Dukes to Fall in Love With: A Historical Regency Romance Collection

by Bridget Barton

  “I do not … I mean …” Ella was taken off guard by the question.

  “What I mean, Miss Winfield, is were you instructed to keep quiet last night?”

  “I was quiet, Your Grace, and I apologize for it. I meant no offence, and I was certainly pleased to be in your company.”

  “You are avoiding my question,” he said and placed one of the little cakes squarely on the plate in front of her.

  “Yes, I am avoiding your question, Your Grace.”

  “But why? I have kept my promise, have I not?”

  “You have, and I am very grateful for it. I would not do well in that household if any one of them knew that you and I had spoken anywhere outside of Dandridge Hall.”

  “Then I would hope that you know you can trust me.” He had become suddenly very serious.

  “Of course,” she said and nodded enthusiastically. “Of course. And yes, I had been instructed to keep quiet last night. My stepfather is very determined that you concentrate only on his own daughters, and he sees every word you speak to me as being my own fault. I know that he must realise that it is irrational, but he suspects me of trying to gain your attention, and he no doubt thinks that his own daughters will lose out on account of it.”

  “But you have done nothing to attempt to gain my attention. If that is clear to me, surely it must be clear to the Earl.”

  “As I said, Your Grace, it is not particularly rational. I suppose fathers can become that way when they are seeking a good match for their …” She realised that she had gone too far.

  “You need not flush, Miss Winfield,” the Duke said and laughed again, the ease returning to his face. “You have not blundered; I think it is obvious to all that my appearance at Dandridge is no more than a matrimonial quest.”

  “Perhaps, but it is not my place to comment on it.”

  “But what is your place?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “What is your place, Miss Winfield? What is your place within that family?”

  “I do not have a place at Dandridge Hall,” Ella said, wishing that he was not quite so determined to prize the truth from her. “I am simply the daughter of the Earl’s new wife, and that is it. No, perhaps that is not it.” She stopped for a moment and realised that she was not even that well-regarded.

  “Miss Winfield?” the Duke said and seemed to lean across the table slightly towards her.

  “You saw how I was once ejected from the room, Sir,” she began, and he nodded. “And I can tell you quite truthfully that last night was the first time since that day that I have been permitted to eat with the family.”

  “I beg your pardon?” the Duke said incredulously and then looked all around him, clearly realizing that he had spoken volubly. “Do you mean to tell me that you are excluded from meals?” He looked horrified.

  “I take breakfast downstairs because I rise before the rest of the family. As for the remaining meals, I take them in my own chamber. It is not meals as such that I am excluded from, rather the society of the rest of the family at meal times.”

  “Why?”

  “Because my mother is keen to stay on the good side of her new husband.”

  “It was your mother’s idea?”

  “Since it was my mother who suggested it to me, I can only think that that is true. But, of course, she might well have been acting upon the Earl’s instruction, I do not know.”

  “That is appalling, Miss Winfield.”

  “As appalling as it is, it is the truth. But I am bound to say that I do not miss their society particularly, it is just some society if you understand?”

  “Yes, I do understand. You might not find them particularly engaging company, but they are company nonetheless.”

  “Quite so.” Ella knew that things had moved on too quickly.

  She had given away too much, and yet she could hardly have avoided it. The Duke was extraordinarily easy to speak to, even without the mask, it seemed. And he did pry, that much was true. But the idea that he pried with nothing more than warm intentions was the very thing that made his prying so successful.

  “I had no idea that things were quite as bad as all that. Why was it then that you were allowed to take dinner with the family last night?”

  “Because it would not do for the Duke of Hillington to wonder why it was a family member was missing. The Earl told me as much himself, and I am certain of it.”

  “What a dreadful way for a man to behave.”

  “It is dreadful, I agree. So dreadful, in fact, that I ought not to have mentioned it to you.”

  “Do not chastise yourself about that, Miss Winfield. I am aware of a certain persistence in my questioning of you, and so if anybody is to blame, it is me. But there ought not to be any blame at all in my opinion. When a person is suffering as you do, it is vital to be able to give voice to it. Tell me, do you have any particular friends?”

  “My circle of friends is sadly decreased since my father died and my mother re-married, and I must say that Lady Brightwell is probably the closest of them.”

  “And she knows of your circumstances?”

  “We have not been in contact greatly since my mother remarried. I have seen Lady Brightwell just once, that afternoon at bridge, and so we have had little opportunity to discuss it. But she is very kind and wise, and I know that she would listen to me without prejudice. That is why I am so cautious in my manner. That is why I am so secretive, Sir, for I should not like to be denied the right to leave the house during daylight hours. I should not like to be denied the society of people whom I actually care about, people like Lady Brightwell.”

  “Tell me, do you intend to go to bridge at Lady Brightwell’s this week?” He smiled and seemed keen to ease her embarrassment.

  “If I have a chance of it, yes.”

  “Good,” he said without explanation, leaving Ella wondering if he would again appear in Lady Brightwell’s drawing room.

  “I hope you will forgive me, Your Grace, but I do not think that I can sit here with you for very much longer. As much as I try to concentrate, I cannot help thinking that somebody who knows my stepfather might well appear in the doorway here at any moment.”

  “Well, at least eat one of the cakes and have two sips of your tea,” he said in a cajoling way. “And then I promise to release you, Miss Winfield.”

  “And you really must say nothing of all that I have told you, Your Grace. Forgive my impertinence, but it would not help me at all if you did.”

  “I understand better than ever your need for discretion, Miss Winfield, and I shall keep to it, I promise.”

  “Thank you kindly,” Ella said and quickly set about the cake in front of her, knowing that her own particular enjoyment of the moment was coming to an end.

  Chapter 18

  “Good morning, my dear,” Ariadne said, surprising Ella entirely with her early presence at the breakfast table.

  Ariadne, in keeping with the rest of the household, was ordinarily a late riser. It was a trait she had needed to keep in check when Ella’s father was still alive, for he did not hold with the idea of keeping the household servants in limbo all morning, waiting for everybody to finally rise and ultimately not finish breakfast until almost midday.

  But at Dandridge Hall, thoughtfulness towards the servants was not a common sentiment, and so it was that the staff teetered on the brink of serving breakfast from very early, when Ella arose, until the morning was over, and the rest of the family finally sat down at the table.

  “Good morning, Mama,” Ella said quietly, keeping her tone neutral.

  While she did not particularly want to greet her mother warmly, she did not want to be obviously dismissive. There was no need for an argument that morning, and she would seek to avoid one at all costs.

  “Have you eaten already?” Ariadne said, looking down at Ella’s plate.

  Ella had only thus far eaten a little bacon and some toast, but the sudden appearance of her mother had put an end to her appe
tite altogether; she knew she would not eat again until taking luncheon in her chamber.

  “Yes, I have eaten already. I will finish my tea and be on my way.” As much as she sought to avoid an argument, Ella could not resist reminding her mother of the solitary meals she was ordinarily forced to take.

  “No, no, you need not leave,” Ariadne said in a manner which suggested she was doing her daughter a great service in letting her stay. “Perhaps we could take breakfast together, my dear.” And she immediately set about loading her plate with bacon, kidneys, and tomatoes.

  “As you wish.”

  “It is so quiet at this hour, is it not?” her mother said conversationally between bites. “I think I am beginning to see why it is you rise so early.”

  “Yes, it is very quiet. Peaceful.”

  “Peaceful is the word, my dear.” Her mother gave her a conspiratorial glance before continuing. “And I must say that it is nice to eat a meal without the benefit of a full-blown argument between sisters at the table.”

  “Indeed,” Ella said shortly.

  She had been sure that her mother’s patience had been waning in respect of her new husband’s offspring, and now she was certain of it. But Ariadne had shown her very little care, and Ella begrudged the idea that she was now expected to commiserate with the woman who was at the root of her misery.

  The woman who had married again without need and had done so without thought. The woman who had treated her own daughter like one of the staff in order to appease her husband. Why on earth would she assume that Ella would be so keen to chase after any scraps thrown from her mother’s table?

  “And I must admit that I shall be somewhat relieved when the Duke finally chooses one of them. At least that will take one of them away from Dandridge and put an end to the arguments.”

  “So, you think that Dandridge will be a much more comfortable place when that happens?” Ella decided not to say anything at all about the Duke.

  It would appear that her mother was as convinced as the Earl that the man would be pleased to take either one of the young Belville women as his wife. Well, Ella was not about to dissuade her on it; she would not discuss the Duke at all.

  “Oh, I am sure of it. I must admit that their constant bickering is a drain on my energy and quite sets my teeth on edge.”

  “Then you are not quite as enamored of them as you were when we first came here, Mama?”

  “I would not say that I have ever been particularly enamored of them, my dear.”

  “Really? Because your rough treatment of me would certainly have led me to suspect otherwise.”

  “Are we to have this again, Ella? Especially when I am doing all I can to build bridges between the two of us.”

  “And why is that? Why are you suddenly so keen on my company that you would rise so early even when I know to rise early is not your custom?”

  “I suppose I do not want you to take every single meal alone,” Ariadne spoke solemnly, but Ella gave her sentiment no credit at all.

  “Then perhaps you might allow me to sit at the dinner table again?” Ella said flatly. “If you are as concerned as you say.”

  “I do not think it wise to antagonize your stepfather, Ella.” Ariadne was keeping a tight lid on her exasperation, and Ella could see it. “I think it would be better if we take one step at a time.”

  “So, was it my stepfather’s idea that I be kept away from the rest of the family? Did he instruct you to make it so?”

  “No, he did no such thing.”

  “Then it was your idea, Mama?” Ella had the upper hand, and she knew it.

  “No, it was not my idea, as you put it, it was simply a suggestion.”

  “Then it was a suggestion which seems to have taken firm root in this household, for I can hardly think that if I arrived at the dinner table this evening that I would be welcome. Or can you tell me otherwise?”

  “It is not permanent, Ella. It is just until this business of the Duke settles down, then I am sure that things will return to normal.”

  “Normal?”

  “When one of the girls is married to the Duke, and the other one is settled with some other suitor, then your stepfather will have no further worries, will he? And then I am sure that his humour will return.”

  “I must admit that I had never perceived any particular humour in him, Mama,” Ella said waspishly. “But perhaps humour is as much in the eye of the beholder as beauty is.”

  “There is no need to be clever, my dear.”

  “Why not? In this household, it is all I have left.”

  “If I had realised that you were so determined to be offensive, I would never have gone to the effort of coming down so early.”

  “Then at least it will save you the effort of doing so again, will it not?” Ella was suddenly furious.

  “All I had wanted was to have a few minutes with you, just to be ourselves again, is that too much to ask?”

  “No, it is very little,” Ella said significantly. “It is shamefully little.”

  “And what do you mean by that?”

  “Surely you cannot be happy in a house where you have to creep down early in the morning simply to be able to talk to your own daughter without fear of recrimination? Is it really so necessary for it to be such a secret?”

  As soon as Ella had finished speaking, she could see a look she barely recognised clouding her mother’s expression. For all the world, Ariadne looked as if Ella had stumbled upon the truth.

  “Perhaps it would be better if I gave up on the idea of breakfast,” Ariadne said quietly.

  “Is it true? Are you really so afraid of him that you dare not speak to your own daughter unless to instruct her on how best to keep out of everybody else’s way?”

  “I am not afraid, my dear, just very aware that we should not upset the applecart here.”

  “Here in our home, you mean? Is that not what you promised me Dandridge Hall would be once you married the Earl?”

  “And I am sure it will be, one day.” Ariadne looked suddenly tearful, and Ella, despite everything her mother had done to hurt her of late, was dismayed to find that she felt genuine pity for her. “But we must take things easily, slowly.”

  “Even our own relationship, Mama?” Ella spoke more tenderly to her mother than she had done in a very, very long time.

  She knew that things were not right, and Ronald Dandridge had made it worse without a doubt. But had they ever been close? Had Ella ever really loved the woman as a mother? Or had she loved her father so much that there was never room for Ariadne?

  “I am just trying to do what is right for both of us,” Ariadne said, and Ella’s pity began to wane just a little.

  It was clear to Ella that her mother would never own up to her part in things, however much Ella was hurt by it. But perhaps by coming down to breakfast, Ariadne was making the best effort that a woman of her nature could manage.

  Or maybe she was finding herself a little lonely and seeking solace wherever she could get it?

  Either way, Ella knew that she was in no position to turn away the hand of friendship if it was offered.

  “Perhaps I will have another cup of tea before I finish,” Ella said, effectively putting an end to the conversation and seeking to set off on a brand-new foot.

  “Yes, that would be nice,” Ariadne said, always one to take the path of least resistance.

  Whilst Ella did not trust the idea of a tentative friendship between herself and her mother, she knew that she would at least have to give it a chance.

  Chapter 19

  “Forgive my intrusion, Miss Winfield,” Violet said as she bustled into the morning room with barely a knock. “But Mr Henry Mercer is here again.” She was whispering so quietly that Ella was forced to read her lips.

  “He is here at Dandridge?” Ella whispered back.

  “He arrived just a few minutes ago, and the butler had instructions to take him straight through to the Earl’s study.”

  “It
was the Earl already in his study?”

  “Yes, I have just this minute delivered tea to them.”

  “And it was just the two of them again?”

  “Yes, Miss.”

  “Violet, are you quietly suggesting that I eavesdrop again?”

  “Yes, Miss,” Violet said and nodded vigorously.

  “Violet, you are a caution!” Ella said and laughed.

  “But Miss, what about the Duke? They might be talking about him at this very minute, and it might be something that you can help him with again.”