by Fanny Finch
“How can you be so sure?” Emma thought her cousin sounded extremely confident.
“Because the Duke of Rabney told me himself.”
Emma had just pushed the last strand of hair up into her nightcap and turned to Camilla with wide eyes. “He did? What did he say? What did the Duke of Lox say?”
Camilla giggled. “Of course, it was something good about you. Yes, he said the Duke of Lox is very interested in seeing you. He says you are a lovely, stubborn young woman.” Camilla lowered her voice as if she was a man to say the last four words, lifting one finger in the air in front of her chest. “You are too hard on him and too hard on yourself.”
Camilla reached out and grasped her cousin’s arm. “Emma, you are so hot and cold with the Duke of Lox. I’ve noticed it. The Duke of Rabney has asked me about it. It confuses the Duke of Lox. Why do you do that?”
Emma blinked. “I did not realize I am hot and cold with him. I am just trying to make a good decision for my future.” She gasped. “Oh! I wanted to talk to you about Lord Carne, too.”
Camilla raised her eyebrows. “What about him?”
“I think he is interested in me this season. Perhaps it has been long enough and he is tired of looking. But it seems this season is different. He has been calling on me and insisting I spend time with him.”
“That seems strange. I did notice something the other day I thought was odd. I wish I had told you before.”
Emma frowned. “What is it, Camilla?”
“I saw your step-mother, the duchess, standing next to the tall fern in the corner by the fireplace, at the Longmill Hall party, do you remember?”
Emma nodded. The particular fern Camilla was mentioning was unmistakable, the tallest and ugliest piece of decoration the two girls had ever seen. “What did you see, Camilla?”
“She was standing alone at first, which did not surprise me but then she was approached… by Lord Carne. They had a very intense, short discussion. I was curious about it but forgot to ask you about it.”
Emma’s frown returned. “Why would the duchess and Lord Carne have any kind of discussion at all? Much less one that is intense. What happened after they spoke?”
“Lord Carne stomped away from her as if he was angry.”
“How did she look?”
Camilla thought about it for a moment. “She looked… angry.”
“That is very strange.”
They were quiet for a moment before Camilla broke the silence, saying, “Perhaps they were complimenting each other’s attire.”
The two girls laughed together. Emma got up from the dressing table chair and moved to sit next to Camilla on the bed. She took her cousin’s hands and they smiled at each other.
“Oh, Camilla, it is as I had hoped. My doubts remain but I had hoped that I would find at least one man that I could love or at least learn to love.”
“I see no reason why you will not be in love with the Duke of Lox within the week,” Camilla laughed. “He is handsome and strong and intelligent. And he adores you. I can tell.”
Emma shook her head. “I do want to love the man I marry, Camilla, and he will have to prove to me that he does not want someone to serve him.”
“You concentrate too much on the duchess’s description of you as obedient. I am sure he did not mean it the way you think he did.”
“I will give him a chance,” Emma responded, “to show me that he did not.”
Chapter 11
The next morning, Camilla and Emma were quiet as they got ready for the day. Neither would have considered themselves “morning people.” As usual, her brain was in a fog as Emma went through the motions of waking up. Her dreams had been vivid and filled with all the colors of the rainbow.
She remembered walking through a meadow filled with the brightest, most beautiful flowers she had ever seen. As she walked, she spread her hands out to her sides and brushed the tops of the flowers. They were soft and pretty, tickling the skin on the palms of her hands gently. It was not until the morning that she realized the flowers would have had to be waist-high for her to touch them.
Camilla left the room before her, mumbling that she would see her cousin downstairs in the dining hall. The good smells of breakfast filled the room as soon as Camilla opened the door. Emma smiled at herself in the mirror. It would be a good day if she made it one.
And she planned to make it one.
She went down the curving stairs, reminding her that she was in a castle. There were five floors to the castle and the bedrooms were situated on the third floor. The castle had many qualities. The upward trek was not one of them. She did not mind the walk down but she questioned the desire to walk up three stories of stairs every time you wanted to go to your room. She was happy with her second-floor room.
She giggled as she went down, her hand lightly brushing along the stonewall the way her hand had lightly touched the tops of the flowers in her dream.
Once she was at the bottom, she took a left turn and went directly to the dining hall. The smells were overwhelming now. Her stomach growled. The scent of her favorite tea mixed in with biscuits, eggs, honey-glazed baked ham… she was growing hungrier by the moment.
She pushed open the door, now fully awake and ready for company. She crossed the room to the long table, smiling at Camilla, who was already seated.
“I trust you slept well, Emma?” Lord Fielding said.
“I did, your grace. Thank you for the invitation to stay.”
“My dear, you are always welcome in our castle. You know this.”
“Yes, my lord,” Emma grinned at him.
“Camilla received a message today from Duke Christian of Rabney,” Camilla’s younger brother, Nathan, spoke up as if he was telling a forbidden secret.
Emma’s eyes darted to her cousin, who was sitting next to her blushing. Camilla turned furious eyes to her little brother. “Nathan! That was my announcement to make. You should not have said anything.”
Nathan lost his smile and looked surprised, though Emma knew what the little boy was doing. “I did not realize. I apologize.”
“But you did indeed realize, Nathan!” Camilla scolded him.
“Nathan, apologize in a sincere tone or this will not end here,” Lord Fielding said in a firm voice.
Nathan glanced at his father fearfully before turning regretful eyes to his sister. “I apologize, Camilla. It was rude of me.”
Camilla frowned and turned to Emma. As soon as their eyes met, Camilla’s lips lifted in a smile. “Yes,” she whispered enthusiastically. “He has invited the two of us to view the land he is thinking of purchasing. He says he wants a lady’s opinion! Perhaps the Duke of Lox will be there! Father is taking us, as he wants to view the property, too. And keep an eye on us.” Camilla could not contain her excitement. It made her face glow. Emma could not keep from smiling in return.
“Oh, Camilla! How wonderful! It is as if you are purchasing the land together. He wants your opinion! Oh my!”
Camilla squealed lightly under her breath and bounced a few times in her seat, making Emma and Nathan laugh.
“But now we must change after we eat. He will be here to fetch us at half past noon. We cannot go to an abandoned property in our fine dresses. We will need to wear boots and older dresses that can be ruined if need be.”
“I must say I did not think to pack an old dress in with my trunk,” Emma said with a smile. “In fact, as I recall, I did not pack a trunk. I decided to stay after the party went long.”
“Yes, I did not intend for it to be a party of that size,” the Duchess of Cooksey smiled at the girls as she spoke. “At first, I invited a few of my closest friends while the duke, Nathan, and Camilla all did the same. As time progressed, I ended up inviting what seemed to be all of London and perhaps all of England.” The Duchess of Cooksey laughed with a gentle tinkling sound. “It is a good thing the duke is a most patient man.”
The duke chuckled. “Yes, my lady, it is a good thing.”
“And you will not guess who else will accompany us on this journey, Emma.”
Emma glanced at her. “You are sure I will not guess? Because I can think of someone I believe will be accompanying us. The formidable Duke of Lox, Nigel Baldwin. Am I correct?”
Camilla grinned wide. “Of course, the Duke of Lox will be there. If you are there, he is sure to follow.”
“What is this?” the Duchess of Cooksey sounded very interested in their topic of conversation. “The Duke of Lox has taken to you, Emma?”
“I believe he has, Auntie,” she replied. “This is what Camilla has said, at least.”
Camilla spoke up quickly. “He has, Mother. He is interested in her. For some reason, she cannot seem to grasp the concept. I do not know what she can have against him. He is an honorable man in all ways, is he not?”
“I have done no business with him,” the Duchess of Cooksey responded. She looked at her husband. “Have you?”
The Duke of Cooksey shook his head. After thinking for a moment, he suddenly held up one finger and nodded. “I do know of the duke. You say the Duke of Lox? Yes, Sir Nigel Baldwin. A fine chap if you ask me, a good lad. He would be only a few years older than you, Emma, and yet he has seen so much. I knew his father, as well. Fine family. God-fearing and highly respected.”
“He has told me stories of his travels around the world,” Emma said.
The Duke of Cooksey looked as though he was remembering a pleasant memory. “Yes, I also have heard many things about his travels. He has made a name for himself among some of the top diplomats and aristocrats in the world. Even at his young age. I do hear he is destined to marry soon.”
Emma looked confused. “He is destined to be married soon? What do you mean, my lord?”
“He must marry in order to receive the entirety of his inheritance money. I believe he will lose nearly three-quarters of his income if he is not married by his 25th birthday, which is this year. This is only a rumor, mind you, my dear, and may not be true. But how fortunate for you that he is seeking a wife this season.”
Emma turned knowing eyes to Camilla.
Her initial feeling that he was hiding something was proven right. She pushed down the anger that filled her, not wanting it to show on her face.
On top of his desire for a slave-wife, the Duke of Lox was money-hungry. He would not lose his annual income for the sake of love. He would rather find a bride as quickly as possible since this was the last season he would have an opportunity to do so. And her desperation had driven her right into his arms.
She felt like a fool. She pulled her breath in and finished her food, knowing that Camilla was giving her side-glances. Her cousin knew what she thought of the Duke of Lox and his scheme to get a bride quickly. She didn’t expect Camilla to understand. She was not the one being focused on in order to keep an inheritance.
Once the food was gone and Emma’s belly was full, she pushed back her chair and was excused from the table. Camilla had left only a few minutes before and was standing at the bottom of the stairs waiting for her, a forlorn look on her pretty face.
“I am sorry, Emma,” she said as they began the walk up the curving stairs. “I did not know he was seeking a wife in order to keep an inheritance. I know how you feel about that.”
Emma nodded. “How can I judge him, Camilla?” she asked, holding back the tears that threatened to surface. “I need a husband by the end of the season to satisfy my father’s desire and I need to find one soon so that I can prevent my step-mother from making an arrangement for me with Lord Carne.”
Camilla frowned. “What is this? What have you not told me?”
Emma stared at her cousin in shock. “What do you mean? I did not tell you?”
“No, my dear, you did not tell me this. Did the duchess speak to you about it? Is she going to make plans with him? When did she say this would happen? Tell me everything.”
Emma thought about it, trying to remember if her step-mother had threatened such a thing or if her imagination had run away with her and she felt it was an imminent disaster about to happen. She blushed furiously and shook her head.
“I suppose it is all my suspicious mind, Camilla. I have seen them speaking in private and I have confirmed that his lordship is interested in courting me. If my father, God bless him, does not last till the end of the season and I have not secured a husband, I am certain my step-mother will marry me off to whomever she chooses.”
“I feel you give the duchess too much power, Emma. She will not be in charge when your father d… passes on. The dukedom will fall to Michael. Your father’s solicitors will take care of the estate and everything having to do with it until your brothers are of age.”
“While that may be true, there is little incentive to keep me around unless I am of viable marrying age. It must be this season, Camilla. It must!”
Camilla nodded. “I know your desperation. Try to keep that feeling in mind when you are dealing with the Duke of Lox. He is a good man but I fear he may be in some ways sensitive. You are stubborn and aggressive. The Duke of Lox does not strike me as the kind of man who is looking for a slave he can marry to keep his money.”
“A case could be made for it,” Emma responded, wanting desperately for the situation to be different.
“Aye, maybe,” Camilla replied. “But I do not believe it is true. I have seen him with you and with others. He is not that type of man. I can feel it.”
“You seem very familiar with the Duke of Lox, Camilla,” Emma teased. Camilla grinned.
“His closest ally is the Duke of Rabney and he is the one I spend my time with. Duke Christian speaks of Duke Baldwin often.”
“Oh?”
Camilla nodded instead of saying something. Then she grinned wide. “A lot. It is quite amazing sometimes. He tells of his friend’s adventures but rarely speaks of his own accomplishments. He is kind and gentle in tone. I believe he and the Duke of Lox are the same in many ways. The Duke of Lox, however, seems worldlier, as he has traveled extensively, while the Duke of Rabney has not.”
“Do you know how long he has been stationary?” Emma asked.
“The men docked in New York Harbor about a year and a half ago in September. According to Duke Christian, they had known each other since they were at the academy but Duke Christian did not go on his travels with him. They were separated for several years while the Duke of Lox did most of his traveling. But when he went back to his home nearly five years ago, when his father was dying, they reunited and have been inseparable ever since.”
“I was under the impression the two men were always together and always had been. They were very comfortable with each other.”
“Yes, they are good friends, according to the Duke of Rabney. They are very respectful of each other.”
The two girls had nearly reached the landing that would take them to Camilla’s room.
“I cannot bear the thought that the Duke of Lox is only pursuing you so that he will keep his inheritance.” Camilla shook her head, looking downtrodden. Emma felt just the way Camilla looked.
“It is a sad thing,” Emma said. “But I must say I knew from the beginning that something was odd about him. I have been saying all along that he was hiding something. Do you not remember me telling you that?”
“But, Emma, if you do not marry him, who will you marry? How possible is it that you might find another man by the end of the season?”
“Every season we get a few men we have not seen before,” Emma reasoned. Camilla nodded vigorously.
“Yes. And the Duke of Lox and Duke of Rabney are those men. You will need to choose from the men you have at your disposal now. I can only think of the Duke of Lox and Lord Carne.”
Emma did not bother to mention the Duke of Andryse. She would be surprised if the season did not pass with him being neither betrothed nor on his way to betrothal.
“Think of it, Emma.” They’d reached the landing and Camilla stopped her cousin with a hand on her arm. “Perh
aps the Duke of Lox is only pursuing you so that he can keep his money. He is not bad on the eyes, is he? And he shows an attraction for you.”
She tilted her head to the side and continued, “I refuse to believe he wants another servant. He wants a wife.”
“How do you know that?”
Camilla frowned stubbornly. “I just know, Emma. You are being silly. You should try to remember he is a man. They very often do not know what they are doing.”
Both girls giggled softly. Emma nodded. “That is true, Camilla.”
Camilla shook her head again. “Emma, you know I love you and you are like a sister to me. But this is just something I cannot understand. Your refusal to accept what his best friend in the world, the Duke of Rabney, says about his character astounds me.”