by Amelia Grey
Esmeralda’s back arched with indignation. “Was she?”
“She wanted to know if you are related to the Swifts who come from Derbyshire, and Sir Timothy Swift’s family in particular. I had to admit I didn’t ask.”
Esmeralda bristled tightly though she tried to hide it. It shouldn’t bother her that Lady Evelyn wanted to make sure she was from a family reputable enough to be employed by a duke. It was the proper thing to do after all. Still, it rankled. It may be unfair, but ever since Esmeralda’s mother had been disowned by her brother, Viscount Mayeforth, for marrying beneath her, Esmeralda had dislike for the favored few who held the livelihood of so many in their hands. Her mother had lived an impoverished life when, at the very least, she should have lived comfortably with an allowance from the viscount.
“You mean Lady Evelyn wants to make sure I didn’t come from the streets.”
The duke’s blue eyes darkened and one corner of his mouth twitched slightly. “No, Miss Swift. That’s not what she meant.”
Esmeralda wanted to say more but, thinking better of it, gave him a look that conveyed her doubt instead.
He took exception to it by saying, “That never entered her mind. She knows you were properly assessed by Miss Fortescue and that she would have never accepted anyone who wasn’t qualified in all areas.”
Perhaps Esmeralda was being too prickly and should just thank her lucky stars that his aunt was only asking about her father’s family. It was easier to answer questions about the Swift family than her mother’s. So far she’d managed to keep it to herself that her first cousin was Viscount Mayeforth. She wanted it to stay that way. She had no desire to let anyone know she had a connection to that family. And, if he was like his father, he wouldn’t want anyone to know either.
Still, she asked, “Will it be good or bad if I am related to Sir Timothy?”
He folded his arms across his wide chest. “You are a continual challenge, Miss Swift. No matter the direction of our conversation, you manage to find a way to confront me.” His gaze lingered on hers.
“Perhaps that’s because I am provoked first.”
He looked surprised. “That may be in some instances, but in this conversation that wasn’t my intention. However, it will be good if you are related to Sir Timothy.”
“In that case, the man had ten sons by three different wives over a period of thirty-five years. How could I not be related to him? Half of Derbyshire is. He was my father’s grandfather.”
The duke nodded. “And so Aunt Evelyn thought. She’ll be pleased to hear she was right.”
Stiff and on the defensive, Esmeralda asked, “Would she like for me to go for a visit with her so she can make her own assessment of me? I’m quite willing to have her question me at length about any concerns she might have.”
“Take my word for it. My aunt wants nothing more than to look you over from head to toe and test your knowledge on a number of different subjects, but she won’t be receiving you.”
“Oh,” she said, her feelings giving rise again to her previous thoughts of being put in her current place in Society.
He lowered his arms and stepped closer to her. Their eyes held steady. “Not for the reasons you are thinking.”
Esmeralda’s breathing increased. “You don’t know what I am thinking, Your Grace.”
“I do,” he said softly. “Deny it if it pleases you to do so. I won’t press the matter.”
Her breath caught in her throat, yet she managed to say, “It would do no good.”
“I’m willing to admit to that. I’m already well-acquainted with how hardheaded you are—and opinionated too.”
Her shoulders and her chin lifted. She had to be. “I’m not sure those would be considered attractive traits.”
He smiled. “I admire those qualities, Miss Swift, and they were just what I was looking for. It appears the stress of preparing two young ladies for the Season was more than Lady Evelyn’s constitution could bear. She’s come down with an extremely difficult case of the hives, welts, and most likely shingles too, according to her physician and apothecary. They have both assured me she will get better with bed rest and time. However, the unsightly rash has spread to her face, around one eye and halfway down her cheek. As you can imagine, she doesn’t want anyone outside our family and her maid seeing her.”
Esmeralda saw strain in his forehead and around the edges of his eyes. His aunt’s condition worried him. “That’s dreadful. I hope it’s not too painful for her.”
“Regrettably, it is at times. But not as bad as it could be. I’ve told her if she would just stop worrying about the twins’ Season she’d get better, but she’s been a mother to them all their lives. She finds it difficult not to worry over the simplest of things.”
“I’m sure you’re right.”
“I am, but she won’t listen to me, insisting I bring these to you.” He brushed his black cloak aside and from the pocket of his dark brown coat he withdrew a small leather packet. He handed it to her. “Since it became clear Lady Evelyn wouldn’t be well enough to attend the Season with the twins, she has been making notes for whoever would be taking her place at all the parties. After you look over this, you should be well-versed on all that she expects of you.”
The folder was heavy. There was no small amount of paper inside.
“I will do my best not to disappoint her.”
“I’ve never had any fear you would.”
Esmeralda laid the packet on the desk behind her. “Did you tell her I would be bringing my sister and Napoleon?”
“I did.”
Was that all he had to say about something so unconventional? “Was she all right with it?”
“She has no choice, Miss Swift. It is my house. But that said, I told her all that we’d discussed about the two and assured her there were no concerns about them interfering in your duties. She said as long as you do a proper job of caring for Lady Sara and Lady Vera she doesn’t care if you bring an elephant with you to the house.”
Esmeralda laughed. It amazed her that she was annoyed with him at one moment and laughing with him in the next. “You are teasing me, Your Grace.”
The duke smiled and chuckled softly. “The twins were only weeks old when Lady Evelyn came to live with us to care for them. Since that time her only goal in life has been to see to it that Sara and Vera each make a good match. She would like to see that happen in their first Season. After they are wed, she will consider her obligation to my father fulfilled and so will I.”
“And now she has to miss the Season. That must be very hard for her to accept.”
“It is, but as most of us have found out, life doesn’t always turn out the way we want it to.”
“I will attest to that, Your Grace. Though sometimes fate allows us choices and we must make good ones.”
With what looked like a nod of reluctance, he answered, “I wish I had learned that a little earlier in life, Miss Swift. It could have saved me a lot of difficulty.”
“That can probably be said by all of us.” She let her gaze briefly scan up and down his face before settling on his gorgeous blue eyes. “There’s an old adage that makes regrets a little easier to bear.”
“I’m not certain that’s true, but which one were you thinking about?”
“Better late than never.”
He gave her a rueful smile. “Ah. You are clever to recall that one.”
“I am practical.”
“And that should serve you well in my house. If you have questions, we will look into them when you arrive in Mayfair. Now, I’ll take my leave so you can continue with your reading.”
Without further words, the duke picked up his hat from the chair, turned, and strode out.
Esmeralda walked back to the fireplace. It wasn’t what she wanted, but there was no denying the duke fascinated her. Despite all efforts for it not to happen. Her mind immediately went back to her earlier fantasy of kissing the duke. She liked the way it made her feel inside when she thought about wh
at it would be like to have his lips pressed against hers, exchanging breaths and sighs.
She wondered if his arms would be as strong as they looked, his chest as hard and muscular as it appeared. Which of the womanly feelings that he had awakened inside her would she experience if she was wrapped in his capable arms, held firmly against that broad chest with his lips pressed so lightly upon hers? Would it be the tingling sensation that skipped along her breasts, the warm tightening low in her abdomen that reached all the way down to the core of her womanhood, or would it only be that elusive, magical, and breathless stirring that made her legs go weak and her body tremble?
“What did it matter?” she whispered to herself.
She would never know and shouldn’t even want to know. She was not a part of his social world now and never would be again. Maybe, if her life had been different, if she had been a debutante rather than a chaperone there might have been a chance for her to try to win the duke’s favor and receive that kiss she desired.
Even then, capturing the heart of such a magnificent duke would have probably only been a dream.
A thrilling dream.
My Dear Readers:
I’ve heard it’s never a good thing when a young rake’s wicked ways come back to haunt him. But let’s ask the Duke of Griffin, one of the notorious Rakes of St. James, shall we? With the Season less than a week away it appears all of London Society is in a twitter. While the duke is still trying to live down the ill-fated wager he made years ago, rumors have started swirling around Town that the chickens have finally come home to roost for the embattled duke. And it just may be his twin sisters, Lady Sara and Lady Vera, who bear the brunt of his past misdeeds.
MISS HONORA TRUTH’S WEEKLY SCANDAL SHEET
Chapter 9
Do be patient in all things. There’s a reason “patience” is called a virtue.
MISS MAMIE FORTESCUE’S DO’S AND DON’TS FOR CHAPERONES, GOVERNESSES, TUTORS, AND NURSES
Esmeralda didn’t mind sitting as long as she had something else to occupy her while she was doing it. Which unfortunately she didn’t. No needlework to stitch, no book to read, no foolscap or quill and ink for writing. Just waiting.
And more waiting.
By the hands on the fancy brass clock sitting on an elaborately carved and perfectly decorated side table she knew she’d been at the duke’s house for more than an hour now. It shouldn’t surprise her that he had left her sitting tight. He was a duke after all and she just a lowly worker. However, the master of the house’s tardiness was about to get the best of her usually good disposition.
She, Josephine, Napoleon, and a large overstuffed trunk had been picked up by a handsomely dressed driver wearing a dark red coat trimmed with black braid and shiny brass buttons running up the front panel and cuffs of his sleeves. The carriage was a sleek, black-lacquered barouche with the Duke of Griffin’s seal painted in red on the sides of the doors. Josephine had never ridden in anything as ornate as the coach, and she kept saying she felt as if she were a princess. Esmeralda hated to admit it to herself, but she felt a wee bit like a princess too, despite the fact she thought the lavish conveyance much too grand a ride for a mere chaperone, a girl, and a dog.
Sparks, the tall, portly butler with thinning gray hair and a stern expression on his flat, round face, had met them at the door and had immediately taken charge of the luggage, Josephine, and Napoleon. He’d shown Esmeralda to the drawing room and told her to wait there for the duke, who would be joining her shortly.
That’s where she still sat. Twiddling her thumbs, crossing one foot over the other and back again, rearranging her reticule, pressing the wrinkles out of her gloves, and anything else she could think to do to keep from getting up and snooping around the beautifully appointed room. There were grand paintings on the walls, exquisite figurines on the tables, and large Asian-inspired urns and sculptures of Greek gods and goddesses placed around the room.
Apparently the duke’s idea of “shortly” was longer than hers. Or perhaps the butler never got around to alerting the master of the house that she’d arrived. Whatever the reason for his delay, it didn’t really matter—waiting was a tedious position to be in.
It didn’t help her impatience that she was eager to talk to His Grace. Just yesterday she’d read in Miss Honora Truth’s latest gossip sheet that Lady Sara and Lady Vera may be set upon by some unscrupulous men in an effort to get even with the duke for an astonishing prank he and his friends pulled off many Seasons ago. She couldn’t help but wonder if he’d known that danger was lurking when he’d asked her to step into his aunt’s slippers and chaperone the twins.
If he had, why hadn’t he mentioned it? And was there more she needed to know before the first ball?
Esmeralda touched the lace that covered her hair. She’d already checked it twice since removing her bonnet when she arrived. It seemed to be in place. Checking it gave her something to do.
A fleck of white lint on the skirt of her new dress caught her attention and she quickly brushed it away. While the fabric and cut of the dark gray, lightweight wool wasn’t of the finest quality available, it was more than acceptable for Esmeralda’s position as a chaperone. The pale gray cuffs and satin band at the high waist gave the dress a bit of fashion flare without stepping over the line and into extravagance. She ran her gloved hand up and down her sleeve a couple of times. She’d forgotten how lovely it felt to wear fine clothing. That was another reason to be grateful the duke, no matter how arrogant, had walked into Miss Fortescue’s employment agency rather than another’s.
She’d studied all the notes Lady Evelyn had sent to her, and felt she’d have no difficulty following her instructions—once she could put faces to all the names. There were five young bachelors that Lady Evelyn was especially interested in for the twins and there were several that she didn’t want them to consider or to spend time with at all. Two of the latter were the duke’s friends, the Duke of Hawksthorn and the Duke of Rathburne and part of the trio called the “Rakes of St. James.” That made Esmeralda smile. She couldn’t help but wonder if the duke knew that his aunt wanted the twins to avoid those two gentlemen at all parties.
Just when she thought she couldn’t bear to sit for one more second and would have to get up and stretch her back and legs, she heard a noise coming from the front of the house. She looked expectantly toward the doorway. Someone was humming. She couldn’t make out the whispered words but it was clearly a feminine voice and not the duke or his butler. A floorboard creaked and then another.
Esmeralda kept her gaze glued to the entranceway. Moments later, a tall willowy young lady with shiny brown hair and a pleasing face walked into the room. She came to an abrupt halt when she saw Esmeralda.
“Oh,” the young lady said. “I didn’t know anyone was in here.” Her fan-shaped brows drew closer together for a second and then arched up in wonderment.
There was no mistaking that she was one of the duke’s sisters. Not only were her eyes the same sparkling shade of blue as her brother’s, but she carried herself with the same commanding presence as the duke. She wore a simple morning dress that was far from simple. It was exquisite. The fabric was superb quality. The detail of the stitching along the sash at her waist and the band at the sleeves was sewn by someone with a steady hand and a sharp eye.
Esmeralda rose. “I’m sorry I startled you.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said, though it was obviously not the case. “Who are you?”
“I’m Miss Esmeralda Swift,” she said calmly, though for some reason she had a death grip on the drawstrings of her reticule as she curtsied. She hadn’t expected to be nervous, but suddenly she was.
That would never do. One of Miss Fortescue’s golden rules was “Don’t show you are nervous.” She slowly loosened her hold on the braided cord and relaxed her breathing.
A smile brightened the young lady’s face. “How lovely of you to come calling on us. We haven’t had any visitors since we’ve been in Town, bu
t of course we’ve only been here a week.” She strolled farther into the room. “Auntie Eve said we shouldn’t seek anyone out.” She sighed and then gave Esmeralda a most pleasing smile. “We must wait for them to call on us, and now you have.”
Esmeralda wondered if perhaps the young lady had misunderstood her name so she said again, “I’m Miss Swift.”
The friendly smile stayed on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry, Miss Swift. I forgot to introduce myself to you. I’m Lady Sara. I’m so glad you stopped by today. My sister and I are eager to get to know some young ladies and start our Season.”
Lady Sara didn’t recognize Esmeralda as her new chaperone. That put Esmeralda in a quandary. Why? Did it mean the duke hadn’t told his sisters about her? Or that she was coming this morning to start her position as their chaperone? If she was correct, Esmeralda didn’t know if she was horrified or amused by his failure to do so.
“Please sit back down. I’ll arrange for some refreshments to be brought in while we visit. It will only take a moment to tell Sparks and then I’ll be right back.”
“No, no, Lady Sara. Please don’t go to that trouble.”
“But I must,” she beamed. “My goodness, it’s no trouble at all. It may be a little early in the day for a social visit, but I don’t mind you bending the rules. I think most of them are stuffy anyway, don’t you? But never mind that now, you’re our first caller to stop by and welcome us to London. I’ve been absolutely famished for a guest. I adore my sister and my aunt but I’ve been dying to meet someone else, so I’m certainly going to treat you properly. Now sit back down.”
“But you see, I’m not here just for a visit.” She paused, not knowing exactly what she should say. Where was the duke? “There are other reasons I’m here.”
“How wonderful. I look forward to hearing what they are. Now, please do make yourself comfortable. Go ahead, I insist.”
“Sara,” another female voice called from the front of the house. “Did you find the book for me?”
“I haven’t found it,” Lady Sara answered, walking over to the door way and looking out. She motioned to someone. “Come into the drawing room.” Lady Sara looked back at Esmeralda. “It’s Lady Vera. I know you want to visit with her too. She will be as pleased as I am that you dropped by to introduce yourself to us.”