by Ayles, Abby
He didn’t take what he heard seriously, anyway.
When his carriage arrived outside of Stone Hill, Rodrick alit and went up the front steps to the door, followed by the driver who carried his trunk. He hoped that Alfie wouldn’t mind this, but he knew that he had more than enough extra guest rooms. Alphonse enjoyed entertaining people at his castle-like mansion, even if his father did not.
Stone Hill Manor had existed in some form since the middle ages. It truly was a castle from back then, and the only changes to it – apart from the ownership over the years – were inside in the furnishings and décor of the rooms. The place was quite beautiful, but it also was rather eerie, depending on how closely you explored it and how much of its history you knew.
One of the servants led Rodrick into the drawing room while the carriage driver took his trunk upstairs to one of the guest rooms. Rodrick was surprised and delighted to find Lady Noelle and Lady Catherine sitting there on the couch. They were holding hands and apparently had just ended a serious discussion.
Lady Noelle looked over and saw Rodrick standing there, seeming surprised to see him. She rose up from her seat in order to greet him. “Mr. Edwards!” she cried happily.
He came to her at once and took her hand in his, bowing his head to her. Smiling at her, he gazed into her pretty blue eyes. He knew that he was going to find her there in the house, but he hadn’t expected that it would be so soon and that she would be unattended by Alphonse.
“It’s good to see you again,” he said to Lady Noelle before nodding his head cordially at Lady Catherine. “Where is the lord of the manor? And your mother?”
“Our mother is still taking a nap,” Lady Catherine answered. “Though she should join us here soon. I don’t imagine that she’d wish to sleep in too long while we’re here.”
Noelle nodded in agreement with that. “And as for Lord Drake, we have no idea. Though I have my suspicions.”
Rodrick chuckled a little, wondering what those suspicions might be.
Before they could wonder any more about it, the man of the house appeared in the drawing room doorway, grinning widely when he saw his new visitor. “Rodrick!” he exclaimed, coming towards him right away and clasping his shoulder in a friendly manner. “To what do I owe this honor?”
“I heard it on good authority that you and these ladies were here today,” Rodrick replied with a playful wink towards Lady Noelle. “Besides, it has been a while since I last visited you at Stone Hill or have seen your father.”
He hoped that this alibi would be enough to appease Alphonse. His friend made no gesture that indicated otherwise but instead continued to smile at him as if he was completely delighted to have him there. “Father will be so grateful to see you,” Alphonse agreed.
The Duchess of Salisbury appeared in the drawing room, looking rather sheepish to have slept in and missed the arrival of Mr. Edwards. “Forgive me, sirs. I was much more tired than I initially thought.”
Alfie chuckled and shook his head a bit. “No apology necessary, your Grace. You deserved to rest. And we are glad to have you here now.”
Then, he clapped his hands together. “Shall we go to the dining room and have a spot of supper now?” He called to his maids and then led everyone from the room, towards his dining room.
Rodrick couldn’t remember the last time he’d dined at Stone Hill Manor. Having banquets was not really something that Alfie did, so this was quite an unusual evening already. Once they were all gathered around the table, they sat down and waited for the footmen to present them with their evening’s meal.
There was still no sign of the Duke of Cumberland.
Alfie sat at the head of the table, grinning from ear to ear as the cooks went around and placed fish and pheasant onto everyone’s plates, along with potatoes and greens. One thing’s for sure: we’re not going to be left hungry. As soon as their food was on all of their plates, Alfie held up his glass of wine.
“To good friends getting together for good times,” he said.
“To good friends,” everyone said. They drank the wine.
Still no sign of the duke.
Rodrick leaned towards Alphonse. “Where is your father, Alfie?” he asked him quietly. “Is everything all right?”
The other gentleman’s cheeks went a bit pink. “Yes, he’s all right. He just doesn’t wish to dine with us at the moment.”
It is as I feared, then, Rodrick thought, feeling sympathy for his friend even though he did bother him so. This was never exactly sanctioned by his father.
If the ladies heard this exchange, they didn’t say anything about it. Everyone ate their meal in peace and there was a bit of shy, stilted conversation throughout. Rodrick couldn’t wait to get his friend alone so that he could discuss a few things with him… including the small matter of his being in love with Lady Noelle.
He didn’t believe that he was going to take her away from Alphonse; he felt rather that it was necessary to let him know his feelings so that his friend would take good care of her and would never hurt her.
After dinner, everyone walked back out into the drawing room and sat together on the couch or in the chairs. Suddenly, with the slow thumps of his cane against the stone floors, the Duke of Cumberland appeared. He was dressed in a black suit with a white shirt and a black waistcoat with four ornate gold buttons.
Rodrick did his best not to gape at the old man. His memories of him didn’t depict a man who was so aged and stooped. He quickly stood up from his chair and he would have moved towards him if Alphonse did not go forward and assist his father himself.
One of the servants stepped forward and cleared his throat softly. “Ladies and gentlemen, His Grace, The Duke of—”
“Yes, thank you, Vance,” the duke cut him off. “That will do. I’m sure these people know who I am.”
The servant backed away into his usual position along the wall in the room.
The Duke of Cumberland looked from his son to each of their guests in turn. His was a wrinkled, frowning face framed by thick white hair on top and on his cheeks. His skin was fairly sallow, as if he did not usually get much sun, which Rodrick could fully believe.
“Well,” the duke addressed them all, hobbling over towards one of the large, red wing chairs in the room. “So, you are the people that my son the marquess has been telling me so much about.” He suddenly coughed a loud, rasping dry heave of a cough.
Alphonse helped him into the chair, leaning the long black cane against its side. The cane looked identical to the one Alphonse had brought along the other evening. Has he been borrowing his father’s cane?
“Yes, Father,” Alphonse said now. “This is the Duchess of Salisbury, and these are her daughters, Lady Noelle and Lady Catherine. And you know Rodrick, of course.”
Rodrick glanced down at his shoes for a moment, reminded that he was the only man there without a title to his name. Then he looked back up at the duke. “It is so wonderful to see you again, your Grace.”
The duke eyed him with a mixture of confusion and disapproval. “Quite,” he said. “The Duke of Montgomery’s nephew, yes, I remember you.”
Rodrick was afraid to meet Lady Noelle’s eye, but he could feel her eyes on him anyway. He had a feeling that they were all focused on him for the moment. And he did not like that feeling.
“I suppose the main reason that you all came here was to see if I was still alive,” the old duke said without a trace of humor.
“Oh, no!” Lady Catherine cried out, shaking her head.
Alphonse smirked a little at his father, clearly used to this sort of thing from him. “Of course not, Father. Don’t be so maudlin. The ladies just wanted to meet you, and I wanted you to meet them because they are special friends to me.”
The duchess seemed quite taken when he said this, but Rodrick was unsure if special meant the same thing to Alphonse as it normally did when referring to friends. He likely wanted his father to meet them because Lady Noelle is to be his wife someday in th
e not-too-distant future.
Rodrick felt something stir in the pit of his stomach. He wondered if he had made a mistake in coming to Stone Hill Manor on what could be a rather important evening for Alphonse and Lady Noelle.
He didn’t wish to believe this, for the lady had seemed so pleased when she saw him there in the room. I know her for how she truly is, she told me. She hadn’t been pretending that joy at seeing me.
“Hmph,” the duke said suddenly, as if he’d been nodding off in his chair. He eyed the ladies on the couch, scrutinizing each of them in turn. “You keep attractive friends, my boy.”
Lady Catherine and her mother blushed and laughed a bit. Lady Noelle blushed along with them, but she dropped her gaze down to the floor as if she hadn’t been entirely complimented by that assessment.
Rodrick, for his part, did not like the idea of Alphonse ‘keeping’ any of them.
“Thank you, Father,” Alphonse said before clearing his throat awkwardly. “Your Grace,” he added hastily as if he had been chastised for not using this courtesy when addressing his father before. “Your approval means the world to me.”
Rodrick glanced at Lady Noelle again and saw that she was still examining the rug in the room rather than looking up at either the marquess or the duke. He wondered what she was thinking about.
Then she looked up and met his gaze. She opened her mouth a little bit and then she closed it decisively.
“Lord Drake, I think I should like to go out and get some air,” she said to Alphonse.
Now that Rodrick thought about it, she did look rather pale. He wondered if the wine had gotten to her. She was likely not used to drinking the wine.
“I’ll accompany you, my lady,” Rodrick suddenly offered, not knowing his own voice as he said it.
The others in the room stared at him. The duchess was aghast. But Alphonse waved him off, giving his nonverbal approval.
“Catherine will go with you,” the duchess commanded.
This is for the best, Rodrick thought. He really cares nothing for this poor girl, does he?
Chapter 25
Noelle was so relieved that Mr. Edwards volunteered to accompany her outside. Her hope all along was that she might be able to get a moment alone with the man. She was pleased as well that Catherine had been enlisted to accompany them instead of the duchess herself.
Together, she and Mr. Edwards strolled outside onto the duke's expansive porch, with Kitty trailing behind them rather morosely. She didn’t like having to play the chaperone. Noelle gazed briefly around the back garden of the castle, shocked to find quite a bit of lovely greenery here as well. But I certainly don't much care for the house itself, nor its inhabitants.
Noelle was grateful that her sister hung back and sat on a bench a little ways away from where they stood so that she and Mr. Edwards could speak in private. Kitty wasn’t the sort of sister who would eavesdrop, especially because she knew that Noelle would reciprocate if she did so.
Turning to face Mr. Edwards as they stood there on the porch, she gave him a grateful smile. "I thank you for coming out here with me to ensure that I was well," she said to him, hoping that he might notice the twinkle in her eye as she said it. "I couldn't stand another moment in that stifling room."
He looked back at her, raising his eyebrows. “Oh, you really did need some fresh air?” he asked, smirking a little. “I thought you might’ve been making up an excuse to get away.”
“Shh,” Noelle said, smiling widely back at him now. “Don’t let them hear you. Gosh, you really do understand me.”
She felt a tinge of sorrow as she looked at him. Mr. Edwards was so sweet and compassionate that it made her ache a little. As much as she liked him, there was no way that her family would ever approve of this match.
But at least she wouldn’t have to marry that dreadful Lord Drake. She knew that it would disappoint her mother especially, but she could not marry someone like him. There are surely other gentlemen who are worthier of my hand, she thought.
Such a thing made her feel slightly ill. Worthy of my hand indeed. What does that even mean; it shouldn’t require much to be worthy of me.
What the gentlemen’s worth was really measured by was the worth of her family. Noelle had no illusions about this. The gentleman that she would eventually marry would be marrying her for the prestige that came with marrying the eldest daughter of the Duke of Salisbury.
This is why I adore Mr. Edwards so much, she thought as she looked at him longingly. He understands all that. And he knows that I abhor it and wish that it could be another way.
Noelle realized then that it had been a long time since she’d last spoken, and she blushed a little bit. “I was hoping that I might talk with you about… Oh, about how I don’t think I could ever love that man.”
She looked down, feeling somewhat sorry for herself because she felt like a failure. The marquess might have connected with her if she hadn’t been wrong for him somehow. Perhaps I should’ve tried harder.
Mr. Edwards noticed her crestfallen expression. “Please tell me that you aren’t blaming yourself,” he said sympathetically. “If you two have not got along well, it is not your fault.”
He appeared thoughtful as he continued to gaze at her. “It takes two people to make a match,” he reflected, scratching the back of his neck as he thought through his words. “I know that he talks himself up rather well, but I’ve known Lord Drake most of my life, by this point, and I know that he isn’t always the easiest person to get along with.”
Noelle regarded him, surprised to hear such a thing from the man after Mr. Edwards had seemed like such a champion for the marquess. “Thank you for not just telling me that I’ve gone mad like so many others surely would. But I’m concerned that my mother won’t quite take that position.”
Mr. Edwards frowned a bit. “I think that it is far better that she knows that you don’t consider yourself a good match with Alfie – Lord Drake – now as opposed to later. She mustn’t want her daughter to marry someone who is ill-suited.”
Noelle sighed. It was all well and good to think that, because it made sense to her. But her mother was not quite as understanding or easy to persuade once she’d gotten an idea in her head.
“You have to understand that my mother does not waste a lot of time on feelings,” she tried to explain. “She doesn’t think that it matters if a husband and wife love each other, as long as status is upheld.”
Mr. Edwards nodded his understanding. He continued to frown and she hated to see that. She much preferred when she made him smile.
“Well, you might wish to stress upon her that it might not actually be that advantageous of a match,” he offered, but he sounded as if he knew that it was a weak suggestion even as he said it.
“What about it isn’t advantageous?” she asked him skeptically. “He’s a wealthy future duke. I cannot think of anyone with more prospects than him. His personality notwithstanding.”
Mr. Edwards looked down as if he was disappointed. Noelle hadn’t meant to hurt his feelings, but it was the truth. He surely didn’t think that he had prospects that in any way compared, did he?
“I see,” he said. “Well, I can’t say that I blame your mother for caring about such things. She wishes for you to be a great success, and for you to never want for anything. In short, she wishes for you a life like she has.”
“Yes,” Noelle agreed. “But that’s the trouble, because I don’t necessarily want a life like she has.”
Mr. Edwards looked up at her with surprise in his emerald eyes. “You don’t?” he asked her incredulously. “Not with anyone?”
She shook her head. There was no way for her to avoid eventually being matched with Lord So-and-so’s son, but it would never be what she really wanted. “I suppose I should just get used to not getting what I want; it’s been my life so far so why should it change?”
The kind gentleman looked even sadder now. She knew that there was empathy there in his eyes, because he
was affected by all of this as well. Indeed, she thought that he must have it even worse because there were fewer options for a man like him.
How many times he must have wished that his father was in his uncle’s position. Instead he is forced to live the life of an untitled gentleman. Noelle didn’t think that that had to necessarily be so bad, actually.
He was likely free to choose who he loved, what he did, who he was seen with… She knew that he did a lot to ensure that he was seen with his cousin the Viscount of Easton as well as his friend the Marquess of Fairfax, but she figured that he chose them as his companions because of genuine appreciation and not because he hoped to loom high in society.
Mr. Edwards simply did not strike her as that sort of chap.
“You never know what may happen,” he told her in a soft, soothing sort of voice. “Please don’t give up or think that you are not deserving of every happiness. If I could do something to help you—you know I would do it.”
Noelle reached over and placed a soft, gloved hand on his cheek, smiling at him with understanding and sincerity. She thought of kissing him then and blushed just for having thought it. She let her hand fall from his face wordlessly.
Mr. Edwards gazed at her in that understanding way again and, yet again, she had to wonder if he had somehow read her mind. “We ought to go back inside,” he said after some moments. “They might be missing us and wondering what became of us.”
She nodded her head in agreement. Noelle didn’t want to appear indecent, or even give off the illusion of being such. “Indeed, I hope that that scary old man has gone to bed,” she said with a small smirk.
The serious expression left Mr. Edwards’ face as well and he let out a laugh. “I hope so too,” he agreed. “I daresay our little party was getting on just fine without him.”
