Page 8 of Only a Fortnight with the Duke

CHAPTER 8

E mmeline took her tea in the garden, but her father commanded the Duke’s attention. Lady Clark did not enjoy her novel with her tea under the mild sunshine like she typically did. Her attention was on what her father could possibly be saying to the Duke and, likewise, what that awful man might be telling her father. She sighed, laying her head in her hand as she wondered whether or not she had made the right decision.

It was the only chance that she had to realize her dreams of finding true love, and although she had faith that a grand romance awaited her on the other end of this silly deal, she did have doubts about her own ability to mind her temper. For the most part, the Duke had been decently behaved since their meeting at the lake, but what if that changed? He could not possibly hide behind charming turns of phrase and handsome face forever.

At long last, she heard her father’s booming voice headed toward the courtyard through the open door. Shortly after, he turned the corner with the Duke beside him.

‘...and we returned from our hunt with nothing to show but mud up to our necks!” Both men laughed, and Emmeline forced herself to soften her expression with a tender smile. “Ah, my dear. Did you enjoy your time? I apologize if I kept His Grace from you for too long.”

“I did. It was peaceful, and I am certain I would not have felt the same listening to the story of your singular hunting trip for a thousandth time, Papa.”

“Ah, but it is nice to have fresh faces around here,” the Earl chuckled. “The Duke here tells me that you will be taking Lunette and Onyx out for a ride today.”

“Yes, Papa!” Emmeline’s face and form brightened, her excitement pushing her to stand and clasp her hands together. “Onyx made the trip to town with Lionel last week and has been back to his old self since.”

“Then you had better ride him yourself. He will have missed you.”

Simon’s eyes were locked on Emmeline, a half-smile playing at his lips. The way that talking about her horses affected her demeanor was endearing to him. “You must be a remarkable rider,” he told her, his voice soft and tender, a world away from the tone he previously employed. “So few people these days have respect for those beautiful creatures, but you so clearly adore them. It must be something to behold.”

The Earl raised his eyebrows playfully, glancing at his daughter with a glint of pride in her eye. For a moment, she felt conflicted–the Duke’s remark seemed genuine to her, so she knew that it sounded like the bare truth to her father’s unknowing ears. What if he fell for the idea of her marrying the Duke?

Would his heart be the one that was broken at the end of it all?

She pushed the thought away, turning away from the Duke with a bashful smile, and reminding herself that her father was one of the two men who had put her in the position of accepting the Duke’s offer at all. At the end of the day, he just wanted her to be happy, and she hoped that this was the road that would lead her there.

“Should we go, then? I think you’ll love Lunette.” Simon nodded and held his arm out to her. They followed Sarah out to the stables where the hand was already saddling both horses. They approached, and the hand brought a beautiful black mare out and handed her ropes to Emmeline.

“Is this Onyx?” Simon stood back, not wanting to stand between Lady Clark and her favorite equine, but she laughed lightly and shook her head.

“No. His sister, Lunette.” She waved him forward to greet the horse, and Lunette shook her head, whinnying playfully as he approached. “She’s young, but she has quite the even temper. Even my youngest cousins are able to ride her without any issues.”

Simon reached up and Lunette allowed him to stroke her cheek. Emmeline beamed at the pair of them and reached into Lunette’s saddle bag for a carrot to give her. “When did you learn to ride?” the Duke asked her.

“When I was very young.” She could feel Simon’s eyes on her but chose to focus on her horse. The tilt of her head and the sudden look in her eye of being far away betrayed that she had more to say on the matter, however.

“You wound me, Lady Emmeline. I can tell that there is more you are holding back from me.” At long last, her green eyes swiveled up to meet his, and she was surprised to see compassion in them. “You spoke last night of honesty, so it is my understanding that you are a woman who considers the truth to be valuable. It would be dishonest of you to withhold things from me.”

“Then I expect you will hold yourself in the same regard?”

“Without a doubt,” The Duke took a step closer to her, his head bent over hers so she was forced to tilt her head back to look up at him. “I intend to wed you, Lady Emmeline, and I take the matter quite seriously. It would not do you any good to take the Walford name and know nothing of the man who gave it to you.”

“I am pleased to see note that this fine morning has put you in a mood to make suhc frivolous commentary, Your Grace,” Emmeline huffed, taking a step back from him. She handed him Lunette’s reigns just as a much larger, stockier horse in matching midnight black was brought out with an artisan white leather saddle, the likes of which even the Duke had not seen. He could tell that the saddle was old, but it was remarkably well taken care of, and the leather had intricate designs pressed into it around the trim.

“We can continue this conversation later, perhaps,” Simon chuckled, watching Emmeline’s face light up once more, though he could not be sure that she heard him at all. It was evident to him immediately why she had insisted on deciding their outing for the day. A painful memory of someone else he had loved who held the same compassion for animals flashed across the forefront of his mind, unbidden, and it nearly brought a scowl to his features.

Too much time had passed since such thoughts had burdened him. If this continued, Simon thought that he might have a more difficult time over the next fourteen days than he originally thought.

“My, Onyx, have you grown handsomer since I saw you last? And stronger, at that!” Emmeline spoke to her horse like he was a beloved sibling, and it warmed Simon’s heart to watch her. She was endearing, because she defied his expectations of what a lady ought to be without compromising the quintessential qualities of grace and elegance. It affirmed to him that he was right, and inspired him to work harder at making her his Duchess.

When it was time to go, the Duke helped her mount Onyx. She rode aside, but from the strange look her stable hand gave her and the awkwardness of her positioning, Simon thought she must not always. He wanted to insist that she ride in the manner in which she was most comfortable, but he did not want to embarrass her. Further, she seemed excited to get moving regardless of how she sat.

For most of their ride together, Emmeline spoke to Onyx. She regaled him with stories of all that he had missed–pouting that Lunette would sometimes steer her off course or tire too quickly. Occassionally, she paused her one-sided conversation to address the Duke.

“When my parents were first married, Clark Manor did not exist. They lived nearby, in a manor that he now lets to the Baron, Lord Notley and his wife. He had these trails and our home built for my mother, because she so loved to look out to the hill and she so loved to ride.”

Simon glanced at Emmeline, and realized that she was revealing the truth he had earlier accused her of withholding. He smiled warmly, an expression he was grateful that Emmeline did not catch as her eyes remained focused on the trail, yes, but once again far away, locked into a distant memory.

“I have heard tell of Lady Beatrice.”

“Have you?”

“I have. Perhaps you are too young to know, but our mothers were good friends many years ago. Their marriages put distance between them, so I never met the late countess, but I can say with confidence that she would be proud to have a daughter so like her.”

“Papa tells me often that I am vexxing in precisely the same manner,” she laughed. “It was just the two of us most of the time, growing up, before she fell ill, so I always wanted to be just like her.”

“A worthy aspiration indeed, I am to understand.”

“Indeed,” Emmeline agreed, her expression wistful and her voice more like a sigh than a statement. She slowed Onyx down to a walk just as the trees, deeper into the trail, began to change. They passed through what Simon thought must have been a clearing a decade or two ago but had been turned into an extension of the trail, flanked by gorgeous dogwood and laburnum trees. The delicate white and pink blossoms of the former were in full bloom, peppering their path with fallen petals, and the bunches of golden rain that hung from the branches of the latter were full and plentiful. The sight was breathtaking, and the timing of their ride could not be better.

Simon had a limited understanding of seasonal blooms, but he knew that this was only possible for a few short weeks of the year.

“Was this your father’s doing?”

Emmeline nodded, reaching out to pluck a pink blossom from a tree and tuck it into her hair. “It was. For their first year of marriage. I spent a great deal of my childhood amongst these trees.”

“Then you grew up together.”

“Indeed,” she laughed. “Shall we stop here and have lunch?”

Sarah and the stable hand caught up to them from behind and set up the picnic that was prepared. Emmeline sat on a blanket between two dogwood trees, and Simon sat across from her.

“You ride remarkably well,” he commented. “I do not often see a lady on so fine or so large a beast, but he suits you. Among these flowers, you seem more like a queen of old than the daughter of an Earl.”

“Is that what you think all women aspire to? To become queen?”

Simon laughed, good-naturedly, and shook his head as he chewed a bite of bread. It gave him a few seconds to think about his response, and for Emmeline to admire him in the soft, scattered sunlight that filtered through the tree branches. He was as handsome as the day she met him, but perhaps more so. Though she knew it to be an act in the interest of winning their wager, she rather liked the softer parts of himself he had revealed. His face, more relaxed, painted more vibrantly by a smile than a scowl, blended into the natural beauty of their surroundings. She thought him to look more ethereal, mythical creature than Duke but knew better than to say so.

“Not all women, no. Particularly not the great and ferocious Queen Emmeline Clark. My observation had nothing to do with what I believe you to aspire to. It is the power you exude, Lady Clark. Perhaps you are unawares, but it is evident even in the tilt of your shoulders that you could lead a kingdom as easily as you have tamed your great steed–with a tender heart, firm opinions, and a critical eye for problem-solving.”

Emmeline blinked, stunned by his declaration. Her cheeks flushed, and she brought her hand up to her lips, not covering her smile but resting the tips of her fingers over it as if in an attempt to contain it. “Your praise is too high, Your Grace. I can hardly think of a time when you saw me solve any conflict.”

“Oh no? Is that not what we are doing here, now, together?”

“I do not follow.”

Simon shifted his weight, bending his torso so the pair of them now shared conversational space, a habit of his which Emmeline thought superflous as it often set her nerves aflutter.

“It is true that I presented the offer, Lady Clark, of this unorthodox courtship we are now engaged in.”

“It is, yes.”

“But you are not without your role in its design.”

“What could you mean?”

“You called my strategy earlier a sort of trickery, but you agreed to it anyway. I did not set out to trick you. I set out merely to give myself even footing with you, as it is my belief that you aim to put me up to a losing battle.”

“In what manner, Your Grace?” Emmeline asked, affronted.

“You have not once sought to put up stakes of your own in our wager, which leads me to believe that the outcome you seek is in my losing in and of itself. This courtship, to you, is a means to an end of the engagement you did not want with Lord Bancroft. Your reward is that our fourteenth day will come and pass, and you will be free of the both of us. I am locked into a battle of affections with your heart, Lady Emmeline, but you have made a wager with fate herself.”

“What bearing does this have on my ability to solve conflicts?”

“You are using me, Lady Clark, for your own benefit. You have no interest in giving me a chance, for you have decided already that there is something better out there, if only you can get to the end of this game. You took an opportunity that benefitted you without regard for how it might affect me. Worry not, however–my heart does not ail because of this. You have merely made the game more challenging for me, a fact which I appreciate deeply. My confidence has not waivered, but my strategy certainly has.”

“Pray tell, Your Grace, what is this new war tactic you have come up with?” Emmeline seemed offended, but unwilling to say so, a reaction that pleased the Duke very much. It affirmed to him that he was able to get under her skin. “I do look forward to forcing you to change direction again in the near future, so you may as well tell me now.”

Simon chuckled, reaching out brush a fallen leaf out of her golden hair, shining like gold beneath the stained glass fractures of sunlight.

“Very well. I shall let you in on my secret, but you will not be able to shake my resolve.”

“Go on, then.”

“It is still my aim to capture your heart, Lady Emmeline. I intend to prove your initial judgments of me to be incorrect. However, I will additionally aim to capture your complex intellect and coax you into my arms with winning logic.”

Emmeline laughed, then, heartily, which made the Duke smile. He did not mind that she did not believe in him, yet. It was in her best interest not to. He was confident, regardless, that he could do what he promised.

“Do you mean to imply that you hope to convince me that marrying you is the most practical option I have?”

“I do mean, and I intend to put my words into action at the earliest opportunity. After all, we are halfway through our first day together, and there is only a little time left.”

“Well, if you do not intend to make your arguments of logic here and now, let us eat and be on our way.” Emmeline’s voice and face softened as she gave him a wry smile. “I think if you enjoyed the flowers, you will like orchard even better.”