Love Stories of Enchanting Ladies: A Historical Regency Romance Collection

by Bridget Barton

  “That would be lovely. And thank you, I know you would never turn your back on me. You have shown yourself to have more courage than the rest.”

  “And what of the Duke?” Ariadne lowered her voice to something just a shade quieter than a whisper. “Has he said any more about the whole business of, well, an heir?”

  “Not a word about it.” Eliza peered around the smart, well-appointed drawing room.

  Many acquaintances there were her own and certainly not a part of her husband’s circle of sycophants. But still, Eliza understood fully that gossip knew no bounds, and if one of the guests overheard something she said it could very easily find its way to the Duke’s ears.

  “Not even to apologize?”

  “Certainly not,” Eliza said with a scowl. “I have come to realize that he would not apologize for anything. I have been taken in a little, lulled into a false sense of safety. But I know now that I cannot trust his easier moods, for all they do is hide the angry little monster beneath. The monster who is set free when he drinks too much.”

  “Oh, my dear, you must be careful. Men who take too much strong liquor can become violent.” Ariadne was barely mouthing the words. “You must always keep your wits about you when he is in drink. I do not mean to frighten you, but I must say it in the hopes you will keep yourself safe.”

  “Thank you. And I am not afraid; I know I must hear these things.”

  “And what more do you have to tell me about the mysterious Mr Winchester?” Ariadne’s eyes had widened a little with interest.

  “Mysterious? Goodness me, he is hardly that.” Eliza laughed. “But you must pour the tea before it is too strong even for you.” Although she was still laughing, Eliza knew she was playing for time.

  In the days following her rather candid conversation with her husband’s attorney, Eliza had found herself thinking of him more and more. He really was attractive in a way that she could never have imagined he would be when the two of them had regarded one another so coolly that first day in the chapel.

  But she knew there was a little more to it than that. Beyond his irregular, surprising handsomeness, there was a feeling of safety that had come upon her more than once in his presence.

  She had thought it to be his broad build and impressive height, but she wondered if it had more to do with his calm nature and his upright bearing. Who would not feel safe in the company of a man who never cowered?

  And then there were her worries, the concerns that she had given away a little too much of herself.

  “Well? Mr Winchester? Have you spoken to him since your conversation in the morning room?” Ariadne was clearly not going to let it go.

  “I have not seen him,” Eliza said.

  The truth was that she had avoided him altogether. Although he had been a great comfort to her on the day, Eliza now felt embarrassed whenever she thought of how he had found her crying with her mother’s letter open on her lap.

  “Is he not working at Lytton Hall?”

  “He is. But I have not been in the morning room for some days,” Eliza admitted. “That is where our paths cross most regularly.”

  “And why have you not been? Had the Duke said something?”

  “No, I would be surprised if Augustus even knew I spent my mornings there. He never goes in there himself, and of late, he hardly rises before noon. He has been drinking very heavily recently, and it keeps him in bed nursing a headache more often than not.”

  “Then you have avoided Mr Winchester?”

  “Yes, I suppose I have.”

  “But why, when he would seem to be such a nice man?” Ariadne seemed curiously disappointed.

  “I fear I gave away too much on the day I received my mother’s letter. If only he had not come in at that moment, we could still be on our old footing.”

  “But your old footing was one of mutual suspicion and aloofness.”

  “Which is probably how it ought to be.”

  “You must surely trust him, though? He did not give you away to anybody, did he? You asked him to keep the matter to himself, and he did. I would say that makes him very trustworthy and a little excellent.”

  “A little excellent?” Eliza laughed. “You do say such things.”

  “I think his discretion and care most excellent,” Ariadne spoke a little in his defence.

  “Yes, I am grateful for him keeping his word. But I wonder where our acquaintance can go from here onward. I mean, I feel we have suddenly become a little too close, even though I know very little about him, and he knows very little about me. But those few moments in conversation were so unguarded as to almost be … intimate.” Eliza felt her cheeks warming and hoped Ariadne would not see her blush.

  “Yes, I suppose it is a little awkward. But it was a matter out of your control, and his also.”

  “But what purpose can there be in our continued alliance?”

  “Well, there is friendship, my dear.”

  “Do you think it appropriate that I encourage a friendship with my husband’s attorney?”

  “When you put it like that, no. But then I do not think it appropriate that an old Duke marry a young woman and expect her to be pleased about it. And so, when I put it in my own terms, yes, I think such a friendship would be highly appropriate.” Ariadne sighed.

  “You need a friend in that place, Eliza. If your maid, Nella, will not open up to you, then you must look elsewhere. And it is clear to me that Mr Winchester has offered the hand of friendship on no less than two occasions now. Occasions when you very much needed a friend.”

  “Goodness knows that is true.”

  “Do not dismiss things based on the rules. The rules are all very well, but when they have been used against you in your own life, you must not consider that bending them a little yourself is such a great crime.”

  “You are very wise, Ariadne. Very sensible.” Eliza felt suddenly relieved as if all she had really needed was the approval of her dearest friend. “I shall stop hiding myself away.”

  “Good,” Ariadne said with a smile. “That is settled.”

  “It is settled,” Eliza agreed with a light laugh.

  “So, what other news do you have for me?”

  “Nothing so very great,” Eliza mused. “Except that Augustus is hosting a large dinner tomorrow night. I am a little nervous, for I have never met so many of his friends at once. Well, I should say acquaintances rather than friends. I do not think my husband has any true friends. But I daresay I might find out something to the contrary tomorrow.”

  “You must write to me the very next morning,” Ariadne said with excitement. “I want to hear all the names, what they were wearing, and if that dreadful man has a true friend anywhere in this world. You must study them all closely, my dear, and give me a full account. Do not forget your hobby of studying people!”

  “If only for your sake, Ariadne, I shall pay very close attention.” Eliza shook her head and laughed. “Well, what do you say to another game? Do we have time?”

  “We most certainly do,” Ariadne said and looked around the room for any sign of a space at one of the tables.

  Daniel sat in his study staring down at the last batch of tenant farmer contracts and sighed. Would he never be finished this painstaking, dull task?

  Since he had not put pen to paper all afternoon, he guessed not. But he had been unable to concentrate on his work at all after seeing Eliza from his window as she made her way out to the waiting carriage.

  He understood that she had a standing engagement of some kind every Thursday, and he often saw her as she made her way out. She always looked so much lighter and younger as she set off, leaving behind all that bothered her there at Lytton Hall. Whatever that was.

  Daniel realized that he still knew so little about her. Even though they had shared those moments of what he thought of as closeness, still he did not know how she truly fared at the hall.

  For one thing, he still had no idea what had upset her when the two of them had collided i
n the hallway. It very likely was not her mother, for Eliza had not received her letter until some days later.

  What Daniel could not come to terms with was the idea that he wanted to ask her. He was sure that the Duke had upset her that day, he could just sense it somehow, but he knew it was none of his business.

  And yet, he felt as if it were.

  “This is ridiculous,” he said and picked up the uppermost paper on the pile and made some attempt to study it.

  But he read blindly, not taking in a word as his mind filled with the image of her outside his window earlier. She had looked so lovely in a pale blue gown with a narrow satin band beneath the bust and her dark hair swept up to look both neat and full at once.

  He had been able to almost read her lighter mood in her gait as she hastened to the carriage, and he thought it such a stark contrast to her misery of just days before. How keen she must have been to be away from the place if only for a few hours.

  And if only he had seen her just once in the preceding days. Daniel had passed through the morning room at midday every day since and had never once seen her there.

  At first, he had been disappointed until he realized that he was nursing a hope that the conversation, the revelations, and the moments of vulnerability, would somehow bring them closer together.

  And it was then that he realized this must stop. What good would any of it do him? And why on earth should he want to get closer to the Duchess of Lytton? She was another man’s wife, after all, and not just any man, but the man who employed him.

  If only Eliza did not interest him so. Even when he had determined to treat her coolly, he had been drawn to her; he knew it. Even that day in the chapel when he had silently registered his disapproval only to see it mirrored in her face and sent right back to him.

  Perhaps it had been her defiance then which had secured his interest, whether he liked it or not. Whatever it was, the interest was growing daily, and he found himself spending more time at his desk lost in his thoughts than working.

  With a grunt of annoyance, Daniel slammed the paper back down onto the desk. He had never been so distracted in his work before and knew it could not go on. To spend so much time at Lytton Hall was to make matters worse.

  It was time to nurture the few private clients he had begun to court and make a world for himself that existed largely outside of the Duchy. It was the only sensible move he could make, and Daniel knew it.

  But he knew it as well as he knew he would stay in the study until it came time for Eliza to return, if only to catch the merest glimpse of her.

  Chapter 10

  Eliza put a good deal of care into getting herself ready for dinner that night. Even though Augustus had been his old self, still she knew that he was not as pleasant as she had once thought him.

  Not that she had ever held any finer feelings for him, but Eliza knew that she had not always viewed him quite as she did now.

  He had previously been something of a pitiable character to her, a sad old man who had tried to convince himself that a young bride would find him appealing. And it was true that he had seemed despicable to her at times when she thought of the mode of their marriage.

  But now she viewed him as an angry bear who was dressed to look as a sheep. Better still, she knew she would do better not to provoke him in any way for Ariadne’s words had hit their mark, and she had decided to be consciously cautious from that moment on.

  And so it was that she had Nella West help her into the finest gown she owned, one of the many that the Duke had had made for her the moment she became the Duchess.

  The fabric of the gown was largely satin, a beautiful deep wine colour that suited her dark hair, eyes, and pale skin very well. The gown was nicely fitted and had short sleeves which did not puff too heavily at the shoulder. And the immaculate long white gloves she wore with it provided a dramatic contrast.

  With such fine, blemish-free skin, Eliza had no need of the lead powder, nor the powdered rose which so many other ladies used to enhance their appearance.

  But she did use a little charcoal for her eyebrows, anything to make herself look a little different, to mark out to her husband most decidedly that she had put in the effort that he was no doubt expecting.

  “Will I do, do you think?” Eliza turned to smile at Nella.

  “You look very nice, Your Grace,” Nella West said in the same noncommittal fashion she seemed always to use when speaking to her mistress.

  “Well, if I do, it is down entirely to you, my dear.” Eliza was determined to make some headway with the young woman but still could find no way in.

  She had been as pleasant and conversational as she could with her lady’s maid, but Nella’s stoic refusal to take the comfortable hand of friendship that was offered on a daily basis was beginning to make Eliza a little suspicious of her.

  There was nothing at all unpleasant about Nella, and her manners were certainly not lacking. But she seemed to be determined to remain aloof, standoffish, and Eliza wished that she could choose another maid altogether.

  In fact, if she did well at the dinner and managed to secure her husband’s approval for a while, she might even ask him if she could do just that. Perhaps another maid would be a little more open, and Eliza would have more opportunities for friendship than just Daniel Winchester.

  Eliza shook herself a little, not wanting to think about the unsettling man when she had so much else she knew she must concentrate upon. Nella looked at her curiously, but Eliza simply smiled.

  If the maid was going to withhold her confidence, Eliza was going to do just the same.

  By the time the first of the guests arrived and were greeted in the drawing room by Augustus and herself, Eliza’s nerves were beginning to settle a little. She had taken two glasses of sherry already, and she thought that the warm, comforting liquid had played a large part in making her feel better.

  But she chased away any thoughts of taking a third, not wanting to join her husband on such a slippery slope. She could see that he had foregone the sherry altogether and had decided to take brandy before dinner. Worse still, she could see their early guests noticing it too.

  As more and more guests arrived, Eliza wondered how she would study them all as she had promised Ariadne. In the end, more than twenty people arrived to take dinner with the Duke and Duchess of Lytton, and Eliza quickly formed the opinion that the vast majority of them were not very well acquainted with her husband.

  The ones who were, of course, made it all very obvious. Lady Caroline Harker, for instance, was puffed up with pride as she held court with the Duke for many minutes. It was clear from the way she looked around that she had hopes of gauging the envy of the other guests.

  And her husband was little better. Lord Harker, a Baron, was someone that Eliza recognized as having previously visited Lytton Hall, although she had only seen him from afar and had not been introduced to him at the time. But he was equally obsequious, framing his every comment for the ears of all around, showing himself in the most favourable light at all times.

  “How are you settling in here, Your Grace? I always think it must be a most daunting thing to start a new life with a new title and such different responsibilities.” The woman standing next to her was, she judged, a little older than her mother.

  “It is indeed very daunting, Lady Hanbury,” Eliza said warmly, barely remembering the woman’s name at the last minute.