Ella had played at Lady Brightwell’s home for a few years, only breaking that tradition when her father had first become ill. And then, when he had died and her own period of mourning had enveloped her, Ella had not returned to the afternoons she so enjoyed in Lady Brightwell’s drawing room.
Neither her mother nor stepfather had made any objection to her excursion, likely thinking it to be a very dull affair to which they would not be keen to go. And they also likely thought that nobody of note would attend either, and so it seemed she was safe.
“Yes, they do not seem at all interested in what it is that I do with my time, which is probably a good thing.”
“At least they are not keeping you to the hall, Miss Winfield.”
“Yes, that would be the most dreadful thing.” Ella shuddered. “But I make such a nuisance of myself in the day, haunting them all like some sort of silent specter that they are only too keen to have rid of me. It is only the evenings when I will not be allowed to go anywhere.”
“Probably because they think the Duke will be there, and he will look at you more than Lady Patience and Lady Georgiana because you are more beautiful.”
“Oh Violet, you really are adorable. You say the sweetest things.”
“But it is true, Miss Winfield,” Violet said with a firmness that Ella was beginning to realize formed the basis of the tiny little maid’s nature. “It is only His Lordship’s jealousy which is at the bottom of it all.”
“But if he knew of that curious little meeting I had with the Duke that dreadful afternoon out on the grounds of the estate, he would realize that he has nothing at all to worry about. I cannot think that the Duke would be interested in a tearstained young lady who had been ousted from her own family’s afternoon tea.”
“But perhaps he is; perhaps he is interested.”
“And there is your tender, romantic heart again, Violet.” Ella smiled warmly as her maid set about twisting her hair into the thick and immaculate pleat that she was so very skilled at.
“But if he is a good man, Miss Winfield, might he not have thought that the treatment you received was very poor? And he did stop, after all. Really, I think most gentlemen would simply ride by in a situation like that, not wanting to find themselves in the middle of some family disagreement or other. There are not many that would have the courage to stop; I am sure of it.”
Violet fastened a fine gold chain around her mistress’ neck, so fine that it was only barely visible. It was one that Ella’s father had bought her many years before, and Ella had always loved it for its simplicity. It had a tiny pendant, no bigger than a little fingernail; a small piece of gold hammered into a flat heart.
It looked very well with the dusky pink gown that Violet always liked to see her mistress in. That simple piece of jewelry was just enough; no ostentation, but enough to draw the eye. Violet really was very clever at that sort of thing.
“I had not thought of it in that way, Violet, but I think you are right,” Ella said thoughtfully as she rose from the little seat at her dressing table. “I think that the Duke must have a very fine character indeed to have stopped and checked on my welfare. A very fine character.”
“I wonder if you will ever see him again, Miss Winfield.”
“I think that is very unlikely now, Violet.” Ella laughed. “If the poor unsuspecting man ever turns up at Dandridge Hall again, my stepfather will undoubtedly tell him that I am unable to come down to tea because I have broken my leg or something similar. He will not risk it again, that much is certain.”
“There, you see. He is jealous, just as I said.”
“Violet, you are my one protector on this earth.” Ella squeezed her maid’s hand. “And I thank you for it.”
“Well, William will be your protector too, Miss,” Violet said with a proud smile. “And he is very keen to help in any way he can.”
“How lucky I am to have the two of you. Just think, were it not for you and William, I would have nobody here.”
“You must not think about that. We are here, and that is what matters.” Violet straightened out Ella’s gown. “You look very nice, very nice indeed.”
“Thank you, Violet, I am nicely dressed for my afternoon of bridge, and now I am looking forward to it. I really do appreciate your every effort for me, my dear.”
“Well, you had better make your way down to your carriage, Miss Winfield, before you make me cry.” Violet chuckled, and Ella followed suit.
“Yes, I shall make my way as quietly out of the house as possible before my stepfather comes up with some reason why I might not be allowed out in the afternoons either.”
In the event, Ella did not encounter anybody as she made her way out to the smallest of her stepfather’s carriages.
She was not to be afforded any real luxury at all but laughed to herself when she thought of the night she had happily jumped up into an open cart to sit at William’s side as the two of them raced at breakneck speed out of the Duke of Hillington’s estate and away into the night. In comparison, her stepfather’s smallest carriage certainly was a luxury.
She arrived at Lady Brightwell’s country mansion to a very warm welcome indeed.
“My dear Ella, how long it has been!” Lady Constance Brightwell took both of Ella’s hands in her own. “And I have not set eyes on you since the funeral.”
“It seems like such a long time ago,” Ella said and felt the familiar stab of grief.
“And your mother’s wedding was arranged so quickly that I had not time to get to it. I do hope that you will forgive me, but I had long arranged to visit my nephew in the North, and I did not like to put him off at the last moment.”
“There is nothing to forgive, Lady Brightwell,” Ella said firmly. “For it was a hastily arranged wedding by anybody’s standards.”
“But it is a real treat for me to see you here today, my dear, and to see you looking so well. You must tell me who put that gown together for you, for I have the strongest urge to have it copied in every detail.”
“It is a firm favourite of my maid also, for she seemed always to put me in it.”
“Well, she has picked very wisely, I must say. It seems as if your new maid is so clever. Now then, do come in and let me sit you down with some tea for a while before we play. You have missed so much, and I have lots to tell you.” Lady Brightwell looped her arm through Ella’s and steered her into the drawing room.
As always, there were several tables set ready for bridge, and already there were several pairs playing. It was a familiar sight, and the room and its sounds were very comforting to her. It reminded Ella of a time when things were very different, a time when she had happily played bridge, safe in the knowledge that her home was her home, and her beloved father was there waiting for her.
How much had changed since she had last spent a happy afternoon in Lady Brightwell’s company.
“Oh look, my dear,” Lady Brightwell said as she whisked Ella through the room. “Tell me, have you ever been introduced to the Duke of Hillington?”
“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.
Dukes to Fall in Love With: A Historical Regency Romance Collection Page 37