Page 9 of Only a Fortnight with the Duke
CHAPTER 9
T he flowering trees bled back into the forest trail, and after another half hour of riding, they reached an opening that was full of wild crab apple trees. Simon grinned with the joy that Emmeline had only ever seen on the faces of young children, and it made her heart skip a beat. She could almost see him reliving some sort of childhood memory that she wasn’t aware of.
Emmeline dismounted Onyx with the help of the stablehand, and Simon strode over to meet her with a basket on his arm. For a few minutes, they picked apples together in silence. Emmeline enjoyed the sight of him, so enamored with the orchard, and she wanted to give him time to relive whatever history of his it had awakened. She understood the feeling–this was one of her favorite places for the same reason. At last, Simon broke the silence.
“I had forgotten that there were wild apple trees here. They do not have them anywhere I went while I was abroad.”
“You were abroad for almost half of your life,” Emmeline mused. “In all that time, you did not meet one wild apple tree?”
Simon chuckled. It was a pleasant sound, not laced with the usual sarcasm or arrogance that Emmeline had grown accustomed to. “No. But I did a great deal more working than I did any courting of any women.” He glanced at her, a playful smirk stretching his lips into what she thought was a pleasant shape. “I apologize if that news comes as a disappointment to you, Lady Clark. It is my understanding that you thought I was a man of certain reputation. As much as even I would like for that to have been a case, I spent a great deal of my time traveling back and forth working. In my leisure time, I enjoyed studying art and artists.”
“I was not the source of those rumors,” Emmeline protested, though she could not be sure that he was being honest with her. “My judgment of you had less to do with your romantic history and everything to do with the way you behaved when you walked into the room.”
“And how was it, precisely, that I behaved that warranted such judgment?”
Emmeline was reluctant to answer him. She worried that the truth might give him something more to work with in their little competition. Ultimately, she decided that it did not matter. He had said himself that the stakes were not necessarily as agreed upon, and she trusted herself to the very end to maintain her resolve.
There was no way she would fall in love with Simon Walford, and love was the only reason she would marry.
“As if everyone in the room were below you. I saw you thrice look upon someone as if they were offensive for daring to share the same space as you.”
“And did you take note of who those people were?”
“Not precisely, but that is no way to treat any person, Your Grace. It is possible to express your distaste for even the harshest offenses with poise, and I can not imagine what anyone could have possibly done to offend in so short a time.”
“Oh, no? I suppose I should hire you to stand next to me and approve of my behavior, then? Should I have my staff put together a list of all my acquaintances and have it sent to you, so you might tell me who is and is not appropriate to snuff?”
“That won’t be necessary. The answer is simple. You are no better than the poor man who shines your shoes nor the beggar who yesterday hung his hat on the bridge and called it home for the night. You are perhaps better than the man who sits and rots in jail on honest charges.”
“I would not expect you to understand.”
“No? Because my station is not as high as yours? Or perhaps because my father is not as wealthy as you. If not that, then it might because I am a woman and I could not possibly fathom the troubles of a handsome young man such as yourself–burdened with women and their mothers who are interested in procuring me a proper marriage! How dreadful it must be to be you, the great Duke of Blackwood.”
The banter was pleasant, no longer hostile as it had been on the balcony. There was a sort of comfort in the matching of their wits–as if they were free to speak to each other in a manner which they could not speak to others. An easy smile slid across the Duke’s face.
“Am I handsome, then?”
“I beg your pardon!”
“You said yourself, were you in my shoes, you would consider yourself a handsome young gentleman. Even the word ‘young’ flatters me. I am thirty and you, twenty. Do I not seem to have ten years more your experience? It must be my handsome face.”
Emmeline held her hand up to her lips, stifling a giggle. “This is a nonsensical accusation. I only perceive you to be handsome such that I know you must think of yourself as such.”
“Then you do not find me handsome?”
“It matters not. I find you alarmingly pompous. Whether or not you might be handsome is subjective to any viewer, but personality is clear as day.”
“So if you learned that my constitution is not as you first thought it, then you would find me handsome?” Emmeline laughed, reaching up to put an apple in Simon’s mouth, which he gladly bit down into, joining her with a slow chuckle as he muched happily. “I shall cease this line of questioning at once, my Lady.”
“This pleases me to hear.”
“I would like to continue discussing my personality, however. I do have an answer to you regarding the guests whom you saw me snuff , as you said, when I first entered the ball. Perhaps you have not yet wondered why I spent so much time away from English high society.”
“I can not say that I did give that much credence, no. I have never pondered what it is that men do once they leave for university. I’ve neither brothers nor cousins to inquire of.”
“Perhaps you thought it better to leave it up to your imagination–or the imagination of the scandal column writers?”
“Rather, I had no reason to think of it at all.”
“You told me before that women are chained to the duty of marriage, and only then are they allowed to seek activities at their leisure or pursue their passions.”
“Yes, I did.”
“For me, it is the opposite. I will not speak for all men–the point you make takes the majority of men into question. But I am a Duke. Not just a Duke, but one who practices the law. I also happen to be the last of my name. My father was the only son of an only son, and the Walford name may very well die with me, not that I would mind at all. I can imagine that you understand this.”
Emmeline nodded her head. As they spoke, they came back around to the entrance to the orchard, and she found that she was not ready to return, though they would need to do so and soon. “I do indeed. Clark Manor will go to my father’s distant nephew when he passes, and will likely take a new name.”
The Duke nodded, solemn, and Emmeline was surprised to find this connection with him. “When I am wed, my responsibility to build what is left of my Dukedom at Blackwood into something my family may inherit. In short, the time that I had to engage in my passions and indulge in my leisure is all but gone. I will be a ward of duty, and I will not be released from its prison until I am fit to retire.”
“So you went abroad to collect experiences.”
“Yes,” the Duke said with a chuckle. “Experiences. Not conquests. I spent time with artists, and writers, and scholars. I saw the great wonders of the bits of the world I have access to. I am happy with the time I spent there. I will be happier, I think, to see it again when I am old, and think, ‘Ah, I remember this,’ or otherwise I would be vexxed, rushing to see all that I have not before the call to the eternal slumber comes.”
Emmeline tilted her head to the side. “That is admirable of you, but why would it lend you to make yourself so cold and unapproachable?”
“As I was not spending my time abroad doing all that has been accused of me, I did have time to pay attention when my name did happen to be brought up when I was in town for the winters. I know who has spoken ill of me. I know better, still, who has eyes for my wealth and status above all else. I find it dull and redundant to give these sorts of people the time of day, much less the kindness of civility.”
“Then I rescind my comment about the way you walked in the door, but my point of–”
“Yes,” the Duke laughed, loudly, placing a hand over his chest. “You still think that I paint myself as superior to others. I know, Lady Clark. Perhaps we should return for the evening. I did promise your father that I would stay for dinner tonight, and you may tell me more about this while we eat.”
At Clark Manor, the butler escorted the Duke to the cigar room, where Lord Clark was relaxing before dinner while Sarah and Emmeline made their way up the stairs to get Emmeline washed and dressed for the meal.
“You had a very good ride today, my Lady,” Sarah said, pleasantly, as she brushed Emmeline’s hair, carefully removing the bits of flowers that had stuck there. “It was as if Onyx had not missed a single session.”
“He did do quite well, yes, especially considering the excitement. I knew that it would be a push to get him all the way to the orchard and back with a strange rider on Lunette.”
“It was quite impressive.”
Emmeline bit her lip, watching Sarah work in the mirror. She wished that Lydia and Margaret could be here for her to speak with, but thought that perhaps Sarah was a good option. The maid was her age, and they were once quite close as girls. She had only ever looked out for Emmeline’s best interests. Surely, she could have some insight on the Duke.
“Sarah, can I inquire of your opinion of the Duke?”
“I beg your pardon, my Lady, but I can not think of a reason I should have one.”
Emmeline blinked, slowly, surprised by the sharp response. “Sarah?”
The maid bit her lip, and set down the brush, taking Emmeline’s hair in her hands gently and gathering it to pin it up into an elegant bun. “Is it the truth that you have fallen in love with him, Lady Clark? In just a few days?”
“If I said it, then it was the truth,” Emmeline stated, firm but still kind. She was aghast. Sarah had never spoken to her in this manner before.
“May I…?”
“Go ahead.”
“You and Lord Bancroft were friends for years, yet you had not so much as considered him a prospect. What…what was it that made you consider the Duke?”
Emmeline paused. She knew that she did not have a good answer to give. She had not fallen in love before, so she did not know what sorts of things might warm one’s heart to another. “What makes you ask?”
“Why, Lord Bancroft, my Lady.”
“Lord Bancroft?”
“Yes. I have known you for all of your life, my Lady.”
“You have.”
“I have watched you and the Viscount grow up together. I have always imagined that the two of you would be married. I have never seen or noted anything in your behavior or your affection toward him which would suggest otherwise. But you and the Duke do not seem quite so…suited to one another.”
“Lord Bancroft lied to me. He drew up a contract and arranged his finances as if I were a property to purchase, and then expected me to nod my head and clap my hands in gratitude when he only afterward decided not to ask my opinion on the subject but to tell me of it.”
“And the Duke has lied to Lord Clark.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“The two of you have not exactly been quiet about the deal you struck, my Lady. I did not mean to overhear, but you spoke of it once to your friends and again today while we were all out riding. I can not imagine what your purpose for accepting his offer could be but that you are angry with Lord Bancroft.”
“What stake have you in my purpose ?”
“Your happiness, my Lady. Your future. What will you do when he turns you out, and you are an old spinster halfway through her last season who has lost not one but two engagements in nefarious manner?”
“You watch your tone and mind your station!”
“We have never spoken to each other as you speak to me now. The Duke must have–”
“You have never before given me a reason to treat you as nothing more than a maid, Miss Cluett. I suggest you stop now before I have a word with my father about making you less.”
Emmeline’s chest heaved, her anger fluid and palpable, and Sarah made quick work of completing her hair and dress. Just before it was time for Lady Clark to go down to dinner, she stopped and turned to take both of Sarah’s hands in hers.
“I was harsh before. I understand that you mean well. Perhaps you took an affection to Lord Bancroft as I did, Sarah, but the truth of his constitution was glaring after what happened in the park. The Duke has his own flaws, of course, but he treats me like a person with my own thoughts, needs, and wants. He is assisting me, in an odd manner, in following my heart. Lord Bancroft looked after only his own. Please. Trust me to care for myself as you have trusted me to care for you all of these years.”
Sarah looked into Emmeline’s green eyes, saw her kind smile, and listened to her honeyed voice only to frown and turn away. “I am ashamed of my behavior, my Lady,” she admitted, her voice soft and tepid. “I will not make the same mistake again. My affection for you and the stress of the exchange got the better of me.”
Emmeline smiled and embraced Sarah, tightly, pleased that she had not lost a second dear friend over the prospect of her own marriage. The conversation did, however, strike dread into the girl’s heart. She would need to be more careful. Commitment to her role meant commitment . Even when she was out with the Duke, she would need to be sure she spoke to him as if she were in a true courtship, not engaged in a strange wager and a war of wits.
“There is no need to fret, dear Sarah. One day soon we will rejoice about my marriage to a man I love, and all of this folly and frivolity will be forgotten.”
“I sincerely hope that you find what you have been searching for, Lady Emmeline.”
“I know that I will, Sarah. I know that I will.”