Undressed to Impress the Duke : A Steamy Historical Regency Romance Novel

by Scarlett Osborne

  Eleanor didn’t know what else to say to Aaron. His presence was comforting. She felt so much, yet couldn’t seem to find the words to explain how she felt.

  “I miss you,” he murmured as he leaned in, his breath warm against her cheek. “You look fetching in that green dress.”

  “I miss you too,” she replied, turning toward him. It felt like she was doing something wrong. Anyone could see or hear them—her heart raced. He beamed at her, then leaned in.

  “Meet me at the bell tower,” he whispered. “Later tonight. I shall have my first dance with you, then.” Their eyes met. She couldn’t say no. He saw her, when everyone else didn’t.

  She nodded, smiling as her heart swelled with joy. She, too, missed him. It had been many days since they had last been able to steal a few moments together. It had been nearly a week of ball preparations and lingering glances.

  The thought of having a few stolen moments with him gave her hope. Perhaps he could ease her earlier thoughts. He always knew how to assuage her dread at the thought that she might not be good enough. She knew that Lady Julia would sleep deeply, after spending the night dancing. She had been on the floor the whole time.

  “Good. I look forward to it,” he murmured. He smiled, bowing to her. “I must go and entertain my guests. Enjoy your evening, Eleanor.” Eleanor curtsied, then she watched as he made his way slowly through the crowd. She knew that she was blushing.

  She looked around, to see if anyone had noticed them. The other ladies’ maids were just far enough away that they hadn’t heard. Her gaze fell on Lord Whitecier. He was watching her. The look on his face could have curdled milk. Eleanor looked away.

  She panicked. When she looked at Lady Julia, she was among the couples, dancing with Lord Mallen. She turned, walking quickly toward the ballroom doors. She needed to get out—she needed air.

  Eleanor wondered how much he had seen, and how much he had discerned from seeing her talking with Aaron.

  Hannah Comesford, the Duchess of Edgeriver, accidentally bumped into someone as she was heading over to speak with Lady Frogsmore, who had just arrived in Durnsott County that day.

  “Pardon me! I’m so sorry,” Hannah said, turning to the young woman, dressed in green muslin. Hannah gasped. It was like looking in a mirror, except twenty years had passed since she looked like that.

  “It’s my fault, My Lady,” the woman mumbled. She looked frightened, and Hannah wondered why.

  Around her neck, was Hannah’s mother’s own locket—heart-shaped, with a rose and pearl in the center. The Duchess of Edgeriver felt as though her heart had stopped.

  “How did you come by that necklace?” she asked, her voice low. It had been so long since she had learned not to hope for this moment. She had never given up, not for one second. But…

  “I’ve always had it,” the woman replied, placing her hand on it protectively.

  Hannah’s heart beat fast. She had never given up on her daughter. She would have known if Elizabeth was dead. She would have felt her spirit go. “Who are you?” she whispered.

  “Excuse me, My Lady,” she said, dropping a curtsy, and biting her lip as she turned to go.

  “Who are your parents?” she asked. She didn’t want her to get away, or she might vanish again!

  “I…I don’t know.” She glanced behind her, going pale. “Excuse me, My Lady.” She didn’t recognize Hannah as the Duchess of Edgeriver.

  Before Hannah could ask anything else, the dance ended and a mass exodus heading for the refreshments table parted them. The woman, dressed in a simple green muslin vanished among them. Hannah searched the crowd, looking for her, wondering where she could be.

  Hannah tried to catch up to her, moving through the crowd, but when she finally got through the press of people, the woman had vanished. Almost as if she were a ghost.

  But she wasn’t. She is as real as I am. After nearly twenty years, Hannah’s prayers had been answered. Her long-lost daughter, Elizabeth, had returned to her.

  Chapter 33

  After the way that Lord Whitecier had been glaring at Eleanor, it had felt as though she couldn’t breathe. Then, the fine lady had looked at her as though she were a ghost. Eleanor had seen how the lady had looked at the locket at her neck. She didn’t know what to think. If she thought that it was stolen, then Eleanor might lose it a second time. She couldn’t bear the thought of it.

  It was the only thing she had of her parents, a mystery that grew less certain of being solved by the day. She had felt its loss keenly. The thought of losing it again had upset her even further.

  She paced the hall, breathing deeply. Her heart beat erratically in her chest, like the wings of a frightened bird. The doors to the ballroom opened, and she pressed herself into a little nook in the wall behind a marble statue.

  She froze as she recognized Lord Whitecier’s voice. He was talking low, so that he wouldn’t be overheard. Eleanor froze, terrified knowing that he had come looking for her.

  “I see how you look at my daughter,” he said. “I advise you to leave her be.”

  “I am in love with your daughter, My Lord,” Lord Ayles replied. “I can provide for her. She will always have a comfortable home—I beg of you, give us your permission to marry.”

  “My daughter is going to be the Duchess of Durnsott, not the wife of a second son and London barrister.” Lord Whitecier spoke derisively.

  “I love her,” Lord Ayles implored.

  “I don’t see how that does anything to change my mind,” the Earl snapped. “You will never have my permission. It’s as good as decided. If the Duke had been well, then their engagement would have been announced this very evening.”

  “My Lord, wait—” Jack said.

  “There is nothing more that you can have to say to me, Lord Ayles,” Lord Whitecier snapped.

  Too late, Eleanor realized that the Earl was coming this way. She gasped, giving herself away. His eyes flashed as he saw her hiding there. He glanced back down the hallway before he turned his hard, cold eyes on her.

  “And you, Eleanor,” he said, his eyes flashing with anger. “I can see how the Duke looks at you, and I can only guess at what sort of a game you have been playing at. If you wish to be welcomed back to Clayriver Manor, then you will end whatever it is that you have begun.”

  Eleanor’s heart was racing. Her stomach did a nervous turn at the thought of never seeing Olivia again. She said nothing.

  “Otherwise, I will make you regret it,” the Earl growled. “You will not find employment anywhere among the ton again. I have worked too hard and too long for my daughter to become a Duchess to have her own lady’s maid ruin it all.”

  Suddenly, Eleanor could see that there was some credence to what Mr. Bradshaw had said. There were some members of the ton who did not care one bit about anyone other than themselves and what they wanted. She swallowed. There was nothing that she could say.

  “Go and find my daughter,” he snapped. “Your job is to be chaperoning her, not cowering in the hallway. Or have you given that up? To think that you believed that he could make you his Duchess…” he laughed, smiling cruelly, “that would never happen—not in this lifetime. Now, curtsy and go back to your post.”

  Eleanor’s face was hot with shame. Keeping her eyes on the floor, she curtsied, her limbs weak from fear. Her stomach churned. Then she walked away, swallowing up her tears.

  She wasn’t sure which hurt more—the Earl’s anger, or the fact that she knew he was right. Eleanor’s time with Aaron had been special. But the real world was beckoning to her. It was time to end their romance. A maid did not marry a Duke. It was an utter impossibility.

  The spell of the evening had been broken. She returned to her place along the wall. The minuet ended. Lady Julia, her face pink from exertion, turned toward Eleanor.

  “We shall go cubbing this week,” Aaron promised the Duke of Edgeriver. Though the surgeon had told him to wait, he was eager to get back in the saddle. He had learned how to ride a
t the age of four. Ever since, he had not gone more than a day without riding. It was natural to him, as ordinary as breathing.

  “Ah! Good show,” Arthur said. “My hunter has been very bored of late.” He raised his glass of champagne to his lips.

  “It is past time that we go out for a hunt,” the Duke of Edgeriver added. “I’ve got a few new hounds that are being trained up.”

  The Duchess of Edgeriver approached them. She was very pale in the face. Her eyes were wide, glistening with tears.

  “Hannah?” the Duke asked, concerned. “What’s the matter? Has something happened?”

  “Thomas! I—I saw a young woman,” she said, her hand resting on the Duke’s sleeve. “She looked just like me. It was like looking in the mirror.” She gestured toward her neck. “She wore my Mother’s locket.” She was on the verge of tears, her voice shaky with emotion.

  “Darling,” the Duke said. “Are you well?”

  “It was! It was her. I saw Elizabeth.” The Duchess clasped the Duke’s arm even tighter.

  Aaron himself was surprised. He and Arthur exchanged a glance. He knew all about their missing daughter—Lady Elizabeth Comesford, who had vanished when he himself was but a child.

  “Here? At Myrtlegrove Manor?” Aaron asked. His mind whirled, wondering who it could possibly be. She must have come as a guest, perhaps? Did she know who she was?

  “I lost her in the crowd,” the Duchess was saying, her eyes seeking her long-lost daughter in the press of people in the ballroom.

  “It must have been a trick of your eyes,” the Duke murmured. “Hannah, it’s happened before. Elizabeth has been gone for years. We don’t even know that she’s alive.”

  “I do, Thomas,” she said. “I know it. I saw her, just now. She’s here, Thomas. We need to find her.”

  “I think it’s time we left,” the Duke of Edgeriver said. He seemed doubtful.

  “Please, Thomas,” she begged, “you must believe me.”

  Aaron had known the Duchess of Edgeriver all his life. He had never known her to make something up. She wasn’t the sort of lady who was fanciful. But how would she know her daughter then? Twenty years had passed.

  “Perhaps I can help,” Aaron offered. “Most of the guests are spending the night in the area. I could make some polite inquiries for you.”

  “No, that’s not necessary,” the Duke said, sadly. “We’re so sorry, Your Grace. It’s so rude of us to leave early, but I believe that my wife and I need to go home.”

  “It’s quite all right,” Aaron replied. “I will send Lord Sommerset home in my own carriage.”

  “Thomas,” the Duchess said, her eyes wide, yearning to stay and to find the young lady who looked like their daughter.

  “Let’s take you home,” the Duke suggested, taking her by the hand. “It’s very warm this evening.”

  “Is there anything I can do?” Aaron asked, his heart breaking for the Duchess. Their two families had always been close—they had always been friends. He wanted to do something—help find this woman, and help assuage the Duchess’ concern.

  Who knows—perhaps it is Lady Elizabeth. Stranger things have happened. The Duke of Edgeriver shook his head.

  “Let Lord Sommerset know that the Duchess fell ill,” he said to Aaron, “and please give our sincerest apologies to the Dowager Duchess.”

  Aaron and Arthur followed them as they walked out of the ballroom, and then were outside, awaiting their carriage. Tears spilled from the Duchess’ eyes.

  “I could have sworn that it was her,” she said. “I could have sworn, Thomas. It was my Mother’s necklace.”

  “Aaron?” Arthur asked, when the Edgerivers were out of earshot. “What happened to their daughter?”

  “Their daughter was kidnapped, as a baby,” he replied. “She was never found, though the authorities searched extensively.”

  “Oh,” Arthur murmured. “How awful. But, is she really here? Perhaps, we should go and have a look.”

  “I wouldn’t know who to look for,” Aaron replied, shrugging helplessly as he leaned on his cane. “Lady Elizabeth was a baby the last time that I saw her.” Nearly two decades had passed. How could the Duchess have been so certain?

  Lady Julia and Eleanor were standing out on the terrace. Julia felt overheated. She had danced nearly every set. She used her fan to cool herself. Her feet in her little dancing slippers were sore. Eleanor held out her glass of champagne.

  “I wish that this night would never end,” she remarked sadly. It would be her last ball as an unengaged lady. She took the glass from Eleanor, sipping delicately. The cool fizz went straight to her head. It was her hope that Jack would be able to convince her father. She had asked him just after they danced the gavotte. He had agreed immediately, which only proved that he did love her.

  Julia looked up at the thin slice of moon that hung overhead. The stars seemed like jewels, dropped across thick black velvet. Eleanor was very quiet. Julia was about to ask her if something was wrong, when she heard footsteps, approaching them. She spun, to find Lord Jack approaching them.

  She glanced at Eleanor, handing her the glass, then turned toward him. “My Lord?” she said. He was frowning, his lips curving downward in a frown. She held out her hand to him, which he took in his hand, bowing over it. Her knees remained straight. Why is he so formal with me? she wondered with dread.

  “It has been a perfect evening, My Lady,” he replied. “But now we must say goodbye.”

  “Why?” Julia was filled with dread.

  “Because you are to wed my Brother,” he said, “and I cannot bear to be here to watch.”

  “What did my Father say to you?” she murmured, unable to believe what she was hearing—that he was giving up!

  “Your father says that I’m not to get in the way. That you are to be the Duchess of Durnsott. So, I will leave for London. Tomorrow afternoon.” He still held her hand in his. He was looking down at their clasped hands as he spoke.

  “No,” she said, “you promised.” He had promised to fight for her. To be with her. She had given him the time to figure out how.

  “I did,” he said, sadly. “I’m so sorry. I would give anything to have it any other way. I don’t want this.”

  “Nor do I.”

  “Your Father forbids it.”

  She stared at him, utterly devastated. She looked into his eyes, silently begging him to ask her to run away with him. He bowed to her, one last time, then turned toward the door. Julia’s father stood by the door to the terrace, watching and listening. The look on his face was impassive, and she fully believed that he had told Jack to stay away from her. Jack bowed to her father as he passed him by.

  Julia took her glass from Eleanor, emptying it. She turned toward the garden, which was lit up with torches. Clusters of guests were wandering through, and the soft strains of violins could be heard in the distance.

  Tears slipped down Julia’s cheeks. She had never been so devastated in her entire life. So that was it. She was going to wed the Duke of Durnsott, and Jack was going to London. Where Julia would have to see him at holidays. Her brother-in-law. Nothing more.

  “What just happened, My Lady?” Eleanor whispered. She, too, seemed about ready to cry. Julia inhaled deeply, brushing the tears from her cheeks. She was a lady. She was going to have to start acting like it. She raised her chin.

  “I have just been reminded that I must do my duty, Eleanor. I am to wed the Duke of Durnsott,” she said. “I must become the Duchess that my Father wants me to be.” Her hand went to the diamonds at her throat. They hung heavily about her neck, with the same weight as a noose.

  Chapter 34

  It was late in the night when the ball ended, though Eleanor and Lady Julia had avoided the crowds by walking through the gardens. They had both been heartbroken over the dissolution of their respective romances. Neither had spoken.

  They had wound their way through the garden paths, lit by torches. There had been much to see out there—the Do
wager Duchess had hired a theater company to come from London. The company had been dressed as characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Lady Julia and Eleanor had been accosted by Puck, who had tried to convince them to leave the path. Later on, they had been approached by Bottom, wearing a donkey’s head mask. He had asked them if they had seen Titania. They had not.

  It was a strange experience. Eleanor was both enchanted and overwhelmed. Eventually, the manor had begun to empty out. It was long after midnight when they had finally been able to go upstairs to Lady Julia’s bedchamber. Eleanor helped Lady Julia to undress. Her mistress had drunk three glasses of champagne, and had fallen asleep quickly. Eleanor waited until her breathing evened out.