The remark was not lost on the man and his smirk faded. He stared at Rose as if seeing her for the first time.
“I daresay, you have also made yourself quite comfortable inside Rosecliff, Mrs. Parsons. I know that the late duke was much more liberal in his views but I am sure you will find the new duke is more conservative in his thinking.”
Rose almost laughed aloud at the notion that Nicholas was not a spitting image of his father, but she saw that Balfour seemed to believe what he was saying.
“I am sure that the 6th Duke of Buford will run matters precisely as he sees best, both inside Rosecliff and out,” Rose answered, a strange pang in her heart.
She knew that Captain Balfour had been spending an inordinate amount of time with Nicholas, but she could not imagine him swaying Nicholas’ sense of righteousness. From what Rose had gleaned, Nicholas did not much care for the man, especially since he had been one of the men to leave Duke Grayson Buford to die.
He is attempting to intimidate me, Rose realized, holding his gaze. For what cause? Does he regard me as a threat to him somehow?
“Perhaps I can see Lord Arlington now,” the captain said suddenly, the faux smile relighting his lips. “It will only be for a short time.”
Rose smiled frigidly.
“Oh, I would like to permit that, Captain Balfour but as you say, Duke Buford is not as liberal as his father. I do not wish to jeopardize my position by allowing lessons to be cut short.”
Their eyes locked again and the anger in Balfour’s eyes was unmistakable.
“As you wish, Mrs. Parsons,” he said shortly.
“Her name is Miss Rose!” Harry called, speaking for the first time since Balfour’s untimely arrival. The captain turned slowly and Rose felt her blood run cold as bemusement lit his face.
“Miss Rose?” he repeated. “Is there some shame in keeping your deceased husband’s name, Mrs. Parsons? As I recall, Philip was an honorable man and cared very deeply for you. He spoke of you often on the sea.”
The query was meant to sting and it did, an image of her beloved Philip in her mind instantly.
“Of course not,” she replied evenly. “It is common for a governess to be referred to in such a fashion.”
“Only an unmarried one. Or perhaps you consider yourself available for courtship again?”
Heat shot through her face and she gaped at him in disbelief.
He is determined to make you his nemesis but why? What benefit could that possibly have? Or perhaps he is simply miserable to all whom he encounters.
“Captain Balfour, if there is nothing else, I must earn my keep,” she told him coldly.
“Forgive me for keeping you. Lord Arlington, I look forward to our discussion.”
The captain disappeared into the attic and Rose whirled to stare at Harry.
“Thank you, Miss Rose,” the boy exhaled in a breathless gasp. “I – I – thank you!”
“What is the meaning of that?” she demanded. “What has he to speak to you about?”
Harry hung his head.
“I haven’t any idea,” he mumbled but Rose could see he was not being truthful.
“Harry–”
“Please, Miss Rose, I do not wish to discuss it,” he pleaded and Rose reluctantly nodded. There was no point in forcing the child to speak. He was clearly afraid and forcing the issue was not going to bring him any peace.
He will talk when he is ready. In the interim, I must tell Nicholas what I have witnessed. Do we have something to fear from Captain Balfour also?
Chapter 24
“Nicholas, my word, you must get to sleep!”
He glanced up, his eyes bleary from the notes he was reading in the dying flicker of the candles on the desk.
“I have an interview with – “
“Nicholas, there will always be interviews, conferences and events to attend,” his mother sighed, stepping inside the study and closing the door behind her. “You must arrange time for your family and home. Moreover, you must account for sleep! You will do no good to anyone should you fall ill.”
“Mother, I do not know how you say that with such nonchalance. It is not as if I was properly trained in any of this. I am up to my eyes in legal jargon and town plans. I haven’t any idea what half of it means and – “
“Nicholas, look at me!”
The duchess’ voice was stern, and Nicholas grunted, flopping back in his chair as if he was a child about to be reprimanded.
“I am looking, Mother. What is it?”
“Darling, I know you are concerned and overwhelmed but I assure you, no man is ever prepared for dukedom. Your father certainly was not.”
Nicholas tensed at the mention of the man, an image of his dead body filling his mind.
Will I ever think of anything else again when I hear father’s name, it will always be the dead man I carried home in the eye of a snowstorm?
“I am nothing like father was,” Nicholas muttered, lowering his eyes back to the papers meaningfully. He hoped his mother would take the not-so-subtle hint and retire for the night.
“You are more like him than you care to believe,” she replied softly, gliding across the floor, a long velvet robe enveloped over her robust frame.
“As you say, mother.”
His exasperation was mounting and while he knew it had nothing to do with her, she was currently the only person in his way.
There is too much to do, too many interviews to be had. How did father manage? Tis insurmountable.
“Nicholas, you must heed what I am saying,” Duchess Buford insisted. “You will do no one any good if you work yourself into an early grave. There is a reason I have asked Captain Balfour to stay at Rosecliff.”
The new duke glanced up, his back tensing slightly at the mention of Balfour’s name.
“I daresay, whatever the reason, he has more than overstayed his welcome. I was about to ask him to leave on the morrow. I feel that his presence is like an umbra in Rosecliff.”
“You will not ask him to do any such thing,” she replied sharply. “Moreover, you must admit that the only one who finds his presence dark is you. You must let go of your anger. It is misguided. What happened to your father was a terrible misfortune but – “
“I know it was, Mother!” Nicholas snapped, not wanting to discuss it a moment longer. “I fail to see how Captain Balfour’s presence here benefits any one in spite of the circumstances surrounding father’s death.”
“Are you denying that he has been useful in these past months? He and Peter have met with half the families in East Anglia on your behalf. They are working together to ensure that the transition is smooth, and you are not overworked in the process.”
Nicholas snorted but he did not reply. The duchess was not wrong. Peter Alderson and Daniel Balfour had both done more than necessary while everyone else seemed to have faded into the background without so much as a thank-you note.
Tis their guilt which guides them, Nicholas thought at first but eventually he had come to terms with the fact that without the assistance of both Balfour and Peter he would be much worse off.
He knew his mother had asked Balfour to stay, a fact which the captain had smugly presented to him at first opportunity. Nicholas did not care for the man, but he needed to put his personal feelings aside for the good of Buford.
That is what father would expect of me, he thought grimly.
“Nicholas, you are my only child and I care for you,” the duchess sighed. “But you have a streak of pride which will be your folly.”
“All right, Mother,” Nicholas sighed. “I accept Captain Balfour’s assistance but only for a short time longer. I believe I am getting a handle on affairs now.”
“As you wish. You are the duke.”
She offered him a warm smile, but the words did not inspire the confidence she had hoped when she had spoken.
I will never be the duke my father was, no matter how long Captain Balfour stays.
“Good ni
ght, darling,” Duchess Buford said, turning toward the doorway. “I will see you on the morrow.”
“Mother?”
“Yes, Nicholas?”
“How are the children faring in the wake of all this?”
His mother inhaled tiredly and shook her head gravely.
“As well as can be expected. They have lost so many people and they are but children. Betsey spends much of her time running amok with the servant’s children, getting into fist fights. And Harry…”
“What of Harry?”
“He seems to have closed himself from the world as of late.”
“What has Rose said regarding this?”
“Nothing. She has not come to me about it, but I would be blind not to see what is happening beneath my very nose. If he becomes incorrigible, I am certain she will discuss it with me.”
Nicholas eyed his mother worriedly.
“I will speak with the children,” he announced. “They cannot mope about. It is unhealthy for everyone and Rose cannot handle insubordination in silence.”
“You have enough with which to trouble yourself. The household is my responsibility, particularly now that Peter is at your beck and call.”
“Mother, please ensure they are well. If anything were to happen to them…”
“Nothing will happen to them,” Duchess Buford insisted. A slow smile formed on her thin lips.
“Nor will anything become of your Rose.”
“Mother, I haven’t any idea what you are implying.”
“I imply nothing. I comment on your address of Harry’s governess.”
Nicholas’ head jerked up and he looked at his mother in surprise. He had not realized that he had spoken so casually in front of her.
He had been so consumed with work and coping with the abrupt death, Nicholas had so few opportunities to see Rose or the children. Yet that did not mean he did not think about them frequently throughout his hectic days.
He never forgot the promise Rose had sworn on the stoop of the manor. She had vowed to help him deal with the death but there had been no chance to grieve.
I am a duke now. I will not have the time to pursue Rose, to steal glances of her in the halls of Rosecliff. All has changed and yet I feel closer to her than I ever have before.
Was it because of their common loss? Was it because he had seen the terror in her face that night and the relief to see him return, unharmed? Nicholas could not say for certain.
“I only jest with you, Nicholas,” the duchess sighed. “I daresay you have lost your charms with this unyielding stress consuming you. You must heed my advice and pace yourself accordingly. It does Buford no benefit should you fall ill, does it?”
The question was rhetorical, and the duchess smiled to take the sting from her words.
“I suggest you make time to speak with the children and Miss Rose but not of death and sadness. Before all this struck, there was a closeness forming between you.”
Nicholas swallowed his denial, noting the knowing look in his mother’s eyes.
She is aware of much more than she shows, he realized and with a newfound respect, he found himself nodding in agreement.
“All right, Mother,” he replied, a small smile of his own forming on his lips. “I will heed your advice.”
“Good. I will have Theodore turn down your bed and warm the hearth.”
He stared after her for a long moment, rubbing his hand over the fresh whiskers growing on his face.
God has administered a devastating blow upon the Framptons but we will prevail. Mother has enlisted the aid of good men and I must use them to my benefit.
A knock on the study door startled him.
“Enter.”
“Duke Buford,” Captain Balfour said, poking his head through the doorway nervously.
“Captain. What is it at this hour?”
“A word, Your Grace?”
“Tis about all I have time for,” Nicholas muttered, unhappy at yet another distraction.
“Your Grace,” Balfour said hesitatingly. “I feel as if we should start afresh.”
“I haven’t a clue what you mean, Captain and I am quite busy.”
“Of course. Your Grace, I have been known for my rather crass mouth and I daresay, I oft cross a line. I blame the years on the sea, mucking about with brash men in deplorable circumstances – ”
“Balfour, is there a purpose to this?” Nicholas demanded. “I do not mean to be crass myself but I have much to do.”
“Indeed, Your Grace. Duke Buford, I have come to beg your forgiveness for anything I may have said or done in the past which you may consider distasteful.”
Nicholas blinked at the unexpected words.
“Beg my forgiveness?”
“I realize that it has been months but there has never been an ideal time to present myself in the aftermath of the late duke’s passing…”
Nicholas studied the captain’s broad boned face, cocking his head to the side, perplexed. It was true that since his father’s passing, Captain Balfour had not been nearly as insufferable as Nicholas had originally found but that did not mean the new duke trusted in the man. The last expectation he had was that Balfour would ask for leniency.
Has my mother something to do with this?
Nicholas hoped that was not so. He could not imagine a more humiliating idea than Balfour apologizing on his mother’s orders.
“May I ask why the change of demeanor?”
“Your Grace, if I may speak frankly,” Balfour said quietly, bowing his head slightly as if to show embarrassment.
“You always have, Captain. Why should you stop now?”
He cleared his throat nervously.
“Tis not my finest moment, Your Grace, but your father did, as some of the party treat you more gruffly than our stations permit. He claimed it was for your own good. I did not inquire as it was not my place. In truth, Your Grace, I am not a cruel or rude man. It did go quite against my nature.”
As I suspected, father had something to do with it.
It made good sense and Nicholas suddenly felt relieved. He had been carrying around a heavy burden, loathing Daniel Balfour for myriad reasons but his doubts were being stripped away.
Just as Rose holds ill will toward him for something beyond his control, I have done the same.
“Think nothing of it, Captain Balfour,” Nicholas replied, rising. “I have already forsaken that part of our relationship.”
“I am glad to hear it, Your Grace,” Balfour exhaled, a small smile forming on his lips. “I look forward to working with you and advising you to the best of my ability, Duke Buford.”
Nicholas nodded and dismissed him, slowly rising from the heavy writing desk, his hands gripping the wood tightly. Looking down at his knuckles, he released a hot stream of breath and closed his eyes.
I am Nicholas, 6th Duke of Buford. Like my father before me, I will rule this region with pride and good men. I will see the 5th Duke of Buford proud, may he rest in peace.
Chapter 25
The insomnia had taken a turn for the worse, keeping Rose awake well into the wee hours of the morning, tossing about her bed.
There were so many thoughts flittering through her mind, each more daunting than the last and she feared that she would lose grips on her wits. The governess desperately wished that the Boyles were near, the desire to speak with them unbearable, particularly on those eves where sleep eluded.
Of course, she wrote letters and as springtime tried to break through the seemingly endless cold in Buford, she wondered if the warmth of the season would alleviate the heaviness which loomed over Rosecliff.
Rosecliff. I had never given much thought to the name of the manor, yet it is quite fitting, is it not? I have felt as if I have been dangling from a ledge since the 5th duke has passed. Possibly before. There is so much which weighs on me in this place and yet so much which draws me. I am in a perpetual state of confusion.
Rose had forsaken the idea of encounteri
ng Nicholas in the darkened halls of the estate house. It was clear that his life was not the same as it had been before and whatever clandestine encounters they had managed in the past were precisely that—of the past.
Still, that did not stop Rose from gliding through the sleeping walls of Rosecliff when she was unable to sleep, hoping to ease her mind. Warm milk was no longer a remedy for her wakeful nights.
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