realm of mere chance. It did not seem conceivable that it was a simple coincidence. As he consideredthe shared date further, an even stranger notion crept through him.
What if… what if it had been Francesca who had saved him on that fateful night?
Could Lady Susan have fabricated her story, and Francesca been the true rescuer all along?
Pah! Now there is a foolish thought.
But when he pored over his fragmented recollections of the accident and the woman who had rescued him, the scarce details he remembered of her semblance aligned more with Francesca than Lady Susan. Thegolden hair,which he had later assumed to be the reflection of a golden parasol. The taller height that loomed over him as he lay on the ground, reminiscent of an angel descending. The silhouette of a feminine figure, both petite and shapely. A lady, who he’d reasoned, must have been residing somewhere within a twenty-mile radius of Elmcroft.
Or was that all simply his imagination trying to force Francesca into that role? Even so, how had this notonceentered his mind over the last half a decade? The notion that the very lady who he’d often butted heads with could be his savior was something he’d never once contemplated.
Joshua’s mind raced with uncertainty. Yes, it was foolish. But the fact that he did not know forcertaingnawed at him. He needed to try and piece together the truth, therealtruth, at once.
He strode briskly to the study door and flung it open, almost colliding with Warren on his way who was returning with his brandy.
“Your Grace?” the butler exclaimed, startled. “Is everything alright?”
“Warren, have a stableboy prepare a steed for me immediately,” Joshua ordered as he swiped the decanter of brandy from the butler’s hand. “There is an urgent matter I must attend to.”
Warren blinked but quickly nodded. “Very well, Your Grace. At once.”
He turned and hurried off to do as Joshua had ordered.
As Warren hastened away, Joshua downed what was remaining of the brandy decanter in one swift gulp, then descended the stairs with a fury. Not caring to properly get dressed, he pulled on his tailcoat from the hatstand by the entrance and yanked the front door open… only to halt abruptly upon seeing Lady Susan on his doorstep once again.