Page 53 of The Blind Duke's Ward

He felt the maid, whose shoulder he held, jump.

“I do not lie, Your Grace. I knew that she had left but I do not know where she is now.”

“Then I have nothing more to say to you at the moment. Go to your room and I will speak to you on this matter at my convenience. Go!”

The maid jumped again with a squeak and began to almost run up the stairs. It took Nathan by surprise and he lost his hold. The girl must have been panicked by the entire situation because he heard her scurrying footsteps retreating up the stairs. His foot, half lifted to follow her, caught on a riser and he stumbled, catching himself on his hands. The sound reached him of Marshall hurrying to his side.

“Your Grace. Allow me,” he said.

“I do not need your help!” Nathan yelled, shoving at the man.

Marshall grunted and there was the sound of his body falling heavily. The noise of a scuffle reached Nathan, as of a man falling down the stairs. Then a pained intake of breath.

My God! Am I becoming my father? I keep a young woman in my house under false pretenses and engage in a torrid affair with her. And now I assault my most trusted servant.

For a moment, he despaired. Marshall was somewhere below him, but where, Nathan did not know. He felt stranded in the middle of the staircase. There was no choice but to feel his way. Even his cane was gone. He had dropped it when shoving Marshall and now he did not know where it lay. Nathan sat down on the stairs, putting his head into his hands.

“Marshall. I am sorry. I am not a violent man. I have never believed myself to be so but maybe there is more of my father in me than I knew.”

There was no answer but the sound of Marshall getting to his feet and resuming his ascent of the stairs. Nathan started in surprise as he felt his cane pressed into his hand.

“I swear to you, Your Grace, that everything I have done has been with your own best interests at heart. I am loyal to you and your house above all things.”

“Where is Gemma?” Nathan said wearily.

“I do not know. And that is the God’s honest truth. I knew that she had left and helped her to pack some essentials so that she would not be on the road with nothing but the clothes on her back. But, I have no idea where she will be at this moment.”

“You helped her. So it was her plan, to leave I mean?” Nathan asked.

“It was, Your Grace. As God as my witness. She came to me for help and I did not feel I could refuse. Especially as I deemed that her departure would be for the best.”

Nathan got to his feet. That had something of the ring of truth. When he said that he did not know where Gemma was now, there was a fervent tone to his voice that made Nathan want to believe him.

So Gemma has broken her word. But she is not a thief. Nor is she a fortune seeker. She wanted to leave because she wanted to spare me a potential scandal. And Marshall saw that. Saw that and helped her to break her oath.

“Very well, Marshall. I believe you,” Nathan said wearily. “I will retire to my rooms for a few hours. I have much to think over.”

Not least how to find Gemma and Emily, either of whom could be walking past my face at any moment of the day and I would not know it. Curse this blindness! It truly is divine retribution for taking upon myself what is the divine right of God alone, to choose whether another man should die.

Marshall placed Nathan’s hand upon his shoulder and led him up the stairs, moving with more speed than the maid had done, confident in how quickly Nathan could walk. As they walked along a hallway, Nathan heard footsteps approaching.

“Your Grace, Mary said you wished to speak to me?” Charlotte asked.

“Not any longer, Charlotte…” Marshall began.

Nathan raised a hand and the butler’s words were cut off as though by a knife.

“Yes. That will be all, Marshall. I will summon you shortly. I will require your help and expect it to be provided without hesitation or qualification when called for. Do you understand?”

“Of course, Your Grace,” came the fervent reply.

“Charlotte, kindly lead me to my rooms. I would like to talk to you about Gemma.”

When Nathan was seated in what he assumed was a sitting room within the suite of rooms assigned to him in the house, he did something that he had not done since the early days of his blindness.

“Tell the truth. Are we alone in this room? Neither Mr. Marshall nor any other is present?”

“We are quite alone, Your Grace,” Charlotte assured him, sounding confused.