A Lady’s Choice: A Clean & Sweet Regency Historical Romance Book

by Fimch, Fanny

  “I can say nothing to the duchess,” Emma said, tears clogging her throat. “She will not listen to me.”

  “Your father is still with us. He will listen to you.”

  “He asked me about the Duke of Lox.”

  Camilla smiled. “What did you say?”

  “I did not give him an answer. I told him I had not considered the Duke of Lox because of…”

  Camilla nodded, a look of understanding on her face. “You are thinking about Lady Christian. She did seem to be very close to him.”

  “I am surprised you noticed,” Emma grinned up at her through her tears. “I did not see you take your eyes from the Duke of Rabney for long.”

  Camilla shook her head. “I enjoyed the time I spent speaking with him. I believe that opportunity will happen much more often. However, it did not stop me from noticing her behavior. I am sure that is why they did not stay at Corning Manor to give you comfort.”

  Emma raised her eyebrows, glancing at Camilla before returning her eyes to her mud-soaked boot. She was still plucking at it mournfully, considering whether she should take it off and try to get the mud out of the inside. There was no one on the road. What were the chances she would be seen without her shoe on in public?

  She did not know if she could bear the humiliation, should someone come along and see her.

  “You told your father that they are courting?” Camilla’s voice sounded wary. Emma could see the look of doubt on her cousin’s face.

  “I told him I did not know but that it did seem so.”

  Camilla shook her head, sighing. “Oh, Emma. You are so quick to jump to these conclusions. That is not what I saw.”

  Emma narrowed her eyes. “What did you see, Camilla?”

  Camilla gave up the fight to be appropriate and sat on the ground next to Emma. “I saw a man who did not want to be near her. He did not look pleased to see her. He barely spoke to her. I got the impression he was trying to avoid her.”

  “Do you think that is true?”

  Camilla tilted her head to the side. “I would not have said it if I did not believe it. You know that I will never lie to you. You are my cousin and my friend and I dearly love you. I want you to be happy. You will not be happy if you are given to Lord Archibald in marriage. You must push for the life you want.”

  “But I am not certain the Duke of Lox is interested in…”

  “You keep saying that,” Camilla responded, shaking her head in bemusement. “How many times must I tell you to give him a chance? He has always been kind to you. He is a perfect gentleman. It would be so nice if you and I found husbands who are as close as we are. Then we will never be apart.”

  Camilla’s smile lifted Emma’s spirit. She smiled back at her. “Yes, that would be so lovely. Though we will never be apart whether our husbands are friends or not. No man will keep me from my lovely Camilla.”

  Camilla laughed and put her arms around Emma’s shoulders. “I’ll help you take off your shoe if you need me to.”

  Emma’s cheeks reddened. She pulled in a sigh. “Yes, I do need to take it off. I wish there was a stream nearby. I would like to wash it off.”

  “The only water nearby is the rainwater left over in puddles. And they are not clean.”

  The two young women laughed softly. Emma could not help being amused by the whole situation. If she were seen without her shoe on, she doubted she would live it down. It would be brought up in the many circles around London. Everyone would know of the scandal Lady Emma Wentworth caused, showing her bare feet in public.

  She might die of shame.

  But she had to take the boot off. The mud was cold and sticky and she was certain there were at least a few tiny leaves that had found their way in, poking at her soft skin painfully. She stuck her foot out, pulling the bottom of her dress up to her knee. She rolled the bottom of it so the mud would not spread any further. She watched as Camilla took the top buttons of the boot and separated them. She followed it up by unlacing the silk ribbon from the boot and loosening it. Then she pulled it off.

  Both young women reacted with dismay when pulling the boot off caused a long streak of mud to slide out, splattering them both unkindly.

  “Oh, I am so sorry, Camilla,” Emma reached out to her while at the same time slapping her muddy dress with the other hand. “I did not realize there was so much mud!”

  Camilla’s initial shock was quickly gone. She looked at Emma, shaking her head. “We are both a mess now, Emma. We cannot possibly go to town.”

  Emma giggled. “No.”

  Camilla shook her head. “I do not know what you find funny. Now I must go change, as well. We should go back to your house.”

  Emma sighed. “I suppose we should. I do not want anyone to see us in this condition.”

  “Perhaps if Lord Archibald sees you like this, he will lose interest.”

  Emma had to laugh, though it came out weak and soft. “I suppose that would be nice. I do not expect it, however.”

  Camilla grinned. “Nor do I. Come, I will take off my shoes if it makes you more comfortable.”

  “Oh no!” Emma gasped. “You will not damage the bottom of your feet because I am walking without one shoe.”

  “You will be so uncomfortable.” Camilla used several nearby leaves to brush mud away from Emma’s foot. “The duchess will be furious with you.”

  The thought made the two women look at each other with wide eyes.

  “Oh dear,” Emma said softly. “She will be furious. I must try to get in the house without her seeing or noticing.”

  “Do you think you can?”

  Emma thought about it. The house was large but there were only a few doors to go in and she was not going through a window. She had already shamed herself enough. The only remaining thing that could go wrong was if the Duke of Lox came along and saw her in the condition she was in. She was thankful he had left when he did.

  But if he had not left, she would not have left either.

  She shook her head. “I am confusing myself. Come, we must start walking. But I warn you, Camilla, if someone comes along the road, I am hiding in these woods. I would not live down the shame of being seen in public without my shoe on. I am so embarrassed.”

  “I know, Emma. I will walk with you and hide with you.”

  The two sat for just another moment before Camilla pushed herself to her feet. She brushed off her dress with her hands but it did little more than spread the tiny flecks of mud, making it even worse. She held out her dirty hand to Emma, who took it with a grateful smile.

  Camilla helped Emma to her feet. Emma stood tilted to one side as the heel on her boot had given her an extra two inches of height. Camilla scanned her.

  “Perhaps you should at least take off your other shoe. I know you do not want to hurt your feet or do any more damage to your stockings but you will not be comfortable walking with only one boot on. It could cause a permanent limp.”

  Emma gave her cousin an amused look. “I will not cause a permanent limp by walking crooked for a little while.”

  “But it might be longer than you think. We cannot go back through the woods. We must take the road. It is closer when going through the woods.”

  Emma nodded, reaching out to take Camilla’s hand. “Help me. I will take the other boot off.”

  They went through the process of taking off the other boot, not noticing two horses were approaching from behind them. Emma held up her skirt while Camilla knelt in front of her and removed the buttons and the silk ribbon that laced it up in the front. She placed one hand on Camilla’s shoulder to steady herself while Camilla pulled the boot from her foot.

  “Do you have it? Is it undone?” Emma kept up a steady stream of questions that Camilla did not answer as she removed the boot. Finally, Camilla stood up. She was now looking down at her cousin and her face turned to amusement.

  “I did not realize you were so short,” she said in a teasing voice.

  Emma snorted softly. “Camilla, y
ou have seen me without my shoes many, many times. If I am short, you are also short and it is your boots that make you taller than me.”

  They both giggled. Camilla handed the second boot to Emma. “I am not going to carry your boots for you. I am not your maid.”

  Emma’s giggle turned into laughter and she took the boot from Camilla. She moved her eyes from the boot up to Camilla’s face and froze. Camilla was looking over her shoulder, her eyes wide, a stunned look on her face.

  Her lips moved and her eyes darted to Emma’s face. Terror swept through Emma. Someone was riding up behind her. From the look on Camilla’s face, it was not going to please her. The blood drained from her face and she turned around to see who was approaching.

  She moaned when she recognized the dukes.

  “This cannot be happening,” she said softly. She felt like giving up. The one and only man who was capable of getting her out of her current situation was about to see her in the worst possible state ever.

  Regret filled her. She felt like crying again but was not going to add that to the list of things the duke would see that would shame her. It was bad enough she was covered in mud, her hair was a mess, and she had no shoes on in public.

  “Steady yourself, Emma,” Camilla hissed as the two men rode up to them. “The Duke of Lox is not a judgmental man. Perhaps he will not be cruel about this.”

  Emma pulled in a deep breath, deciding she would meet the eyes of the Duke of Lox and see for herself what he thought of her current dilemma.

  Chapter Twenty

  “Baldwin.” It was the Duke of Rabney who spotted the strange sight first. He lifted both eyebrows and strained his eyes to see if it was really two women sitting in the dirt off in the distance. The Duke of Lox looked over at him and then followed his eyes. “What do you think is happening there?”

  The Duke of Lox reacted with the same surprise as his friend. “It looks like a couple of women in trouble.”

  “They are covered in mud. How did they get so much mud on themselves?”

  “I believe we are about to find out.”

  They were quiet as they got closer.

  “What are they doing now? Is she taking off her shoe?” The Duke of Rabney gave the Duke of Lox an amused look, which the Duke of Lox returned in kind.

  “It certainly does look like it. Perhaps someone has sent their maids to town to purchase supplies and they fell in the mud?”

  The Duke of Rabney chuckled. “I certainly hope that is not what happened. Their master would have some explaining to do, sending two young women to town on foot with…” He stopped. The Duke of Lox looked at his friend, whose jaw had dropped, a look of utter shock on his face. “Baldwin. I do believe that is Lady Fielding and Lady Wentworth.”

  The Duke of Lox’s eyes darted toward the women in the distance. “It cannot be. What could they possibly be doing out here alone? Where are their horses? Why would she leave her home when her father is in such a state?”

  “You should ask her those questions when we get to them,” the Duke of Rabney replied. “Because that is most definitely Lady Fielding and Lady Wentworth. I do not mistake Lady Fielding for someone else. She is… uniquely formed.”

  The Duke of Lox knew what his friend meant. The Duke of Rabney had memorized the slender but curvy body of Lady Fielding, assessing it for its qualities. He planned to ask Lady Wentworth all those questions. It seemed such a strange and unlikely situation.

  As they got closer, the women saw them coming and the looks on their faces showed how dismayed they were to be caught that way.

  The Duke of Lox urged his horse to go a little faster and close the distance between them. Seeing Lady Wentworth in the state she was in made him want to laugh but not in a hateful way. He was very amused by the fact that she was standing in front of him, her shoes removed, one leg covered in mud, dirty dress and hands, hair disheveled.

  He tried not to smile. He did not want her to think he was laughing at her. The Duke of Rabney did not help when he mumbled under his breath, “Methinks the lady did lose her footing in a mudpuddle, would you not say?”

  The Duke of Lox choked on a chuckle, holding it in so the ladies did not hear him snickering.

  When they were a few feet away, they stopped their horses and sat staring down at the women. Emma was staring at the ground, her face as red and hot as it could be. She looked completely ashamed and appeared to be bending her knees so that less of her shoeless feet could be seen. Unfortunately, they were being only partially hidden by a dress that hung heavy with mud caking the hem.

  Camilla was looking up at the dukes, her eyes almost defiant, daring them to laugh at the situation. Her eyes were focused on the Duke of Rabney.

  The Duke of Rabney sat on his horse for less than a minute, assessing them, before sliding from the saddle. He stepped closer to Camilla, looking into her eyes.

  “Lady Fielding. I fear you and Lady Wentworth have come up on some trouble.”

  Camilla nodded, glancing down at her dirty dress. She instinctively moved closer to Emma, as if to shield her from the shame she felt. “Yes. We… we had an accident.”

  The Duke of Lox was staring at Emma, scanning her from head to toe. He followed his friend’s direction and slid from the horse, taking a step forward in Emma’s direction.

  “What are you two doing out here?” He did not mean to use a demanding voice but in the few minutes it had taken for the two men to reach the women, he had run through several scenarios in his mind that would put her in this predicament and he was now worried about her more than ever. Was she running from someone? Was she running to someone? Had she been attacked and had her horse or carriage stolen? And why was she not still at her home when her father was nearing the end of his life?

  The questions begged to roll from his tongue but he restrained himself.

  Emma still refused to look up or speak. Camilla spoke in a stilted, stammering fashion, tripping over her words.

  “We… needed to leave Corning Manor. We… were trying to reach town or find…”

  “Why did you need to leave Corning Manor?” Since Emma would not look at him, the Duke of Lox turned his eyes to Camilla.

  Camilla looked down at Emma. “Emma, tell them what is happening with you,” she whispered in an urgent voice. She pressed her hand against Emma’s elbow and squeezed it encouragingly.

  “I… we left because I… I saw Lord Archibald coming to the house and I did not wish to speak to him.”

  The Duke of Lox’s eyebrows shot up. “You left your home because he arrived?”

  “Without invitation,” Camilla added hurriedly. The Duke of Lox looked at her again.

  “Whose?”

  Both the women looked at him, confused. He stared back at them.

  “By whose invitation was he not invited?” the Duke of Lox explained. “While it may be true you did not invite him yourself, Lady Wentworth, perhaps the duke or duchess invited him.”

  Emma shook her head, a streak of courage sliding through her. “It was not my invitation. My father does not know Lord Archibald well. It may have been the duchess. Regardless of the reason for his arrival, I did not wish to see him and so I left.”

  “And where were you planning to go exactly?” Again, his voice came out sounding sterner than he intended. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the current developments. He had now seen Emma in a very compromising situation, one that many other lords would frown upon. He was also surprised that she had left her own home because of the unwanted arrival of Lord Archibald. Surely that meant the man was no competition for him.

  “I… I believe we were planning to… walk to town.”

  “You were going to walk all the way to London looking like that?” The Duke of Rabney did not hide his amusement. He smiled at Camilla. “You must be joking with us. Surely you were heading to Cooksey Castle.”

  “There is no possibility of us walking all the way to Cooksey Castle,” Camilla responded. Her lips twitched to return th
e grin the Duke of Rabney had on his face. “We were…” She glanced over at Emma, whose eyes narrowed at her cousin. “We were actually going to see if we could find the two of you gentlemen. When we decided that we may not find you still on the road, we decided to go to South London. I have a friend who lives just on the inside of the limits and we could have cleaned up there.”

  Emma’s eyebrows drew together. “I did not hear of this plan. But it does sound like a good one. We should go there now.”

  Camilla and the two men looked at Emma as if she had lost her mind. “Emma,” Camilla said incredulously. “We intended to ask the dukes for their help. Now they are here and you wish to go to my friend’s house? I am not walking there now.” She looked at the two men. “We had just decided to walk back to Corning Manor. I do not believe Emma wants to go there, so long as there is a possibility that Lord Archibald is there. She is not being rational right now.”

  The Duke of Lox shook his head. “We will help you. You may ride our horses. Do you plan to go back to Corning Manor or to South London?”

  “We cannot ride your horses, my lord.” Camilla’s face colored deeply. “You are a duke. You must not walk alongside your own horse.”

  “I will make an exception in this case, Lady Fielding,” the Duke of Lox replied. “I do believe my friend feels the same way.”

  “We must rescue you, my lady.” The Duke of Rabney bowed at the waist, holding his hand out to Camilla. When she did not take it, he looked up at her. She was holding up both her hands, which were very dirty. She had not put on any gloves when she left the house and the mud had blotched her skin. She had a silly grin on her face, one she could not resist.

  The Duke of Rabney laughed. He stepped to the side and held out his hand. “My lady, I will help you up onto the horse, with your permission.”

  Camilla looked at Emma. “Emma, we must let them help us. We are in a desperate situation right now.”