by Abby Ayles
With strong, yet delicate fingers, he plucked the books out one by one, flipping through the pages and checking the covers, before deciding which one to keep or take.
Even this he did as though it was another form of art, just as when he played the pianoforte, or when he rode his giant of a stallion, Eleazar.
She soon lost sense of time, while he took his time in choosing the right book.
As minutes grew into an hour, her eyes began to droop, and, before she knew it, she was fast asleep, traveling into the word of dreams.
***
Stephen spent the entire afternoon in his study, reading. It was not until the room began to grow dark that he realized how much time had passed.
Quickly, he closed the book in his hand and rose to his feet. A quick glance at his pocket watch told him he had just enough time not to be late for dinner.
He returned to his chamber to change into suitable clothing. Thomas was by his side to help.
“You haven’t missed dinner in a week, Your Grace,” he said softly.
“Yes, it would appear so,” Stephen replied, a smile tugging at his lips.
He had known Thomas his entire life and could understand the words left unsaid.
“You also have been spending a lot of time outside your chambers, lately. It is hard not to notice that it is particularly in the company of a certain fair lady.”
“She has been here a long time, Thomas. It is only right that I should act as a proper host—eventually.”
Thomas smiled.
It wasn’t until Stephen had seen him smile some days ago that he had realized that his butler and friend had not smiled in years either.
Stephen had been sad to find that it had taken him so long to see just how deeply he had affected the lives of the people who had chosen to remain by his side in his darkest times.
Now when Thomas smiled, it gave him a kind of joy he could not very well explain. He wished that his old friend would keep smiling until the end of his days.
He had vowed that, no matter what happened, he would not return to the man he had been before Lady Judith’s arrival at Dunham. The cheer that had returned to the house would remain, even after he was gone.
“Is that all it is?” the butler asked.
“What more could it be?” Stephen countered, feigning ignorance.
“Ah … I wouldn’t know, Your Grace. It is why I was asking. Well, if you insist, I suppose it is a thing to be thankful for. You are smiling again, riding again, you’re reading again. It is as though Dunham has finally come out of its own storm. It’s certainly wonderful to see the sun again.”
Before Stephen could find the words to respond, Thomas stepped away from him to give his master’s appearance a final appraisal. As he finished, he gave a curt nod.
“You are ready to go, Your Grace.”
Stephen looked at himself in the mirror. He was pleased by the reflection that stared back at him.
“I would say I am.”
He started to leave then, and Thomas rushed to the door to hold it open for him.
Stephen stopped as he reached it, then turned to his friend.
“Thomas, thank you. For everything. I realize I do not say that often enough. You have been a great friend all these years. I do not take it for granted.”
Thomas’ eyes grew moist and Stephen feared he would make the old man cry. He had barely managed to finish the words without his voice failing him.
Thankfully, Thomas did not cry. He simply swallowed hard and said, “Seeing you smile again is all the gratitude I need. All I have done has been an honor.”
The two men stood there, looking at each other. So many words remained unsaid, but they did not need to be spoken. Not at all.
Eventually, the moment ended, and Stephen walked away.
Thomas followed closely behind, and, in no time, they reached the dining room.
He was the first to arrive. He took his seat at the end of the table and waited.
There was no use trying to prepare himself to see her. She would take his breath away, regardless.
As the clock struck six, he heard footsteps. Quickly, he shifted in his seat, squaring his shoulders, and raising his chin.
Soon, the footsteps entered the dining room, and it took all his willpower not to turn his head.
Eventually, she appeared in front of him.
Already smiling, he began to rise to greet her, but, as he looked up, he froze in his seat.
“Miss Mitchell!”
“Your Grace,” she greeted, sinking into a curtsy. He turned his head then, looking to see if Lady Judith was not far behind. She was nowhere in sight.
“Your lady wis not joining us tonight?” he asked.
“My lady? I have not seen her since noon. Why? I supposed she was with you.”
Stephen’s heart flew to his throat, and his eyes widened in alarm.
“With me? I haven’t seen her since lunch.”
Miss Mitchell’s face settled into a frown.
“Well, that is strange. I have just been to her chamber. She wasn’t there either. I know for certain she isn’t in the garden, or the atrium for that matter—she always leaves when it begins to grow dark.”
Stephen could no longer hear the maid’s words.
Lady Judith was nowhere to be found. She had gone missing!
With all thoughts of dinner forgotten, he rose to his feet.
“I want everyone in this house searching for Lady Judith. Send men to ride out into the fields. Check her chamber again, the atrium, the music room, the garden, the library! Every nook and cranny of Dunham, I want everyone searching. I want her found!”
He did not have to repeat himself. Before he finished giving the orders, everyone had begun to move about.
Fear filled him, but he did not let it cripple him. When he had not seen her all afternoon, he had assumed she was in her chamber, or with Miss Mitchell.
Goodness! What if she had ridden out into the fields and something had happened to her?
An accident? What if at that very moment, her very life was bleeding out of her, and he had locked himself in his study, believing it would be nice to give her time to herself?
No! He would not lose her too! He would not lose another person he loved!
He marched to the stables first, determined to speak with the groom.
“Roy! Where is Lady Judith?”
Roy looked so confused. “The Lady Judith? I do not know, Your Grace. I have not laid eyes upon her today. Is anything the matter?”
“She is missing. We have not yet found her anywhere. I would not put it past her to have taken a ride. Perhaps she has been met with terrible danger.”
Thomas was the one who spoke. “I would not be so quick to believe the worst, Your Grace. We must keep our thoughts hopeful.”
Hopeful. He was hopeful. Hope was all he had. It was the only reason he had not lost his wits!
“I can assure you, Your Grace, the lady did not ride today. Enora is safe in the stable. Lady Judith only rides the mare, and she wouldn’t leave without informing one of the stable hands of her whereabouts. Besides, all the horses are safely inside.”
“Well then, she must be somewhere!” he thundered. “She could not have left Dunham now, could she?”
As he said those words, he felt chill come upon him, as though he had been doused with cold water.
“Could she?” This time, his voice came out in a whisper.
“No, she wouldn’t have left. Not without Miss Mitchell, and not alone.” No. She would not have simply left him.
He felt the darkness begin to close in, but he was too weak to fight it.
The shadows appeared, and he could not look away.
Just then, he heard a voice, calling out to him in the distance.
“Your Grace! She’s been found!”
Immediately, the shadows vanished, the darkness fleeing in their wake.
He turned to see one of his servants running towards him.<
br />
The maid stopped as she reached him, taking her time to catch her breath.
“Where is she?” Stephen demanded. He had no patience.
“In the library. Sarah says she remembers taking some biscuits to her. As we speak, Amy has gone to find her.”
Stephen did not wait for her to finish. He sprinted for the library.
He found Miss Mitchell there. She looked at him and shook her head.
“She’s not here.”
Stephen looked up at the second floor, “Perhaps she is up there?”
He wasted no time ascending the stairway. His heart was still thudding wildly in his chest when he found her asleep on one of the sofas.
Suddenly, everything in his world felt right. He could finally breathe again.
Slowly, he walked over to her. He simply stood there, watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful.
“Your Grace?”
He looked up as he heard Thomas call out to him. Miss Mitchell was standing beside him and Sarah behind them.
“She’s here. She’s safe,” he replied.
It was easy to see how relieved everyone was. It was clear that Lady Judith had come to mean a lot to his entire household, not merely himself alone.
Just then, Judith stirred and woke, brows furrowed in confusion as she came to.
“Your Grace? Mr. Beauregard, Amy? Sarah? Why are you all here?”
“You fell asleep and did not appear at dinner, my lady. We all got frightened when we could not find you. Thanks to Sarah, we learned she had brought you biscuits sometime in the day.”
She covered her face as it turned red. “Oh … goodness! I’m sorry I caused all of you to worry. I did not … forgive me.”
Stephen smiled at her. “There is nothing to be forgiven, my dear. We are simply happy to see you are well. Come now, we must not let dinner go to waste.”
He gave her his arm, and she took it. Together, they walked to the dining room, the company following behind.
As Stephen fully recovered from the fears that had possessed him, one thing was certain…
He had begun to fall in love with her.
For the life of him, he could not find one reason why he should try to break that fall.
Chapter 20
Dinner passed quietly.
As they ate, Judith tried not to be mortified by the fact that she had caused everyone to worry, only to be found asleep in the library.
She could not believe that she had slept for so long. The last thing she remembered was watching the duke move about. That must have been when the wiles of sleep overcame her.
Amy had a knowing smile on her face. The servants were unusually quiet, and the duke could not seem to take his eyes off her.
He kept watching her as a mother hen would watch her chicks. As though he were afraid she might disappear, or perhaps he simply wanted to reassure himself that she was right there, in front of him.
Judith could not deny that a part of her was thrilled by his obvious concern and care. The butterflies in her belly would not cease fluttering.
Her heart seemed to have forgotten how to beat properly, humming instead, a melodious tune that sounded too much like one of love.
However, while she experienced all these beautiful feelings, she could not help but feel overly self-conscious. She found herself taking great care to lift her spoon in the right manner, to hold the cup as it should be held, to sit with her spine straight.
These would come to her easily, but under his gaze they seemed suddenly very difficult.
As she swallowed her last mouthful of food and returned the spoon to her empty plate, she breathed in relief.
Amy had long finished her meal and so had the duke. Dinner was over and she would finally be able to return to her chambers, where she would spend the entire night pondering the events of that evening.
“Did you enjoy your meal?” the duke asked, breaking the spell of silence as she dabbed at the corners of her mouth.
She waited until she was done and had returned the napkin to the table before responding.
“Hm? Yes. Absolutely. Everything was delicious, as always. Are you certain we cannot come to an agreement concerning Sarah? I would love to take her back to London with me.”
His lips curved and her heart sighed.
Smiling came more easily to him as the days passed. Yet, it was a sight she knew she would never entirely grow accustomed to.
Even in a hundred years, it would still make her heart flutter.
“I would give you anything, my lady. However, I am afraid Sarah is too much of a prized member of this household. Ask me anything else and it shall be yours in a heartbeat,” he ended, his eyes twinkling.
He was teasing her. This new side of him was thrilling to see. She could not resist encouraging it.
“Anything?” she asked coyly.
He nodded. “You have my word.”
“Then I shall ask for the cook.”
His eyes widened. “I have just said…”
“Yes, you said I could ask for anything other than Sarah. I am not asking for Sarah, I am asking for the cook,” she ended with emphasis.
As he realized her meaning, his head fell back and glorious, wondrous laughter spilled from his lips.
Judith froze, as did everyone else in the room. It was not difficult to tell that this was the first time they had heard their master laugh in a very long while.
He seemed to be oblivious to this fact. By the time he recovered, the lot of them appeared to be still in shock.
“You are very witty, my lady, that I must say. My goodness. Very well, the cook has been with me all my life. She has worked for this household since before I was born. She is family. You would not want to take her away from her family now, would you?”
Judith finally thawed.
Her lips stretched into a grin she could not help. She was filled with so much joy, merely from hearing him laugh so beautifully.
Yet, a part of her twisted with sadness. It was too wonderful a sound to have been kept buried for so long.
No more.
“Since you put it that way, I suppose it would be wicked for me to insist. Very well then, I shall ask her for some recipes. She would not deny me that, would she?”
The duke shook his head. “Sarah would deny no one anything that is in her power to give.”
“Bless her soul. Then it is settled.”
“Indeed,” he agreed.
Their gaze locked and held, and they remained that way for a long moment, seemingly forgetting the world around them as it faded to nothing.
How could she not have feelings for him?
Then she wondered why should be him. Now she knew.
It could only be him. He was special in every way. He called to her like no other.
Whatever place he had taken in her heart, it seemed, it had always been his to take. It had only been a matter of chance and time.
Perhaps, getting stranded in the middle of nowhere had not been a coincidence after all.
The rest of the world came rushing back as the servants began to move about, clearing the table.
Judith looked away first, her cheeks growing warm at the thought that everyone had seen them gazing at each other.
How much more could one embarrass herself in one night?
Just then, the duke spoke, pulling her out of her thoughts.
“It’s bright out tonight, my lady. The stars are shining in splendor and the moon is in its full glory. A lovely night for a walk, would you not say?”
Judith did not know what the skies looked like. However, if he said they were beautiful, then she would certainly love to see them.
She understood this meant more time in his presence, and the thought pleased her.
Only a moment ago, she had been thankful for dinner’s end. She found she was no longer eager to have the night end so soon.
Not after she had heard him laugh.
“Are you asking me to wal
k with you, Your Grace?” she asked.
“Yes, I believe I am. What do you say? Will you honor me with your company?”
Her cheeks grew even warmer. He considered her company an honor. How could she ever refuse?