“The Duke of …?” Ella began a little dismayed.
“Yes, the Duke of Hillington. He is one of the changes that I was going to tell you about, for he has lately begun to play bridge here of an afternoon. Not every week, but most weeks.”
Ella felt her stomach tighten the moment she spotted the Duke and realized that there was no way out of the introduction that Lady Brightwell was about to make. He was looking at her a little quizzically, his head on one side as if he was trying to place her. And then, just as the two women arrived in front of him, his eyes widened in recognition.
“Miss Winfield, good afternoon,” he said and bowed.
“Good afternoon, Your Grace,” Ella said shyly.
“Oh, so the two of you have already been introduced. How wonderful.” Lady Brightwell was clearly impervious to the little discomfort which seemed to exist between her two guests. “I was just telling my dear Ella that you have lately begun to play bridge with me here, Your Grace. Miss Winfield is an old regular here.”
“I could hardly escape it, Miss Winfield.” He said with a laugh. “I have known Lady Brightwell a good many years, and my father used to play bridge here often. And now, after much cajoling, I have been convinced to take his place.”
“And it only took me fifteen years, Ella.” Lady Brightwell smiled broadly, and Ella could not help laughing
“Almost no time at all, Lady Brightwell.”
“You may laugh, Ella, but the Duke is a very difficult man to maneuver.” Lady Brightwell spoke with an ease and warmth which suggested that she really was familiar with the Duke.
Ella wondered if Lady Brightwell had known Rufus Darnley for much of his life, especially if she had been a friend of his father.
“My dear Miss Winfield, Lady Brightwell would have you believe that I am awkward.”
“Not at all, Your Grace.” Ella smiled at him shyly, once again affected by his dark good looks.
“Well, what do you say we take some tea before we play? I must admit that I always play better after tea than before it.” Lady Brightwell looked set to dash off across the room to organize the whole thing.
“That would be very welcome, Constance.” The Duke smiled warmly. “You may leave me with Miss Winfield, for I shall look after her properly and find us a seat.”
“Wonderful, then I shall arrange the tea.”
“Shall we take this little table here?” he said and held out his arm to indicate that she should walk before him.
“Thank you,” Ella said and sat down on the couch as the Duke settled himself down opposite her in an armchair.
Ella looked around the room for any sign of somebody who would know her stepfather well. She could not think that anybody there particularly knew him, but if they did, might they not tell him that she had been there in the company of the Duke of Hillington? And if they did, she would undoubtedly suffer greatly for it.
And what of the Duke himself? What if he made another visit to Dandridge Hall and inadvertently gave her away, parting with the information in conversation that he had lately seen Miss Winfield at a bridge afternoon? She felt sure that her life would not be worth living if that happened.
“Miss Winfield, are you quite well?” he said and leaned forward in his seat to study her a little more closely.
“Yes, very well, Your Grace, thank you.”
“You did look quite well a moment ago, but now I can see that you have taken a turn for the worse.” He gave a gentle laugh. “And really, I am going to begin to think that I am the source of it since your countenance fades greatly in my presence.”
“Forgive me, Your Grace, but it is not you.”
“Miss Winfield, I must say that you look suddenly a little afraid. Forgive me for prying, and not for the first time in our acquaintance, but if you wish to tell me what it is that is upsetting you, I would be glad to hear it.”
“I hardly know where to begin, Your Grace, and I do not wish to draw you into an unfortunate situation which ought to have no bearing in your world.”
“Well, that is very kind of you to have such cares for my being, young lady, but I am very capable of looking after myself.” He laughed again, and Ella joined him.
She did not feel entirely comfortable, but she certainly appreciated his attempts to make her feel so. If only she could be herself with him, just as she had been on the night of the masquerade ball. If only she could, then she could tell him everything that was in her heart, everything that was troubling her. She could be as honest with the circumstances of her life as he had been with her that night.
“You might think it a very strange thing for me to say, Your Grace, but if you find yourself in company with my stepfather again, or any other member of that family, my mother included, I would be extraordinarily grateful, nay I would be in your debt , if you would neglect to mention that you and I crossed paths here in this house.”
“I am to keep this a secret, you mean?” he said and frowned.
“I did say that you might think it a little strange, but I would be grateful if you would consent to keep it a secret, yes.”
“Then you and I are to have a secret between us?”
“Forgive me, Your Grace, for I would not have wished it to be so. But you see, I find myself in circumstances that I cannot control, both here and at home, and can see no way clear of it without being honest with you.”
“I always appreciate honesty, Miss Winfield,” he said, and she was instantly transported.
In her mind’s eye, she saw them together, both anonymous behind their masks, both at ease with one another, so comfortable that they might have been acquainted for a hundred years.
“I am very glad to hear it, for it is not currently easy for me to be honest with you. But I have been, Your Grace, and I am keen to know if you will keep my confidence.”
“Of course I shall,” he said and peered around him for any sign that Lady Brightwell was returning. When he could see that she was not, he continued, “How long have you lived at Dandridge Hall?” His question surprised her.
“But a few weeks, Sir.”
“And is that just as long as your mother has been married to the Earl?”
“Yes, my mother and the Earl of Dandridge have only recently married.”
“And where did you live before?” His questioning was surprisingly direct and, she had to admit to herself, refreshing.
“I lived on my father’s small estate, Longton Manor. A very small estate in comparison with Dandridge, but I wish I had never left.”
“And your father is recently passed?” he said gently.
“A little over a year now, Your Grace.” When she saw his eyes widen a little, she continued. “Yes, my mother and the Earl married within days of my mother’s period of mourning ceasing.”
“That is just the way of things, I daresay.” He shrugged it off, and she realized that he was doing so for her sake. He really was a good and kind man, certainly one who would not have made her feel uncomfortable for her mother’s over eagerness in remarrying. “But I wonder if you are settling into your new life at all.”
“I am not settling in for a moment, Your Grace,” she said and felt her cheeks reddening again. “But I am sure that it will just take time.” She wanted to put an end to the subject, not wanting him to think her too free with personal information.
“Do you get along with your stepfather?” The Duke was clearly not keen to let it go, and he studied her intently, his dark eyes almost pinning her to the couch.
“Currently I do not,” she said and gave a delicate shrug. “But perhaps a little time is all that is needed.”
“Miss Winfield, it is clear to me that you do not believe that for a minute.”
“I do not mean to be coy, Your Grace, but you must understand that I find my situation a little embarrassing,” she said and swallowed hard. “After all, you were present when I was dismissed from the room. You must know yourself how embarrassing that was for me, how humiliated I was by it.
”
“Yes, I am perfectly well aware.” He nodded and smiled at her. “But of all people, you were the one who ought not to have been at all embarrassed by it. It was clear to me that you had done nothing to deserve it and, when I happened upon you on the edge of the estate, I was absolutely certain of that. No one meeting you that afternoon could think you had undergone anything fair on that day.”
“I appreciate your words, Your Grace, for I do find myself in very difficult circumstances. But I am determined to make the best of things, which is why I have come out this afternoon.”
“Why this afternoon in particular?”
“Because I am only allowed out in the afternoon, Your Grace.”
“And that is why you did not attend the masquerade ball.” It was a statement, not a question.
“My stepfather disallowed me.” It was the only way she could answer him without being entirely untruthful.
Ella did not want to confirm that she had not attended the masquerade ball when she knew well that it was an outright lie. But to tell him that her stepfather had disallowed her was the truth, the absolute truth, and a very much more comfortable way to respond to his inquiry.
“I am very sorry to hear that.” He said genuinely. “Miss Winfield, tell me …”
“Forgive my interruption, Your Grace, but Lady Brightwell is returning,” she said hurriedly and was pleased when he nodded in response. “You will keep our meeting here today secret?” she whispered in the final moments.
“Of course I shall,” he said and gave her a reassuring smile before turning his attention back to Lady Brightwell.
“Tea is on its way,” she said brightly as she took a seat next to Ella on the couch. “And I do hope you have been keeping my dear Ella entertained, Your Grace.”
“We have kept each other very good company, My Lady,” he said and gave Ella a secret smile.
“Very good,” Lady Brightwell said and looked from Ella to the Duke and back again with a curious smile.
Chapter 14
“Tell me, do I pass as a man?” Ella said and looked at her reflection in the mirror before turning to look at Violet. “I think I do, but I cannot be sure.”
“Well, it will be dark, so I am sure that you will pass as a man. Quite a small man, but there are enough small men out there that you will not stand out.” Violet laughed. “I think you will manage.”
“How good of you not to try to dissuade me, Violet.”
“If I had any sense at all, Miss Winfield, I probably would. But since I do not, you are in luck.”
“Oh, my dear Violet. Are you absolutely sure that William does not mind?”
“Far from it, Miss Winfield, he is all excitement and looking forward to it very much.”
“Then he really does have a spirit of adventure.”
“As do you, Miss,” Violet said and stood back a little to take in every detail of her mistress’ curious outfit.
Ella was wearing black breeches and men’s knee boots that were just a little too big for her. Over the top, she wore a white shirt which had seen better days, a black waistcoat in similar circumstances, and a black tailcoat that was far too big across the shoulders.
As men went, she would not make a particularly well-dressed one, but she did not need to be well-dressed. All she needed was to not be out of place outside the gentlemen’s club on the edge of the largest town in the area in the dead of night.
“You really did very well finding all these clothes for me, Violet.”
“William did most of the hard work if I am honest. He found much of it in the attic, and I can only assume that they used to belong to His Lordship when he was very much younger. Perhaps when he was a boy at Eton. They are a little out of date, but not so much so that you would draw attention.”
“No, I certainly do not want to draw attention to myself.”
Ella reached up and scratched her head, finding the multitude of clips that Violet had used to keep her long thick hair up out of the way rather trying. They were tight, and they pulled at her hair just a little.
“I am afraid that this is the only hat I could find,” Ella said and handed her a somewhat battered top hat. “But it will hide your hair very well.” She placed it on top of Ella’s head without ceremony and, as the two women turned to look at her reflection in the mirror, they both laughed. “Oh, yes, you really must not be caught. There is no way that you can ever explain this if you are; you do know that, Miss?”
“The only explanation I could give would be that I had lost my reason,” Ella said and pressed the hat down tightly. “And you know what my stepfather would do about that!”
“Please, do not even say it,” Violet said, her Cupid’s bow lips pursed in anxiety.
“Do not worry, I will not be caught, and so my stepfather will have no reason to have me sent to the Bedlam.”
“You must not laugh about it, Miss Winfield,” Violet said, despite chuckling a little herself.
“I know; I think it is nerves.”
“If you are not sure, you must not go through with it.”
“Oh, but I am sure. And I cannot think of another way of doing it.”
“But the Duke was adamant that he would keep your secret, that he would not give you away and say that he had met you at Lady Brightwell’s. Surely you could tell him the truth now and be assured that he would mention none of it to your stepfather.”
“But I cannot be entirely sure, Violet. After all, if I told him everything now, he would know how I had lied to him on the last two occasions we met.”
“But surely he would understand the necessity of it.”
“I dare not take that risk, Violet, not yet.”
“Yes, you are quite right.” Violet gave in. “But you really will be careful, won’t you?”
“Yes, I promise I will be careful.”
“Now, it is half past nine and probably time you were going. I am sure that dinner will be over in another half an hour, and you do not want to risk being caught by anyone who quits the table early.”
“No, indeed.”
“And what time did Lady Brightwell say that the Duke attends his club?” Violet said, requesting information which she had already been given several times over.
However, Ella could easily forgive it; her adorable little maid was as nervous and excited as she was.
“She says that he spends every Wednesday evening at his club having dinner, then he plays a couple of hands of cards, and generally leaves before eleven.”
“Then he will be one of the first out, for I believe that many gentlemen are in their clubs gambling until the early hours.”
“Yes, and that was exactly as Lady Brightwell put it to me after the Duke left the bridge afternoon. She said he is only a little sociable and not a man who would gamble his night away in a degenerate fashion. She likes him very well.”
“And it would seem that Lady Brightwell knows him very well, Miss.”
“Yes, I could not get to the bottom of it all, but I was left to assume that Lady Brightwell had been a great friend to the old Duke and has known the current Duke since he was a boy.”
“Then she is very well placed to declare him to be a man of good character,” Violet said, her nod indicating that she was satisfied with the situation.
“She thinks very highly of him, that much is clear.”
“Well, I think the time has come. Now, you are absolutely sure, Miss Winfield?”
“I am absolutely sure, Violet. You go ahead and see if the coast is clear.”
By the time Ella had made her way out of Dandridge Hall, her heart was thundering hard. She felt strangely out of breath and yet, at the same time, more alive and alert than she had done since the night of the masquerade ball.
She had not encountered a single person on her way out of the hall, with both her family and the servants very much concerned with the ongoing dinner. She only hoped that her return to the hall would equally be without incident.
“You
made it, Miss,” William said with the brightest and most excited of smiles. “Or should I say, Sir? ”
“You just see that you’re careful, William.” Violet chastised him in a way that only a young woman very much in love could do.
Ella had long suspected William and Violet’s regard for one another, but now she was sure that they must have, at some stage, declared their love for one another.
“I will be careful, Violet, don’t you worry,” William said with a laugh. “Now we’d better set off while the going is still good.” He quickly jumped down out of the cart and lifted Ella up into it.
Kind Ella and the Charming Duke: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 12
