How could it be that a man of such standing would ever find himself short of company? She had the sad feeling she had experienced when she had looked up at so many windows at Calder Hall and wondered how one man might feel to live alone in so great a place.
But why on earth should he be lonely? And why on earth should she think him so? And, as far as the evening went, perhaps he did not care for company when his purpose was to listen to a musical recital.
“I say, it is the Duke,” Fleur said in a sudden whisper.
“Yes, I had thought as much,” Georgina said hoping to disguise the fact that she had been secretly peering at him for some moments.
“I would not have expected to see him here,” Fleur went on thoughtfully.
“I daresay he enjoys music as much as the next person.” Georgina laughed. “But he does appear to be here alone.”
“I am not so sure, Georgina, I think he is looking for somebody. Look, he is searching the audience, I am sure of it.” Fleur began to search the audience too as if she might, quite by magic, discern who exactly it was the Duke of Calder was looking for.
Georgina, however, continued to surreptitiously study him, marking how well he looked in full black with smart boots and a white shirt. His hair was very much less controlled than it had been at the garden party, and she thought she liked it better that way. And, under the light of so many chandeliers, the soft brown gave up its curious silvery quality. It was not a grey or silver such as an old man’s might be, but something else altogether, and it really was so thick that Georgina thought she had never seen such a fine head of hair.
When he turned to look at her finally, Georgina almost gasped. He seemed to stand awkwardly for a moment, just looking over at her. And Georgina, for her part, dared not look away and make a fool of herself with some pretense that she either did not recognize him or had not even been looking at him in the first place, for it was simply ridiculous.
After the slightest hesitation, he smiled at her and nodded, and she did the same. And then, surprising her entirely, the Duke of Calder began to make his way over to where Georgina and Fleur were sitting.
“Good evening, Miss Jeffries,” the Duke said and bowed. “And Miss Allencourt, I hope you are well?” he went on, entirely surprising Fleur who had still been fully engrossed with her intention of discovering the object of the Duke’s curiosity.
“Good evening, Your Grace,” the two young women said almost in unison.
“No, please do not stand, it is not necessary,” he said hurriedly and held out a hand to insist that both women keep their seats. “I wonder if I might join you unless you have this seat saved for somebody else?”
“Of course you may join us, Your Grace,” Georgina said hurriedly when she realized quite how unsettled he seemed to be.
Fleur, for her part, remained mute. It seemed to Georgina that her cousin was almost as nervous as she had been on the first day she had met him at the garden party. Georgina did not feel the same way, greatly sensing the handsome and well-dressed young man who had just taken a seat at her side was not quite as brimming with confidence as she might have imagined a Duke to be.
As far as titles went, the most important that Georgina had ever met was an Earl, and he certainly behaved in a much grander and more arrogant manner than the Duke of Calder. In fact, Emerson Lockhart’s behaviour was altogether warmer and much more comfortable, but perhaps that was because he was a very young man for such a title; perhaps austere manners took time to grow into.
“Thank you kindly, for I think we three are the only people in attendance tonight with youth on our side.” He chuckled in a way that made Georgina laugh.
There was something a little mischievous about it as if he were a young boy making a sly comment behind his hand and hoping that the adults might not hear.
“Yes, for some reason this evening’s music does not seem to have attracted many young people,” Georgina agreed.
“I hope you are not too disappointed, Miss Jeffries,” he went on somewhat more sensibly. “I am sure that you might have preferred a much livelier crowd. Unless, of course, more sedate society might suit you a little better whilst you are convalescing.”
“I am really very much better than I was, Your Grace.”
“And were you laid low for a long time, Miss Jeffries?” he went on, and she thought it strange that the Duke should be so attentive to such details as might otherwise be considered minor to a man of his station.
“From Christmas until February really,” she began. “But I am afraid to say that my mother was determined to keep me very much indoors for some time afterwards, and I do not think it particularly contributed to my convalescence. But here I have my freedom, as you see, and I am truly as well as I have ever been.”
“I am very glad to hear it, although I do hope that your sudden burst of health does not mean that you will soon be leaving Devonshire.” He seemed a little awkward again, and something about his declaration felt strangely personal.
Strangely personal because it did not seem at all inappropriate, even though they were barely acquainted.
“As devious as it might seem, I am not yet ready to write to my mother and tell her how well I am.” Georgina smiled conspiratorially.
“Not devious at all, Miss Jeffries. I am sure that your mother would not want you to return too soon at the cost of your recovery.” He smiled with equal mischief, and she felt a sense of a bond between them.
Overall, she felt extraordinarily comfortable in his company, very much at her ease, whereas poor dear Fleur was still struggling with a few nerves and the intimidation of so great a title. But Georgina had to admit that there were moments when she was just a little tongue-tied. It was fleeting, but she was certain that it was because she thought his face so handsome and his thick mop of hair such a draw.
The chatter throughout the audience suddenly died away, and its loss was curiously startling. Georgina looked down towards the front and saw that the musicians had gathered and were ready to begin.
“I hope you enjoy the performance,” the Duke said, leaning in slightly towards her and whispering.
“Thank you, Your Grace. I hope you enjoy the performance also.” She smiled and found herself looking into his pale green eyes for a moment, the chandeliers above giving them the same silvery quality as his hair.
When the music began, it was something of a relief as Georgina could turn her attention away from the man who was such easy and such unsettling company all at once.
Chapter 6
Lady Maud Aston was an ageing widow of a minor baron in Rowley, who lived in a very splendid townhouse which was but minutes from the sea. The view was breathtaking, and Georgina could hardly tear herself away from the drawing room window which was large, no doubt intentionally so that the householder might enjoy the dramatic vista.
The landscape was not quite rugged and not quite rolling either, with just enough drama to make it interesting and just enough softness to make it appealing. The day was warm and bright, and Georgina wished that she could wander off on her own and make her way down to the seafront and smell the salt and seaweed, feel the breeze on her face and the warmth of the sun on her skin. She wanted to listen to that wonderful sound each time the sea receded a little and drew back little pebbles from the sand.
“Are you enjoying the view, Miss Jeffries?”
“Very much, Your Grace.” Georgina had not found it necessary to tear her gaze away from the view to see who was talking to her.
She had recognized his voice immediately, and she had known already that he was in the large drawing room somewhere. For when she and Fleur had arrived that afternoon for bridge, it was to find Lady Maud Aston in something of an excited and agitated state.
Lady Maud, so Fleur told her, had extended standing invitations to many fine families in and around the little town of Rowley. Naturally, the Duke’s household was extended an invite and had been for many years; it was just the way of things. And, as wa
s also the way things, no Duke had ever actually attended.
That was until that very day, the first time that Georgina herself had been in that fine townhouse. Fleur had been wide-eyed the minute Lady Maud had told her of her unexpected visitor.
“He is in the drawing room as we speak; can you imagine it? Heavens, I never did think that my little home would be so blessed.” The lady, who was well into her sixties, was pink-cheeked with excitement and breathless with fluster.
“And he has never been here before, Lady Maud?” Fleur said in a whisper as she and Georgina hurriedly removed their cloaks and handed them to the waiting butler.
“No, never. And I spoke to him so briefly at the garden party that I can hardly imagine that he has particularly sought out my company. Although, in truth, I did mention it to him at the time and reminded him that he was always welcome here.”
“Yes, of course,” Fleur said in a soothing manner as Georgina did what she could to hide her amusement.
She already liked Lady Maud, even though the two of them, under the circumstances, had enjoyed no more than the very briefest of introductions before she had spiralled into excited chatter. Georgina really did like a lady of title who did not walk through the world with a curiously blank expression as if every wonderful thing that happened was not exciting or something to be grateful for, but merely a natural right. No, Lady Maud was most certainly not a woman made in that category.
“And where is he now, Lady Maud?” Fleur said in a whisper.
“He is in the drawing room, my dear. Did I not say? Dear me, I hardly know what I am doing. I think I did say, did I not?” the elderly lady said and then took a deep and steadying breath. “But I managed to get him settled without incident, and he is taking tea with my sister-in-law, Mrs Phillips. Thankfully, Mrs Phillips is of a very different disposition to myself, a very steady and calm woman.” It was if Lady Maud was now talking to herself, and she was nodding a little vaguely as she stared into space. “Yes, a very steady and calm woman indeed.”
“My dear Lady Maud, I am sure that the Duke is very well pleased with his company. Mrs Phillips is a very nice lady, not to mention a superb bridge player, so you did very well to put the two of them together.” Fleur reached out, took Lady Maud’s hand and patted it, and Georgina felt very touched once again at the kindness her cousin seemed to show to everybody. “What do you say I take you down into the kitchen for a steadying brandy from the cook’s larder?”
“Oh yes, what a clever girl you are. After all, I should not like all present in the drawing room to see me helping myself to brandy there, should I?” Lady Maud seemed to be calming a little, and Georgina had no doubt that it was her cousin’s influence. “And I must admit, even a little cooking brandy would settle my nerves greatly at this moment.”
“Then let us make haste.” Fleur turned to look at Georgina.
“I shall be quite alright, cousin,” Georgina said confidently. “For I can already see that there is a large window in the drawing room I would be very pleased to stare out for a few minutes.” She laughed.
“I shall return as soon as possible,” Fleur whispered in Georgina’s ear before taking Lady Maud’s hand and speeding her away in the direction of the servants’ staircase.
Georgina, despite many closeted years and lonely hours, never found herself particularly nervous in social settings, and that day was no different.
She did not hesitate to make her way in through the open drawing room door to where so many bridge tables were set out, and so many people were either playing or talking. She did not feel conspicuous for being alone for a few moments but just made her way quietly to the window to enjoy the view.
She had not searched the room as she walked through for any sign of the Duke of Calder, for she already knew that he was there, and she would not have liked him to see her looking for him.
She had been at the window but a few minutes when he made his approach and, although she recognized his voice, she was surprised that he had quitted Mrs Phillips’ company so soon. Furthermore, she hoped that in doing so, poor dear Lady Maud would not be thrown into any further turmoil.
“It is a very fine view of the sea, is it not?” the Duke went on, and Georgina turned to look at him, already anticipating his thick silvery brown hair and pale eyes.
“It is a great treat for me, Your Grace,” Georgina said truthfully and realized that she was as at ease with him as she had been when the two had sat side-by-side to listen to the string quartet in the assembly rooms just a week before. “You must count yourself very lucky to have grown up in a place that is not landlocked.” She smiled at him.
“Yes, I never tire looking at the sea,” he said and turned his attention out through the window. “But I was not always here.”
“You were not?” Georgina said and immediately regretted it.
She did not wish to pry, and she instantly remembered that Fleur had said something about childhood illnesses which had kept him away from home. No doubt he would not be keen to remember such a time in his life.
“Forgive me,” she said hurriedly before he had a chance to answer her. “I had not meant to pry.”
“There is no forgiveness required, Miss Jeffries, and I did not suspect you of prying for a moment.” He turned back from the window to look at her and smiled.
It was a warm smile, if a little shy, and it rendered him even more handsome in Georgina’s opinion. But there was something else, something that she once again recognized. He must remind her of somebody, and yet she was sure she did not know another man so handsome or with such a smile.
“That is a relief, for I should not have liked to give offence, Sir.”
“You are such pleasant company, Miss Jeffries, that I cannot imagine you giving offence to anybody.” He laughed. “Unless you absolutely intended it, then I could imagine it entirely.”
“Good heavens,” she said, somewhat startled.
“Please believe me that that was not intended as an insult, Miss Jeffries. I simply mean to convey that you strike me as a woman possessed of a certain strength and confidence, one who would not lose an argument very often.”
“I am still not entirely sure that I should be flattered, Your Grace.” Highly amused, Georgina began to laugh.
“If you are not flattered, Miss Jeffries, then I must settle for your amusement.”
“Then I assure you that you have that much, Your Grace.” Still laughing, she turned to look out of the window again. “I wish I had such a view in Hertfordshire, but I do not.”
“I have some very good views of the sea from Calder Hall, but none as close as this and really only from the upper windows on the rear elevation. But Lady Maud has one of the finest views in this very window, I believe.”
“Yes, I can quite imagine. But she seems like a nice lady indeed, and I think such a nice lady deserves such a fine view,” Georgina said with warmth, thinking how the presence of the man before her had thrown that pleasant old dear into such a spin.
“I am sure that she is nice, although I think I have unsettled her a little,” he said in a whisper.
“I am afraid that you have unsettled her greatly, Your Grace.” Georgina smiled at him again. “But in a very fine way, one that the lady will never forget.”
“I was surprised, I must admit, that she was so astonished to see me here today,” he went on. “After all, she had reminded me of the standing invitation that has existed for some time when I saw her at the garden party.”
“Yes, but I suppose she had never imagined for a moment that you would choose to make use of that invitation.”
“But why not?” He looked at her with a sudden wide-eyed naivety that she found both surprising and endearing all at once.
“Well, because you are a Duke, Your Grace,” Georgina began. “And she no doubt thought that you would have many other fine engagements that you would prefer to fulfil. Trust me, it is quite a natural thing.”
“Is it really?” he said and s
till looked a little confused. “Well, I suppose it is just the sort of thing I ought to get used to.”
“Being a Duke, you mean?”
“Yes, exactly that.” His voice had grown a little vague, and his eyes drifted towards the sea once again.
“I suppose these things come in time, Your Grace,” Georgina said and wondered that he had not been better schooled in such things.
But, of course, if he had done much of his growing up away from Calder Hall, perhaps he did not find his title and position quite as natural as he might have otherwise.
“I daresay I ought to return to Mrs Phillips for a while,” he was whispering again. “She disappeared to have some more tea sent to us both, and then I saw you standing here looking out of the window.”
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