“Go, My Darling,” he murmured.
Eleanor tore herself away, closing the door after her. Something was off, she could feel it in her bones. Someone with access to Myrtlegrove Manor knew what had happened to Ponsby. Which meant that they might still be inside—
Chapter 18
Aaron waited a few moments before he rang the bell. He told Stanley to send for Martin. Then, he wrote a letter, addressing it to Ponsby. Martin could call at his parents’ home a few towns over.
If he wasn’t there, then Aaron would contact the Constable. Though, he would need proof of a crime. More than just Eleanor’s story.
He sprinkled sand over the letter, shaking it off, then waiting for the text to dry.
There was a knock at the study door. “Come in,” Aaron called out.
“Your Grace?” Martin asked.
“I was wondering if you might be able to bring Ponsby a letter,” he said.
“So you’ve found him?”
“Have you spoken to Eleanor?” Aaron asked, surprised.
“Have you, Your Grace?”
“Martin,” he snapped.
“Yes, I have,” Martin replied. “Although, I haven’t found any proof, like I promised her.”
“Well, here’s your chance,” Aaron said, folding the letter, then pouring a bit of wax to seal it. He pressed his signet ring into the wax. “His parents live in Saint Braxton on the Wye.”
“Aye, Your Grace,” Martin replied. “I think I know where. Ponsby mentioned that they lived near the village pub.”
“Excellent. Tell them that you’re bringing him his references. If he’s there, then give this to him. If he’s not, then assure his parents that we’re looking for him.”
Martin accepted the letter, then bowed low. “I will, Your Grace.”
“Excellent,” he replied. “Report back to me as soon as you return. Now, I need to go and dress for dinner.” Though, how he could sit and make polite conversation was anyone’s guess.
Martin turned and then left. Aaron ran his fingers through his hair. He was worried. Eleanor wasn’t someone who would make something up. Her suspicions seemed valid.
But who would have someone come and take my valet?
Eleanor went down with Lady Julia that evening. She sat down, in the corner, listening to the discussion.
“I have invited the Duke and Duchess of Edgeriver to dine with us this week,” the Dowager Duchess announced.
When Eleanor glanced up, she saw that everyone seemed surprised.
“Have you also invited their heir?” Lord Ayles asked coldly.
“Of course I have,” the Dowager Duchess said. “He’s to be our closest neighbor.”
There was silence. Eleanor had heard, from Lady Julia, that Lord Ayles and Lord Sommerset had gotten into a heated conversation over her. When Eleanor looked at Aaron, he seemed to be the only one with composure.
“I wish you would have allowed me to make the invitation, Step-mother,” he said, emphasizing her title. She watched as the Dowager Duchess’ eyes flashed.
Even from across the room, Eleanor could feel the power struggle taking place. The Dowager Duchess, though it had been several years, clearly yearned to be in charge again.
“I think that was very bad of you, Mother,” Lord Ayles added. “He was very rude.”
“We are good friends with the Duke and Duchess,” she said, shaking her head so that her ostrich feather waved about. “I want to discuss the ball with Her Grace. Would you deny me the pleasure?”
She glanced between the Duke and Lord Ayles. The three of them began to speak heatedly.
Lady Whitecier looked down at her folded hands. Lady Julia murmured something to her, softly. The Countess smiled serenely and responded.
Lord Mallen got up from where he sat by the window, moving to the seat beside Eleanor. “Is it all right if I remain here, Miss Eleanor?”
“Yes,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “Quite.”
“It’s all very strange,” he murmured.
“What is?”
“The ton.”
“Yes. Very much so.”
Aaron was livid. He had, of course, planned to invite the Duke and Duchess of Edgeriver over to dine. He wanted to do so as soon as he had arranged for the Dowager Duchess and Jack to leave the countryside.
The very last thing that he wanted was for Jack to get in another argument with the Earl of Sommerset. The gong rang for their dinner. As they all filed out of the room, he brought his step-mother to the side.
“This is my house, Louisa,” he said. “I am the Duke. You must defer to me. Or, so help me, I will send you away.”
Their eyes met. He could see then how this chafed at her. She raised her chin.
“As you wish, Your Grace,” she said, then turned away from him. Aaron breathed a sigh of relief.
I should have said this to her much sooner.
Aaron felt triumphant as he walked into the dining room, where everyone awaited him. He glanced around the table. Eleanor had slipped off to the servants’ dining room. She would rejoin the company as soon as they left.
They all sat down, and the footmen brought the soup course. When Aaron glanced over at the Dowager Duchess, it was clear that she was clenching her teeth.
He glanced over at Jack, who had a bemused grin on his face. Aaron knew that he needed to turn things around. Everything was getting snarled.
“Well?” he asked aloud, turning to Lady Julia. This whole visit was supposed to be about her, after all. While he could not give her his heart or his hand, he could give her a pleasant visit. “Is there anything that you would like to do, Lady Julia? While you are here in the countryside?”
She beamed at him demurely. “The Dowager Duchess has mentioned that you might be interested in throwing a ball, here at Myrtlegrove Manor.”
Aaron decided to keep his cool demeanor. He smiled widely. “Is that what you would like?”
“It would bring me great pleasure,” she said. “Balls always do.”
As Aaron glanced over at Louisa, he saw the look of triumph on her face. He wondered when she had made Lady Julia her creature, and if so, how far gone Lady Julia was.
“Consider it done,” he said to Lady Julia. He turned his attention to his plate, where there was a fillet of trout, perfectly cooked in garlic, lemon, and butter with herbs. Louisa had won this round. She was too skilled at getting her way.
Which meant that Aaron was going to have to put his foot down. He didn’t want her to outmaneuver him to the point where he found himself doing whatever it was she wanted.
“He has promised to throw a ball,” Lady Julia was telling Eleanor later as she helped her prepare for bed.
“How exciting,” Eleanor said, knowing that a ball would be agony for her. Watching Aaron dance with every fine lady, while she waited and watched by the wall. She always felt out of place at balls, but she had never minded.
But then, she recalled the way that he had kissed her. She blushed, thinking, he wouldn’t kiss me that way unless he meant it. She recalled the way that his hands had travelled her body, the way that he made her feel. She cleared her throat, then focused on what Lady Julia was saying.
“I feel like I could be a member of society here,” Lady Julia said. “I just wish—” she sighed, shaking her head.
“Wish what, My Lady?” Eleanor finished pulling the pins out of her hair, then began to pull a brush through it. Julia’s hair was like spun gold.
Julia turned toward Eleanor. “What if I’ve started to fall in love with someone else?” she asked.
I know exactly how she feels, Eleanor thought. Instead, she said, “If you do not believe that you can be happily wed to the Duke, then you must tell the Countess.”
“My Mother will never hear of it,” Lady Julia said, shaking her head. “I have heard what she and Father think of the Duke—that he will make them the perfect son-in-law. They want me to be the Duchess of Durnsott.”
“So muc
h so that they will not listen to you?”
“Eleanor,” Lady Julia said, taking her hands. “They want this marriage, so that my Father and the Duke will have a political alliance. He wants for a certain bill to pass in Parliament, and with the Duke of Durnsott’s assistance, he’ll be able to get it done.”
“At the risk of his only child’s happiness?” Eleanor did not know the Earl of Whitecier very well. He had always seemed kind to Eleanor, and all of the servants. But she supposed that he might have pretensions, which he only showed behind closed doors.
“At the risk of his daughter,” Lady Julia confirmed, sniffing. “He comes in a few weeks, to join us. He will want to speak with the Duke personally, about politics and what he means to accomplish.” Her face was stony.
Eleanor pressed her hands. “Then you need to speak with your Mother. Perhaps she can speak to him on your behalf.”
“Maybe.” Lady Julia shook her head. “I don’t know what good it would do.” She smiled. “Dear Eleanor. You’re the only person I can talk to about anything.”
“So, you care about Lord Ayles?” Eleanor smiled.
“More than anything,” Lady Julia said, beaming in a way that Eleanor recognized. “He’s handsome and kind.”
Eleanor knew what it was to fall for a kind and handsome gentleman. She had done so herself. Though, she did not know what could come of it.
Chapter 19
Aaron sent for Louisa first thing after breakfast the next morning. While he waited for her, his mind was on Eleanor. He wondered when he should send for her to meet him.
He would take her to the millhouse, in the late afternoon, when all of the workers would be gone. There, they would be entirely alone, and no one would discover them.
He thought of kissing her, parting her lips with his tongue, and then gently biting her bottom lip with his teeth. He loved her soft gasps, and the way that she kissed him back eagerly. Though she wore that plain gray cotton dress, he could tell that her body was gently curved. He had run his hands over her breasts, her hips. Felt her pressed up against him. He wanted so much more.
There was a knock on the door, pulling him out of his thoughts. “Come in,” he called out, jolted from his lust-filled thoughts.
Louisa entered his study, dressed in lemon silk. Her hair was piled on top of her head in an elaborate manor. The diamonds glittered at her neck.
“You wanted to speak with me?” she asked.
“Have a seat,” he said. “Can I interest you in some brandy?” He knew that she would decline.
“No, thank you.”
Aaron paused, pouring himself a glass. He then sat down behind his desk, looking at her. She raised one eyebrow. She didn’t like to be kept waiting. As she aged, she liked being looked at even less.
“Are you pleased with yourself?” he asked.
“What about?”
“You shall have your ball,” he said. “Now that you have added Lady Julia to your schemes.”
She sighed heavily. “A ball is not a scheme,” she stated. “It is enjoyment for everyone. Even the servants will be excited. It improves morale and ingratiates us with all of the neighbors. You are a gentleman, so you do not know how much good a ball can accomplish.”
“This is my home, which you seek to run on my behalf. I do not need it,” he replied.
“It is because you don’t trust my expertise.” Louisa sniffed, studying him closely. He knew that she was going to claim that it was because she was a lady.
“It is not because you are a lady. You are the Dowager Duchess,” he pointed out. “My Father’s widow. And you were right—it’s time for me to take a wife, so that she can run this household as she pleases. You can retire somewhere comfortably—Bath, perhaps.”
“I do not want that.” Louisa’s face looked like she had smelled something awful.
“Well, you cannot stay here. Not when it’s my duty to oversee the Durnsott Estate. I wish to do so on my own, with my wife by my side.” When he said this, he meant Eleanor. He knew that it would be unconventional, but he hoped that he could pull it off. His reputation would take a hit, but that was his own concern.
She shot him a look of pure venom, then turned away. When she turned back, her features had been rearranged. He would have been frightened, had he not known her. She wasn’t dangerous. Just very domineering. Her look softened as she sighed.
“Very well,” she said, raising her chin. “I choose to reside in London. I do not want to leave Society. I belong there.
“As you wish. You may live in the townhouse, using the allowance that my Father bequeathed to you in his will.”
She sniffed. He knew that this was a point of contention. But she looked him in the eyes.
“I shall. However, I think you should at the very least, wait until the Countess and Lady Julia have completed their visit to send me away.”
“I’m not sending you away. I just think that we should live apart, for both of our benefit.” After all, neither of them was happy in their current situation.
“Is it because you do not wish to wed Lady Julia? She would make you a very fine wife.”
“She would, I quite agree.” That much was not a lie. If she had come without her maid, then he would certainly be considering her as a good and suitable match.
“Are you going to ask Lady Julia and Lady Whitecier to leave early?” Louisa was clearly scandalized.
“I have not made a final decision. But I will wait until the end of their time here, and then Lady Julia and I will talk and come to some sort of an agreement. I don’t know how she feels about me.”
“Lord Whitecier would make you a formidable political ally,” she said. Aaron looked at her closely. She had been keeping this to herself. He wondered what she and Lord Whitecier had discussed.
Louisa would have been formidable as a gentleman. He could see that she wanted real power, but was left with the dregs that went with a widow’s weeds. She would not be able to guide him. He already knew his mind and his heart and they told him the path he must take.
“I have not made up my mind,” he replied vaguely, either way.”
“Very well, keep your own counsel. You have to admit, I chose well, did I not?
He knew that this meant a lot to her. He nodded. “You chose very well.”
If I had a mind to marry well, he thought. He was starting to believe that what he actually wanted was to marry happily.
She nodded. “I could have helped you.”
“I am my own person, as you know.”
“Yes, well…” she sighed, “very well. You are on your own.” She stood up, and then curtsied. Aaron stood, bowing to her. “I will retire, Your Grace.” It was a comment on several levels, and he caught the entendre.
The door closed behind her, and he let out a deep breath. Aaron had never been so relieved before. Louisa had taken it well. To be able to make his own decisions without being questioned, meant that he might be able to marry Eleanor.
In any case, they could be wed before Louisa had any idea. The ton might talk, but Aaron would remain here, on the estate with Eleanor. They could focus on the horses and their burgeoning romance. After a few years, the ton might even accept Eleanor. By then, there would be no doubt that she was the Duchess of Durnsott. There would be no going back.
Is it a dream, though? he wondered.
Eleanor and Lady Julia were taking a late afternoon stroll through the gardens. They walked arm in arm, laughing together. It almost felt as though they were back at Clayriver Manor.
“Just think,” Lady Julia said. “If you and I were to live here, then you could marry a nice man from the village, just like we said.”
Eleanor swallowed the lump in the back of her throat. “Or, perhaps, I could get a home of my own.” She needed to start thinking logically. Society would never allow a maid to wed a Duke.
“Is it possible?” Lady Julia wondered.
“I don’t know. But surely, there are women out there without men
. They need a place to live. Perhaps there is a house to let in the village.” She let her gaze linger on a lavender bush. A butterfly had landed on one of the blooms.
“It’s an idea,” Lady Julia said, abruptly stopping. “But wait, Eleanor. Are you giving up on finding love? The one thing that I have always heard you speak of?”
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