A Second Chance for the Broken Duke: A Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance

by Fanny Finch

  Her mind turned back to the Duke of Thornwall. What kind of father would he be? How would he raise his children?

  She flushed. She had a feeling he would be a wonderful father. Regardless of the description the villagers had given her, she did not see the Duke of Thornwall pushing away a small child or neglecting to show his affection for them.

  She saw the way he treated Lady Agatha. That was enough to tell her he would love any person that shared his blood.

  He would need an heir. After the tragedy he had been through, he had been neglecting that duty. His father had been dead for six years. It was necessary that he provide an heir before a tragedy took him and the family name was gone forever.

  Lady Agatha would carry on the blood line but not the name. It was unlikely any man would allow his children to take on the name of his wife’s family.

  She licked her lips, keeping her head down, her eyes on the words. She was enjoying the warmth of the sun on her body. She closed her eyes, concentrating on it.

  Lady Elizabeth did not know how long she stayed in that position but she came back to reality with a sore neck. She lifted her head and directed her face at the sky, closing her eyes. The sun was nearly overhead. It was beginning to set but there were still several hours before that would happen.

  The sun penetrated her lids causing them to look red to her eyes. The heat forced tears to form in the corners of her eyes.

  She let the tears slip out. It relieved the burning in her eyes but alarmed Lady Agatha, who happened to look up at her.

  “Oh dear, are you all right? Lizzie, you are crying!” Lady Agatha almost pushed herself up with her injured arm, which was recently out of the sling. She stopped herself just in time and used the other one instead.

  Lady Elizabeth lowered her head and contemplated her friend with a smile. “These are only tears from the sun’s rays, my dear friend. I am not crying. Although I often feel like I should be. I am pressured to go back to London. I am feeling a little uneasy here, as it seems the Duke of Thornwall is determined to see me off.”

  “I do not think that is what he is thinking, Lizzie.”

  “But how can you say such a thing?” Lady Elizabeth shook her head, gazing at her friend. “He has barely spoken to me for two days.”

  “You two had a falling out. It will blow over. He will get past it. You will see.”

  Chapter 24

  “I would like to stretch my legs a bit, Lizzie,” Lady Agatha said with a sudden burst of energy. She pushed herself up to her feet, looking much more graceful than she had in the past month.

  Lady Elizabeth did not want to admit it but the woman was getting much better. She would soon not need Lady Elizabeth’s companionship and then she would no longer be needed. She would be sad on that day. And it looked to be fast approaching.

  Lady Agatha’s healing and the fact that her parents wished her back in London weighed heavily on Lady Elizabeth’s mind. She knew she should do what was right. But was going back to London and meeting the Marquess of Cramilton the right thing to do?

  The Marquess of Cramilton was a good man, according to Lady Agatha, who had a kind demeanor. Lady Agatha also mentioned that these kinds of assumptions could be deceiving.

  As they walked, Lady Agatha surprised Lady Elizabeth by bringing up the very topic she was thinking about.

  “I know you feel obligated to go back to London now that your parents have found someone they want you to meet. And I do wish you and my brother had not had this issue between you.”

  “He was so harsh with that poor girl,” Lady Elizabeth said softly as they walked toward the stable area. “I know he has a rule about leaving a flame unattended but she did not leave the room for long. She was only in there a moment before she returned to the other room. It was the second time, after I had written my letter, that she came to check on me. I though it was very kind of her to do so.”

  She shook her head. “I am positive she only closed the door to the room to keep the warmth inside. She was in there a moment before going back to the other room. That happened to be when the Duke of Thornwall walked by. I felt sorry for her.”

  Lady Agatha gave her a gentle look. “You know why he is that way, Lizzie.”

  Lady Elizabeth frowned. “I do. I think it is time for him to scrutinize his feelings and work through them. Has it not been long enough?”

  Lady Agatha gave her a frown back. “Lizzie! He lost someone he dearly loved. It is a fear he may carry with him forever, whether he chooses to love again or not.”

  Lady Elizabeth looked ashamed. It was not until they got to the stables and the pasture that she realized why Lady Agatha had pointed her in that direction. The Duke of Thornwall was standing watch as a servant put together a team of horses for a coach to go to town.

  She shared a brief glance with the Duke of Thornwall before they both moved their eyes away from each other.

  She wondered what he was thinking. Was he still angry about their last encounter? Was his behavior for the past two days an indication that he wanted peace or he wanted to be left alone?

  She could not tell.

  She crossed her arms over her chest and watched as one of the horses bucked and a servant yelled for it to calm down. He used a commanding tone that seemed to work with the horse, though the animal continued to sway his head back and forth.

  “Agatha!” The Duke of Thornwall shouted to his sister. “You should not be here right now.”

  “I will be fine, Malcolm,” Lady Agatha called back to him. “I will stand over here. The horses will not get me.”

  Lady Elizabeth saw the Duke of Thornwall frown. “You should not tease me, Agatha,” he called. “I am concerned for you. I do not want you injured again, especially this soon after the last time.”

  “You worry about me too much, my dear,” Lady Agatha’s voice traveled over the short distance.

  The Duke of Thornwall shook his head, giving up. He looked back at the servant, still wrestling with the horse.

  “He is such a silly man,” Lady Agatha said under her breath to Lady Elizabeth.

  “He is concerned about you. I have known that from the moment I got here.”

  They both giggled, looking at each other.

  Lady Elizabeth was sure she saw the Duke of Thornwall looking in her direction a few times. She wondered if he was looking at her or at Lady Agatha. It made her feel giggly inside. The butterflies in her belly had returned.

  She was a confused mess, she concluded. One minute, she was sure he wanted her gone. She was sure it was the best thing for her to return to London, rather than stay in a place where she would be lonely and feel unwelcome.

  On the other hand, she would never be lonely and unwelcome at Thornwall Castle as long as Lady Agatha was there.

  But she could not stay indefinitely. And her parents were expecting her back in London at any moment. Or they would be if they did not receive her letter soon. She had not even sent it. She had left it sitting in a cubby hole of the mahogany desk in the room she had been given across from Lady Agatha.

  Lady Agatha pushed her hand through the crook of Lady Elizabeth’s elbow, grasping on with both hands. “Oh, he so majestic, is he not?”

  Lady Elizabeth turned wide eyes to her friend before realizing Lady Agatha was talking about the horse, not the Duke of Thornwall. She broke out into sudden giggles, covering her mouth with her hand. Now, every time she looked at the Duke of Thornwall, she saw him as majestic and it made her giggling continue.

  “My heavens, what has gotten into you,” Lady Agatha asked, quietly, squeezing her friend’s elbow. “You must stop giggling. It looks as though you are laughing at the situation.”

  “That is certainly not my intention,” Lady Elizabeth said, trying to swallow the laughter. “I am merely picturing the Duke of Thornwall as a wild stallion, majestic and strong.”

  Lady Agatha stared at her for a moment before looking at her brother. “Majestic? I suppose he could be.”

 
; Lady Elizabeth smiled softly and explained why she had said that to Lady Agatha.

  Once she told her story, Lady Agatha was nodding. “I see. But we must restrain ourselves, lest we upset the servants.”

  “I will gladly explain it to the young man he saved later,” Lady Elizabeth said in a teasing voice. “Then perhaps he will see humor in it, as well.”

  Lady Agatha shook her head. “Not at the expense of the Lord of the Castle, he will not.”

  Lady Elizabeth nodded, her face turning somber. “You are right, Aggie. I will not tell a servant a joke that berates the Duke of Thornwall. I do not want to humiliate him.”

  As a matter of fact, humiliating the Duke of Thornwall was the last thing Lady Elizabeth ever wanted to do in her lifetime. If she had to go to extremes and make herself out to be the wrong one, she would before she would allow him to be humiliated.

  The strong overwhelming passion that flooded through her when she thought of defending the Duke of Thornwall surprised her. It was clear to her that the attraction to him was outweighing the bad feelings she had originally felt.

  “Why do I have such misgivings, Aggie? I want to trust you. I want to believe that I am not seeing what is really there. Why can I not see it?”

  “You will. You just have to give yourself a little time. Give him time.”

  “But time is not something I have.”

  Lady Agatha’s face fell as she remembered Lady Elizabeth had been called back home.

  “Perhaps…” Lady Agatha paused as she thought. “Perhaps by the time you get to London, the Marquess of Cramilton will already be taken. Perhaps they will tell you to come back next time with your new husband. Or perhaps they will tell you to return home and when you are there, you can invite us for dinner. This being after you refuse the marriage, of course.”

  “I would like that. I would like it if my parents would listen to my thoughts on this.”

  “They do not know anything about this situation with you and my brother?”

  Lady Elizabeth did not think Lady Agatha sounded very surprised.

  “No, I am afraid not.”

  “I did not think you would tell them. You were never very close to them although they were always very concerned about your welfare when you were growing up. You never wanted for anything. They did not spoil you but they left you wanting for nothing.”

  She looked at Lady Elizabeth, squeezing one more time. Lady Elizabeth’s eyes were wide with shock.

  “How did you know these things, Aggie?” she asked with wonder in her voice.

  Lady Agatha’s grin broke out on her face and she laughed softly. “Why, you have told me, my dear. You tell me everything.”

  Chapter 25

  The servant’s voice grew louder as the horse tied to the cart began to grow restless again.

  Lady Elizabeth and Lady Agatha watched in horror as it bucked, somehow taking the servant into the air with it. The servant screamed out, released himself from the binding of the bridle and the reins wrapped around his wrist. He dropped to the ground and dodged the horse as it came crashing down with its front legs.

  Andrew lost his footing and slipped in the dust, causing him to crash down on his right side. He caught himself with his hands before his face smashed into the ground. He rolled over and looked under the belly of the bucking horse.

  He rolled once more, avoiding being crushed by the large front legs of the panicking horse.

  Lady Elizabeth and Lady Agatha were both crying out but felt helpless to do anything. They even took a step away from the scene, both of them clutching the other and watching with terrified eyes as the horse whinnied, tried to kick out with its back legs and then bucked again.

  Andrew managed to vault himself to his feet and run a few feet away from the horse. In response the horse took off in his direction, as if he was a bull and they were in a bull fighting ring.

  Lady Elizabeth and Lady Agatha both cried out at the same time as the horse approached Andrew, who was standing still, frozen with fear.

  Just before the horse ran Andrew over, Lady Elizabeth watched in amazement as the Duke of Thornwall closed the distance between himself and the servant. The duke tackled the servant, knocking him out of the way just in time.

  Both men fell to the side, rolling once so that they were separated and both on their backs on the ground. They pushed themselves up into sitting positions and the Duke of Thornwall was on his feet in moments.

  “Get back!” The Duke of Thornwall yelled when several stable boys came out of the building. They all stared at him in shock but stayed where they were. The Duke of Thornwall looked at Andrew. “You stay here, Andrew. I will get the horse.”

  As he shot to his feet, Lady Elizabeth saw him cast a look in their direction to make sure they were far enough away from the action.

  When the horse failed to mow Andrew down, he stopped a few feet away. The Duke of Thornwall approached the cart carefully and slowly, speaking in low tones to the horse.

  Lady Elizabeth watched with admiring eyes as he held out his hands, ready to pounce on the horse when the time was right. To her shock, the horse decided he wanted nothing to do with the Duke of Thornwall and began to run again. The cart almost ran over the Duke of Thornwall but instead the duke jumped just in time to land on the railing where the coach would later be attached.

  He crouched down and held on with both hands for a moment before climbing to the very front of the cart. He was still holding on when he leaped off the cart and onto the horse’s saddle, leaning forward and waving his hand in the air until he caught hold of the reins.

  Pulling back on them, he was able to get the horse to slow down.

  He turned the horse and cart around and brought them back to the stable. He slid from the saddle and handed the reins to Andrew, saying, “Use a different horse. This one is too restless.”

  “Yes, my lord,” Andrew said, a relieved and grateful look on his young face.

  Lady Elizabeth felt a rush of excitement when the Duke of Thornwall turned in her direction. Lady Agatha was already crossing the distance, holding her arms out to her brother. He caught her halfway in a hug, chuckling as he surrounded her with his large arms.

  “I am fine, Agatha. You should not worry about me.”

  “I am so glad you are all right,” Lady Agatha replied in a strained voice. “I was sure you would be killed. I was screaming. Did you hear me screaming?”

  “I heard you screaming,” the Duke of Thornwall said, his voice amused.

  “I screamed louder than I did even when I was thrown from my own horse, Malcolm. You must be careful! I do not know what I would do without you!”

  “I feel the same way, Agatha. But I am all right. You need not worry about me.”

  “Yes, I know. I know, my brother. Oh, you must take care of yourself.”

  Lady Agatha pulled back from him, looked up into his brown eyes and then pulled him back to her for another hug.

  “You are so brave. Is he not the bravest man you know, Lizzie?”

  Lady Elizabeth looked up at him, pursing her lips. “It was indeed very brave.”

  “Thank you both.” The Duke of Thornwall was pleased at their praise, his chest swelling with pride.

  Chapter 26

  Lady Elizabeth heard the villagers telling her how cruel and harsh the duke could sometimes be and yet she had just seen him put his own life at risk for a servant. Ever since her arrival, she had noticed the stark difference between how the servants and townspeople regarded the duke and how she had seen him behave.

  Could it be the only way to see the Duke of Thornwall’s true nature was to live with him? She wondered how different it must have been before the tragedies that shaped his sorrowful nature.

  She looked toward the building that housed the horses.

  “What will you do with it if is not cooperative with you?” she asked.

  The Duke of Thornwall looked at her. “We will set it free. Aggressive horses do not need to be tamed.
They are able to handle themselves on their own and that is as it should be.”

  Lady Elizabeth agreed with the sentiment.

  “However, if a horse is willing and wanting to be tamed by a master, it can be done easily in a short time. It does not mind being in captivity. We are doing some of these animals a favor, taking them into our stables. If it were not for us, they might not be able to survive the wilderness on their own. At least we provide them a decent meal.”

  “I suppose you are right about that, my lord,” Lady Elizabeth replied.