Page 9 of The Blind Duke's Ward

CHAPTERSIX

Amost curious young woman. I wish I had kept in closer touch with her after I returned from the war. There is something about her that I do not remember being present in the girl I knew. Something vital and, almost, impulsive. Something secretive and enigmatic.

He wondered if she would consent to model for him, to have a sculpture made of her. It would tell him how she now looked compared to the meek young girl that he had known before leaving Walter Carlisle’s household to return to Hutton as a youth. As he walked the dark halls of the castle, he found himself dwelling on Emily.

Except that she is intended for another. Walter has appointed me her guardian while his business sends him to France. And it falls to me to make a match for her. I must stop being fascinated by her and return to seeing her as a surrogate sister.

But that was difficult to do. Her scent was intoxicating. Her words were direct at times and guarded at others. The combination made him want to probe further. She had made curious statements that he would not have expected to hear from her. Omissions of knowledge that were inexplicable.

The nature of the flooring beneath his feet told him which level of the castle he was on. Stone of a particular type made a distinctive ring against the metal on the underside of the heel of his shoe. That ringing was a signal, one of his subtle tricks that enabled him to defeat blindness. Stone gave way to wood, the metal clacking against the hardwood blocks in another unique signature.

The Sea Room was so named because Nathan had decorated it with scenes of ships and the sea as well as examples of his skills as an angler. Entering the room, he smelled the pungent odor of a cigarillo and the scent of dirt, mud, leaves, and dust. Men were present and they had experienced hard travel. Emily had borne some of the same scents of the outdoors also.

“Gentlemen!” Nathan said briskly, orientating his gaze in the direction of the odor of tobacco.

The sound of an indrawn breath as the smoker inhaled enabled him to further target at least one of his audience.

“I am the Duke of Hamilton. Welcome to Hutton Castle. Whom do I have the honor of addressing?”

“Are you blind?” came a young voice, perhaps a callow youth of the early twenties.

The voice came from a different part of the room and Nathan declined to turn in that direction.

“I think you mean, are you blind,Your Grace,” Nathan replied charmingly

“He does indeed, Your Grace,” said the smoker. “Forgive his rudeness. He is an impulsive chap and our patience is thin besides, after our travails this evening. I am the Baronet of Dunkeswick. This is my brother Captain Elliot Stamford of the North Yorkshire County Militia.”

Nathan moved to a chair, whose location he had memorized, and sat smoothly. He crossed his legs and waited for the sound of his guests seating themselves. Only one such sound reached him. He guessed that it was the younger man, the Captain of the militia, that had remained seated. He detected a slight harrumph of an under-the-breath reproof and guessed it went from the Baronet to the Captain.

“Gentlemen. It is late. What can I do for you?” he said directly.

The soft step of a servant sounded to his right and he put out a hand into which was placed a glass of wine. He had barely touched the wine served at supper, wishing to direct all of his faculties toward his mysterious guest. Now, he wished to overawe these two men with magic tricks. While one had been perfectly courteous and polite, the other had been rude and then defended by his brother. Which cast the elder in a bad light as well.

“We are looking for someone,” Dunkeswick said.

“A fugitive,” Captain Stamford put in with no little impatience.

“A criminal?” Nathan asked.

“Yes,” Stamford said at the same time that Dunkeswick said the opposite.

Nathan smiled and waited, letting his silence speak for his patience.

“It is a woman who is actually a member of our family. She has run away from home and taken some items with her…without permission,” Dunkeswick added.

“Ah…your sister has eloped and taken the family silver?” Nathan said archly.

He regretted it immediately. These two had rubbed him the wrong way but one did not counter rudeness with more rudeness. He gritted his teeth, knowing his duty.

“Dunkeswick, that was uncalled for. No excuses. I plead fatigue at the end of a long day. Forgive me,” Nathan said brusquely.

“Not at all. You are not too far from the truth. Her name is Lady Gemma Stamford and she is our cousin. Her father was the Earl of Kirkby.”

Nathan nodded. “I am familiar with Kirkby Manor, an estate almost as old as Hutton. Though I did not have the pleasure of acquaintanceship with Kirkby, I did hear of his passing.”

“We were all much saddened,” Dunkeswick said with genuine sorrow in his voice.

“Quite,” Stamford put in, slightly less genuinely.