Some part of her wanted to believe that this was a simple oversight that might have happened to anyone at any time. Perhaps that was true, but Anna could not seem to rid herself of the idea that it represented some fundamental change in her.
She tried desperately to think what else she might be forgetting or overlooking, but came up with nothing. This was not much comfort, and in the end, she gave up on the idea, merely hoping that anything else she had overlooked would eventually come to mind one way or another.
She resolved to spend the rest of the morning focused on other things. Looking at her wardrobe, she realized that there was quite a lot of mending to be done, as she had often put this chore off when she was busy with rehearsals and performances during the production that had just ended.
Taking a woolen petticoat from the mending basket, she saw that the hem, which had been loose in a small area when she put it into the basket, was now dropped nearly halfway around the bottom.
I must not leave these things so long in the future.
Anna took a needle, thread, and thimble from a small box on her dressing table. She brought these items, along with the petticoat, to her bed and sat down to begin her work. In an effort to keep her mind from wandering to thoughts of the Duke, she began to hum a familiar tune—one that her mother had sung to her when she was a little girl.
Anna passed most of the morning in this way, and found it pleasant enough, though she pricked her fingers painfully more than once. When she had mended two petticoats, three pairs of stockings, and a cotton shift, Anna heard a knock at her door, and called, “Come in.”
“You have a visitor,” Mrs. Hughes said, as she opened the door.
“Oh,” Anna said, feeling a bit surprised in spite of the fact that she had known that the Duke would be coming to see her today. She had not realized how much time had passed, and she did not think she would ever really get used to the idea of the Duke calling on her.
“I’ve asked His Grace to wait for us in the parlor,” Mrs. Hughes said, as Anna stood up, put aside her mending, and straightened her skirts.
“Thank you, Mrs. Hughes,” she said, as she followed her down the stairs to meet the Duke.
He was sitting in the same armchair he had occupied for their previous meeting. Anna thought that he looked quite at home next to the fireplace, with his long legs stretched in front of him. This was such a strange thought, since she knew that the boarding house could hardly be more different to his usual lodgings, and she smiled to herself.
The Duke looked up as Anna and Mrs. Hughes entered the room. He saw Anna smiling at him and a wide grin spread across his face in return. Feeling that perhaps she had been a bit too bold, Anna looked down at the floor for a moment. When she lifted her lashes to steal a glance at the Duke, he was still smiling at her, and she decided that it would do no good to look away now.
Mrs. Hughes must have brought in the tea things before fetching Anna, for the Duke held a cup and saucer in his hands. He placed them on the small table next to his chair and stood to greet her.
“Good day, Miss Conolly. I hope that you are well?”
“Good day, Your Grace,” Anna said. Her voice sounded breathless to her ears and she hoped that this would not be obvious to anyone else. She curtsied gracefully and continued, “I am quite well, thank you. I hope that Your Grace is well, also.”
“Quite well, thank you,” The Duke said, resuming his seat by the fire as Anna sat down opposite him. “In fact, I am much better now that I am seeing you.”
Anna laughed nervously at this. Gentlemen said this sort of thing to her often at the salons and parties held backstage after her performances. She never believed them, and had always steered those conversations to safer subjects. But hearing these words from the Duke, sitting next to the fire in this homey parlor, felt like something else entirely.
It almost feels as though he is telling the truth—but what am I to make of that?
“I am very glad that you are well, Your Grace. And how is the Dowager Duchess?” She had no particular interest in how the Duke’s mother was, but she knew that his mother was important to him, and it seemed like a safe topic of conversation.
“Oh, she is the same as ever,” the Duke said, smiling at her ruefully. “She thinks that she is being quite clever, arranging for me to meet eligible young ladies at every opportunity.”
Anna could think of nothing to say in response to this, and merely looked at the Duke quizzically. Of course, it made perfect sense that his mother would be interested in his marriage prospects. Perhaps he was interested in marrying soon, and even if he was not, he would need to marry eventually. Still, she did not like to hear about him meeting eligible young ladies.
“I am sorry, Miss Conolly,” the Duke said, seeming to register the look on her face after a moment. “I suppose that you do not wish to hear about that.”
“Well…” Anna began, feeling quite confused. He was quite correct in his guess that she would not like to hear about this subject.
But if I say that I do not like it, what might he assume about my feelings for him?
“Never mind,” the Duke interjected, smiling kindly at her, “I do not wish to hear myself talk about it either, the whole subject is exceedingly dull, but it seems to be all that my mother ever thinks about these days.”
“I am sure that the Dowager Duchess has your best interest in mind, Your Grace,” Anna said, not wishing to criticize his mother, even if he was the one to bring it up.
“I am sure you are right, Miss Conolly,” he said with a sigh. “Now, when would you like to use the carriage for your trip to Wiltshire?”
“Rehearsals for the next production begin in three weeks, so I will need to be back in London by then, but I am quite happy to arrange my plans around your schedule, Your Grace. After all, you are doing me such a very kind favor and I would not like to take your carriage when you will have need of it.”
Anna spoke more confidently now that the conversation had returned to practical matters such as travel arrangements. Still, she realized that she was speaking rather quickly, and forced herself to stop rambling.
She took a deep breath, and allowed herself a moment to think that she was pleased to hear that the Duke was irritated by the Dowager Duchess’s attempts at matchmaking, rather than interested.
“It is most kind of you to consider my schedule, Miss Conolly,” the Duke said. “But I assure you that I shall be quite fine without my carriage whenever you have need of it. I can always hire hackneys if I need them, but I prefer to walk when possible.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Anna said softly. “Perhaps it would be best for me to travel next week, before the weather turns much colder, if it is all the same to you.”
The Duke agreed that this would be a very practical plan, and they agreed that Anna would set off for Wiltshire at nine o’clock in the morning the following Wednesday. Anna would add this information to the letter she had started for her mother, and post it first thing tomorrow morning, so she ought to receive the letter before Anna turned up on her doorstep.
For the rest of the visit, Anna and the Duke discussed their various interests outside of the ballet. She told him about her love of music, and how she had learned to sew from her mother at a very young age.
“I would love to see some of your work someday,” the Duke said, enthusiastically.
“What do you mean, Your Grace?” Anna asked, feeling confused.
“Your needlework,” he clarified. “I’m sure that it is quite beautiful, and I would love to see some of it.”
Anna laughed at this. She did not mean to laugh at him but she could not help herself. He thought that she spent her afternoons embroidering beautiful pictures to be placed on decorative pillows.
“Have I said something funny?” the Duke asked, a bemused look on his handsome face.
“I am very sorry, Your Grace,” Anna said, coming back to her usual calm demeanor. “I ought not to have laughed. It is just tha
t my needlework, as you put it, is hardly beautiful. It is entirely practical in nature. I spent my morning darning stockings and mending petticoats.”
Anna had mentioned petticoats without thinking of what she was saying. As soon as the word had passed her lips, however, she felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. To her surprise, the Duke seemed unsurprised at the mention of her underclothes, and merely laughed along with her.
As the visit came to a close, they discussed when they would next see one another. The Duke said that he could not come again tomorrow, because of a previous engagement, and they agreed to meet for a walk in the park with Bridget the day after that.
Chapter 25
Nathaniel had been worried that his second visit with Miss Conolly might not be as successful as the first. He thought that he might have made quite a mess of things when he mentioned his mother’s attempts at matchmaking, but on the whole, he felt that they had recovered from that particular moment well.
Miss Conolly had even been so comfortable as to mention her petticoats, though she had looked quite embarrassed when she said it. Nathaniel had said nothing about it so as not to add to her discomfort, and the conversation had continued to flow quite naturally until he had been obliged to return home.
The following day, Nathaniel was in the library, preparing for his lunch meeting with the Earl of Berwick. He had no idea what Berwick might want to discuss, but had decided that it would be wise to acquaint himself with some of the most pressing issues that were likely to be debated in the House of Lords in the coming weeks.
He sat at the desk, reviewing a memorandum from one of his colleagues about standardization of weights and measures. He felt a dull ache beginning above his left eye, and hoped desperately that this subject would not be the one that Berwick wished to discuss.
He found that he was similarly disinterested in a proposed change to inheritance tax laws, and moved on to read about regulations regarding the import and sale of wines. This at least was something he might actually care about, but he found the current regulations to be so confusing that he could hardly understand what changes were being proposed.
We ought to be working to simplify the existing laws, not make them more complicated.
An hour later, Nathaniel arrived at The Jameson Club, of which Berwick was a member. Upon entering the building, Nathaniel saw that it was very much like his own club, the Wickford.
The Earl of Berwick was reading a newspaper when Nathaniel approached his table, and it was a few seconds before he looked up. Nathaniel rather thought that Berwick knew he was there and had made him wait intentionally.
Perhaps I am being overly sensitive—I must not let myself be distracted by a slight that may or may not even be real.
Berwick put his paper down and stood up to greet his guest with a friendly smile, making Nathaniel feel a bit more confident that this meeting might be a productive one.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me, Yanborough,” Berwick said, holding out a hand to Nathaniel.
Nathaniel took his hand and shook it firmly. “Thank you for inviting me, Berwick,” he said.
Once they were both seated at the table, Berwick asked, “How are you finding Parliament?”
Nathaniel was not entirely sure how to answer a question such as this, as it seemed so general. Berwick might as well have asked whether Nathaniel liked being British.
“I suppose I am still learning to navigate the intricacies of the Lords,” Nathaniel said, hoping that Berwick would be satisfied with this answer.
“As you know, I came into my peerage about a year earlier than you,” Berwick said. “So this session of Parliament is my second.”
“Yes,” Nathaniel said, wondering where Berwick might be going with this. “I suppose you are old hat at all of this by now.”
Berwick chuckled at this, shaking his head, “I would hardly say that. But I do recall how difficult it was to settle in when I first entered Parliament. It seems that all of my world-class schooling had not really prepared me for the realities of a political career.”
Nathaniel nodded at this. “Yes, I have been feeling much the same way. My mother insists that my father felt the same in his turn, but it is hard to imagine that he ever felt uncertain of anything.”
“Indeed.” Berwick said, grinning at Nathaniel. “I am quite sure that every member of Parliament has felt something similar in his first session, but it is hard to credit when a gentleman has had a long and storied career such as your father.”
“I suppose someday our sons will be saying something similar about us,” Nathaniel said.
“Perhaps they will,” Berwick said. “I’m sure you are aware that my father and yours were often at odds in Parliament.”
“Yes,” Nathaniel said, “though I know very little about the source of their conflict.”
“Nor do I,” Berwick said, “but I hope that it will not prevent you and I from working together to achieve our political aims.”
“I see no reason why it should,” Nathaniel said. “After all, we are not our fathers.”
Nathaniel found that he got along quite well with Berwick, and their lunch together was pleasant. Berwick shared his insights about some of their colleagues in Parliament, making useful suggestions about who might be a good mentor, and who was likely to be an adversary. Nathaniel paid close attention to this information and thanked Berwick for it.
“Have you had a chance to read Lord Allingham’s proposal on weights and measures?” Berwick asked, as they finished their meal.
Nathaniel sighed deeply, without thinking. He immediately regretted it, not wishing to seem disinterested in his work. To his great relief, Berwick only laughed at this and said, “Yes, I quite agree.”
Nathaniel lowered his voice slightly and said, “I have tried to read the memorandum at least five times, but have not yet finished it for fear of falling asleep at my desk.”
“That is very wise of you, Your Grace,” Berwick said. “No doubt it is a matter of great importance to many people, but the proposal is far too complicated, when it is supposed to be making things easier to understand.”
“Yes.” Nathaniel said, excited to learn that he was not the only one who felt this way. “It seems as though every proposal I read makes an existing law more complicated, often for no clear purpose.”
“I’ve come to understand that there are some times when the complications are necessary,” Berwick said. “But it seems to me that more often than not it serves no purpose at all.”
“How can you tell when it is necessary, and when it is not?” Nathaniel asked.
“Well, that can be quite difficult,” Berwick admitted. “And of course, I am still quite new to all of this, but I am doing my best to learn from our more experienced colleagues.”
“I suppose that the wisdom of their experience is more valuable than anything learned at school,” Nathaniel said, thinking about his own formal education and how it had failed to prepare him for his new career.
“That is very true,” Berwick agreed. “I would be happy to introduce you to some of the members who have been most helpful to me in understanding these matters.”
“Thank you, Berwick, that would be most helpful to me.”
As their meal was now finished, Nathaniel and Berwick retired to the lounge to continue their discussion. They sat in two handsome leather armchairs by a large fireplace. The aesthetics of this room could hardly have been more different to the parlor at Miss Conolly’s boarding house, but the comfortable seat next to the warm fireplace reminded Nathaniel of that space all the same.
The conversation over cigars and brandy was less formal than that over lunch. Nathaniel soon found himself trading hunting stories with Berwick, and laughing about some of the wilder high jinks that each of them had got up to in their school days.
Nathaniel recounted the time that he and the Marquess of Swinton had broken into the headmaster’s office after hours and rearranged all of his quills and ink bottles, abo
ut which he was exceedingly particular. They had spilled a bottle of ink in the process, staining the headmaster’s desk along with their hands.
Berwick then told a story about the time when his younger sister, desperate to join her father and brother on a hunt, had tried to dress up as a stable boy so that she could join them to attend to the horses. With her hair tucked up in a cap and dressed in trousers like a boy, their father had not even recognized her, though Berwick had known her right away.
“Of course, Maude has grown up to be a very proper young lady now,” Berwick said, solemnly. “She made her debut last season, and was considered quite a success.”
“Ah…” Nathaniel said, “I am glad to hear that it was a success.”
The Art 0f Pleasuring A Duke (Steamy Historical Regency Romance) Page 19
