‘I can assure you, Miss Armitage, you will never leave your apartment looking anything but perfect.’
As Lucy luxuriated in the lemon-scented water her new maid was busy setting out the garments she thought appropriate for the afternoon. There were many gowns, spencers, pelisses, wraps, reticules and so on to choose from in her closet and many of them were not now to her taste, but had been chosen when she had no interest in her appearance.
Thomas was quiet, efficient, and in half the time Daisy had taken Lucy was ready to descend. The ensemble that had been chosen was perfect, her hair loosely arranged so that curls escaped on either side of her face, and she thought she’d rarely looked better.
‘I think you will do very well but I wish to know your given name. I refuse to call you Thomas.’
‘My name is Mary, miss, and I thank you for your confidence. I won’t let you down.’
‘If his grace appointed you then I’m sure you won’t. I’m curious as to how he was able to find you so speedily.’
‘I was personal maid to her grace.’
Lucy could hardly ask any further questions but she was agog with curiosity as to how she was now in possession of this treasure. She could be very sure that her grace would not have parted with her dresser willingly.
She could hear voices downstairs and one of them was his. She gathered her skirts and ran the rest of the way and arrived in a somewhat undignified manner at his side. Edwin had obviously been watching her precipitous entrance and reached out a steadying hand.
‘Are you rested, my love? You look quite enchanting. Are you happy with your new abigail?’ He was ignoring the presence of her parents and the others in the room.
‘I am, but we should not be talking privately. Who are the two gentlemen? Why are they in the drawing room and why are you dressed so magnificently?’ Her siblings were sitting quietly on the settle at the far end of the room accompanied by two nursemaids and a woman she didn’t know, who must be the new governess. ‘I can’t remember a time when my brother and sisters were allowed in here at this time. What is going on, dearest?’
He drew her out of the room. ‘One is a man of the cloth, another is my lawyer. We are to be married by special licence immediately.’ He paused and for a moment looked almost nervous. ‘That’s if you are willing to tie the knot so soon.’
‘I am. I cannot wait to be your wife. Why isn’t her grace here to witness this happy occasion?’
‘She is on her way to Northumbria. I’ll explain the reasons why another time. Percival is on his way to India and the matter as far as I’m concerned is closed.’
There was no need for him to elaborate. His mother had been behind the abduction. Small wonder she was now banished to the wilds of the north.
Her parents seemed hesitant to come to her so she closed the distance between them and they embraced but things were not the same between them. This was another puzzle that Edwin must solve for her when they were alone.
Things then moved so speedily she scarcely had time to take them in. The curate conducted the service, they made their responses, the register was signed and the certificate handed to her as was the custom.
She was now the Duchess of Rochester and from this moment forward he would be in control of her life. There was to be no wedding breakfast, she was given just time to say her farewells to her brother and sisters, and then she was sitting beside her new husband in her father’s carriage.
‘My head’s spinning from the speed with which everything has happened. Why the unseemly rush? Why didn’t we marry in a church with our friends and family present as normal couples do?’
She’d expected him to tell her that in the circumstances a speedy wedding was sensible as it would stop the gossip before it started. He said something else entirely.
With something resembling more a growl than anything else he lifted her onto his lap. ‘I’ve no excuse at all for not allowing you the wedding of your dreams. I couldn’t wait another night to make love to you. I’ve been beside myself these past few days, in agony with desire.’
‘Goodness me – I didn’t know gentlemen could be in pain because of…’ She didn’t finish her sentence as he silenced her with a kiss quite different from any that had gone before.
They were both breathless and she finally understood his urgency. His touch had sent fires racing around her body, she wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted from him, but she knew it involved removing all their clothes.
The carriage halted. He kicked open the door and with her still in his arms was up the steps, into the house and heading for his apartment. She clung on, her heart hammering, as eager as he to consummate the union.
*
The fact that the Duke and Duchess of Rochester didn’t emerge from his apartment for several days was noted by his staff. The announcement of their wedding appeared in The Times and all that saw it congratulated themselves on having seen the way the wind blew at the Evesham’s party.
There was no talk of abductions, ruined reputations, and if anyone noticed the absence of the Dowager Duchess of Rochester nobody commented.
I hope you enjoyed this light-hearted Regency romance. If you have the time could you please write a short review on Amazon? Reviews are so important for writers as they improve our visibility in Amazon's strange algorithms.
Fenella J Miller
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A Solitary Duke Page 17