The Duke of My Heart (Regency Romance)

by Hanna Hamilton

  Daisy took the limelight again and did it in a more subtle way. If she could get Iris to shake off her learnings even slightly, then she felt certain that they could do it. Time was against them, that much was clear, but she was determined and it seemed Iris was too. She hadn't ever seen her concentrating so hard before.

  "Now, try it like that. A little less... everything. A little less hip, less stamp, a lot fewer feet dragging. You need to seem natural as if you never had the lessons in the first place."

  “Less,” Iris sighed and nodded. “Yes, I can do that,”

  * * *

  “This is not going to work, is it?” Daisy asked with exasperation on her tone. “We cannot shake off everything that you’ve been taught.”

  "I am so sorry." Iris was furious with herself. She couldn't remember ever putting so much effort into anything before, but still, it wasn't going anywhere. Every time she felt like she was getting somewhere, she fell again. There was no way she could keep it up long term. "I know that I am hopeless."

  "No, it is not that." Daisy didn't want Iris to feel bad, it wasn't her fault. This was just the way that things were. "We should just come up with another plan."

  She didn't think it would be a good idea to send Iris into a meeting at the moment, just in case she didn't instantly fall for the Duke. It would be a disaster and it would only ruin the Warwick reputation. Robert had spent his entire life trying to maintain it, Daisy didn't know a lot of things about him but she knew how important that was to him.

  She didn’t want the reason it fell apart to be because of her. He had paid her well for the last few years, that she could not complain about.

  “What do you think?” Iris asked wearily. “Should I say some of those things that you suggested earlier?”

  “I thought you wouldn’t be able to.”

  “No. I do not think I will.”

  They sat in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Iris was slowly slipping into that awful pit of depression, while Daisy searched for a way out.

  “Maybe...” she pursed her lips and squeezed her eyes shut, hating herself for even suggesting this. She was just so desperate to help out her friend, it was getting to the stage where she would do anything to look out for her. “Maybe we should reconsider swapping places.”

  “But... that was a joke, right?” Iris whispered in shock. “You did not really mean it when you said it.”

  Her heart pounded in her chest, she could almost feel her pulse in her ears it was so violent. The more she tried to make herself uncouth, the more desperate she became to put an end to all of this. She just wanted the marriage proposal to go away. Her years locked away from the world had done nothing to help her prepare for it.

  “I did not mean it,” Daisy admitted. “But I am starting to think that it might be the only way out.”

  “Do you... think that we will get away with it?” Iris did not dare to breathe as she waited for a response. This was almost too much for her to dare dream of. She felt guilty for putting her friend into such an awkward position, but if it was the only way out then she had no choice?

  “Well, your uncle does not know you, your betrothed does not know you. We do not look too dissimilar.” Daisy cursed herself with every single word that fell out of her mouth. Why did she have to adore Iris so much? If only she could feel the same professional detachment that she had with the rest of the family, everything would be so much easier. “If I was dressed up like a lady then maybe I could pass for it... and if you wore my maid’s uniform you could pass for me. We would,” she gulped loudly, “we would have to inform the other servants, I suppose. Maybe...”

  “It seems very complicated, doesn’t it? Maybe it is too much.”

  Iris stood up and paced the room, really thinking it through. She wanted this, she yearned for it so badly that it killed her, but she did not intend to cause her friend trouble along the way.

  “It could be fun?” Daisy suggested. “We could maybe try it out once your uncle gets here, see if he believes us. If he does not, we can tell him it was a little childish trick. He might be offended but it is unlikely that he will be too angry at us. He will just assume that we are bored young ladies, trying to have some fun.”

  "Yes, I could serve your table." Iris felt the thrill building up inside of her again. That much was possible, she could actually imagine them doing that without too much trouble. "Then we could tell him it was just tomfoolery if it came to it."

  Neither of them really wanted to think about what would happen if it did work. This plan seemed to work much better if they took it one step at a time.

  “So I shall teach you how to be a lady at dinner, and you shall teach me how to serve a table.” Iris threw her hand over her friend’s shoulder. “It will be fun.”

  If they considered it as a game, it didn’t feel so serious. If they just thought about themselves playing a role, they could just forget about any potential pain they could cause or any mess they might find themselves in. They both knew that it was not right to do this, but Iris was desperate, she needed help.

  For the first time ever, Daisy did not want to toughen Iris up, she wanted to shield her from the things that could cause her. This was a brand new sensation for her, and she could not seem to shake it.

  "I suppose we should start in the kitchen then since everything always begins in there. Start you from the ground up."

  Iris’s breath caught in her throat. She could not remember ever being in the kitchen in her own home, and she was oddly excited by the idea. She wanted to examine the serving staff, to see how they behaved so she could throw herself into the role. She could almost feel herself becoming a maid as they spoke.

  Maybe then she would find out if her romantic notions about how other people lived actually became anything... even if only for a short while.

  “Once you have shown me everything, I will take you to my wardrobe and you can pick out any dress that you want. I am sure you must have had your eye on at least one of them. I think I have seen you looking at the purple one a few times...”

  Daisy could barely contain her excitement. That was like a dream come true for her. A lady’s dress, a lady’s hair, she could really get used to this. This was a terrible, dangerous plan, but the idea thrilled her massively.

  “Yes, thank you, Iris.” She held her hand tightly. “That sounds absolutely wonderful.”

  Chapter 9

  Iris giggled hysterically at herself as she examined herself in the mirror. She looked absolutely ridiculous in Daisy's maid outfit, the effect was almost comical. The dress didn't quite fit her slender frame right, it hung out awkwardly at her hips and squeezed a little too tight around the top, but still, she preferred it to the prison of the dresses she usually had to wear to make an appearance in front of anyone.

  “You cannot leave your hair like that,” Daisy insisted in a hushed tone. Her face was pale and stressed, she seemed to be having much less fun than Iris with regards to what would happen today. “You need to knot it up at the back of your head, so it does not get in the way while you work.”

  “I do not know how to style my own hair,” Iris admitted a little pitifully. “I have always had someone to do it for me. Do you think...” She paused, flushing with embarrassment. “Do you think that you could do it for me?”

  “I cannot.” Daisy did not have time to worry about anyone else today. The reality of this crazy plan was weighing heavily on her, she was no longer sure that she could go through with it. The potential consequences were terrifying. “You must do it yourself. Remember, you are not a lady today. Us servants do not have someone to style us, we do what we can with our own appearances.”

  “Oh yes, of course.”

  Iris grabbed hold of a chunk of her hair and she attempted to weave it around the back of her head in the way that she now realized Daisy must do all of the time. As she twisted it around, strands of hair fell frustratingly back down over her face, making her more and more annoyed as ti
me passed.

  “You need to get rid of the concept of perfection,” Daisy told her with more kindness to her tone now. Much as she was worried for herself, she didn’t want to see her friend fall apart either. It seemed that even when her own life was on the line, she could not stop herself from putting Iris’s needs first. “This is not the hair of a lady. It does not matter if it does not look immaculate.”

  Iris cocked her head to once side while she considered this. The idea of giving up on perfection was almost too much for her to handle. Appearances and perfection had been forced down her throat from the very moment that she was born. As she wrapped a band around her hair, allowing it to look a little dishevelled, and she laughed again to herself. This feeling was strangely wonderful!

  “How is this?” As Iris turned to question Daisy, she suddenly realized that her friend desperately needed her help. Being a maid was much easier than being a lady, the other way around was not. “Are you feeling alright?” she asked her friend. “You are not worried, are you?”

  During all the time the girls had practiced swapping roles, they both held onto the notion that one of them would back down. In the beginning, when they were both so terrible at being one another, it felt comical that they might actually go through with the plan, but as time moved on and they both improved, they both became convinced that it would never happen.

  But now the family had received communication. Iris’s uncle, Walter, would be here at some point today. It was time for the girls to take this plan to the next step entirely.

  "I am just worried that it is obvious that I am lower class," Daisy sighed with defeat. "I do not think I can be a lady in front of a high-class male. This is not a game anymore."

  “No,” Iris agreed. “No, it is not.”

  She opened her mouth, wanting to tell Daisy that they could still back out now if they wanted to, but the words got stuck behind her tongue. If she uttered that sentence, and Daisy agreed to call it off, she would end up married... and that thought was terrifying enough to make her selfish.

  “You have done so well, Daisy,” Iris insisted instead. “You now act just like me, and you have all the manners and etiquette exactly right. And look at yourself.” She twisted her around until Daisy could see herself in the mirror. “You look like a beautiful, sophisticated lady. Much better than I do when I am in all of those clothes.”

  Daisy could not deny what Iris was telling her, she did look the best that she’d ever done in her life. If she examined herself too closely then she could spot flaws in her skin, and awkwardness in the dress, small little signs that she did not truly belong, but a man was much less likely to pick up on those things.

  Or so she hoped.

  “We will still tell him that it is a silly, girlish prank if he guesses, won’t we?” Daisy asked hurriedly. “It will be alright?”

  “Oh, of course.” Iris waved her hand dismissively, while secretly hoping that it did not come down to that. “We may get a small telling off, but there won’t be anything to worry about.”

  “Miss Warwick, Daisy,” a panting tone of voice rang through the room, causing them both to jump. They turned to see one of the other maids, Eloise, standing in the door frame with bright red cheeks. “I am sorry to disturb you, but you asked me to tell you... oops, sorry.”

  She curtsied, unsure of how she was supposed to act around these girls now. She had never seen much of Iris before, Daisy was always the one to spend time with her, but now over the last few days, all of the serving staff had seen the girls more and more as they concocted their crazy plan. Not everyone agreed with what they were doing, but no one dared to speak out their concerns because it was the first time a lot of them had ever seen Iris smile.

  No one wanted to be responsible for sending her back into her bedroom for another six years, so they all agreed to help.

  “Remember, you do not have to curtsy to me now,” Iris warned.

  “But you do me.” Daisy grinned triumphantly. “But only when there is company around.”

  “Oh, right, yes, I understand.” Poor Eloise was getting herself more and more confused. “I just wanted to inform you that your uncle is here.”

  Iris and Daisy stared at one another with wide, shocked eyes. The time was upon them, there was no holding back anymore. They did not even have the time to switch back into themselves.

  “I... I suppose we better go down the stairs then,” Daisy replied breathlessly. Her head swam, she felt sick with fear. She would never have agreed to this if she knew how terrifying it would be. “To greet your uncle.”

  “Your uncle," Iris reminded her while rubbing her back gently, trying to comfort her. "Do not forget, as of this point you are now Iris Warwick, and I am Daisy, the servant girl."

  She couldn’t help noticing that there was something oddly liberating about that statement. As a servant girl, she could be out among people but no one would want to look at her. She could blend into the background, become a part of the wallpaper. Iris felt excited to see how this would work.

  Daisy wrapped her arms tightly around Iris for a moment, trying to convey that she was doing all of this for her. There would not be another soul on the planet that she would throw her life on the line for. But Iris deserved it... if it all worked out.

  Eventually, the girls walked slowly down the stairs, as if they were in a procession. Daisy remembered to hold her head high, she jutted out her chin and adopted an air of arrogance, just as she had seen other high-born ladies do. She shook off the shackles of being only a servant girl and she felt herself be reborn into the role of Iris Warwick – one of the most highly desired women in the town.

  I can do this, she tried to convince herself in her mind. I can be a lady, just for one day. There was a part of her that wanted this to succeed for herself too. She wanted to prove to herself that she was much more worthy than the world had let her believe. If she could become a lady, even if it was only for a short period, then maybe everything would not seem so bad.

  Daisy positioned herself by the grand front door to the Warwick home, and she clasped her hands together in front of her, in a very ‘Iris' way. It was lucky that she had always paid attention to her friend because she found it much easier to step into her shoes than she thought it would be. Her heart raced in her chest, her mouth ran cotton dry with anxiety, her knees were knocking together under the beautiful gown that she had on, but outwardly she just about managed to keep her cool.

  Iris felt much more confident than Daisy. As she stood behind her and waited, she did not hold any of the nerves that Daisy did. She felt confident that this man who had never met her would believe that Daisy was her, and she was also very happy that he would not even glance one eye at her. It was lovely for her to just be a nobody, she felt like it was something she could get used to.

  As the door swung open, everyone braced themselves expecting a tall, powerful man to be on the other side. Highborn men often held themselves in a certain way, commanding respect even when they did not deserve it. Daisy found many of them intimidating too... but there was something about Walter Andrews that made no one feel that way.

  He shared the same lighter hair that Iris and her mother had, and he had the pale skin too, but it was challenging to notice much more about him because he hunched so far forwards. It was almost as if he did not like the eyes of the world upon him either. His black coat shrouded him and his body language was one of a man who would rather be left alone.

  “Hello there, Uncle,” Daisy declared with maybe a little too much fake gusto. “It is wonderful to see you looking so well.” Iris had coached her on what to say initially, but Daisy could feel the words slipping from her mind. “I... I am... I hope the journey over was not too terrible.”

  “Mmmm,” Walter grunted back, clearly not wanting to be engaged in conversation.

  Daisy glanced desperately at Iris, but she gave her an encouraging nod back. As far as Iris was concerned this was going very well!

  “Would you li
ke...” Daisy made a sweeping gesture with her hands. “Shall I get one of the maids to make you some tea.”

  “Yes,” he snapped back simply.

  Iris bristled herself, she felt that it was wrong for a man to be so rude to her friend, but she caught herself before she could express her disgust as she remembered that it was not her place.

  Maybe one of the less liberating things about being a maid was the restriction of opinion.

  “Then let us go into the dining room.” Somehow Daisy managed to remain strong. “The staff will bring us our drinks into there.”

  Iris hated to leave Daisy alone, she suddenly felt compelled to oversee everything, but she needed to race downstairs into the kitchen if they were going to pull this off. The girls had decided that it would be better for Iris to do as much serving as possible, to test the limits of what they could get away with. Without anyone to compare her too, Walter would likely accept Daisy for who she said she was without question, but if Iris was around, he might pick up the qualities within her that were very much like her mother.

  In short, if they could fool him, they could fool anyone.

  “How is it going?” The cook, Betty, asked desperately as Iris tore into the kitchen. She had been so worried about all of this from the moment that the plan had been unveiled to her that she’d bitten down all of her nails. “What happened with your uncle?”

  “It is good,” Iris insisted with a smile. “Daisy is doing a wonderful job of being me. Now it is my turn to see if I can be her.”

  “Oh you will have no trouble,” Betty answered with a deep warmth. “I have witnessed you practicing over the last few days and I am certain that you will do really well.”

  Iris paused just for a second, before grabbing onto the tray, thinking about how wonderfully the serving staff had treated her recently. Of course, some of them were shocked when Iris revealed their plan, but after the initial surprise, they had been nothing but supportive of her. She couldn't help wishing that she had spent more time at least allowing these people into her life a little more. Her time in this house would have been much richer if she had.