Page 102 of The Duchess' Replacement

Sarah watched as a blush blossomed on her sister’s cheeks. She got caught up in their moment she didn’t realize she was still stirring her tea until the spoon hit the cup.

Eleanor and Derek both looked to Sarah, it was if they had forgotten she was in the room.

Sarah couldn’t blame them. If Charles looked at her the same way Derek looked at Eleanor, she wouldn’t look anywhere else.

“Please excuse us, Sarah. We’re being rude.” Eleanor offered.

Sarah waved her off. “Nonsense. I find it endearing. I only hope to have the same one day.”

Eleanor’s eyes flashed to Derek’s.

“About that. Now that it has been a few days, have you given any thought as to your next steps?” Eleanor’s voice was tender, which Sarah appreciated. It made up for the lack of understanding written on Derek’s face.

Sarah blew out a breath. “I honestly don’t know what to do, Eleanor. Every time I begin to think about it I end up crying.”

As soon as the words left her mouth the familiar tremble began in her lower lip.

“I wish he wasn’t so closed off. Or at least if he was completely closed off, I wish he wouldn’t give me glimpses of what it could be like.” Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose to stem the flow of tears that threatened to fall.

“I think that is the worst. When he smiles, or tells me a story, or the day we had the picnic by the lake? He was so carefree then. It was lovely and it gave me hope. Then he had to go and ruin it by shutting me out when his sister got upset at those boys.”

Sarah blinked a few times and only after she was sure the tears would stay put did she open her eyes.

“What happened with his sister?” Eleanor asked.

Sarah shrugged. “I’m not even sure myself. She had gone off to pick some flowers and before you know it, she’s back crying. I’m assuming she ran into some boys from the village who said something distasteful to her but what, I wouldn’t know.” Sarah sat up, anger was quickly taking over despair.

“No, it’s that I don’t know, it’s that I’m not allowed to know. I tried being there, for both of them, but they pushed me out. Him more so than her.”

Eleanor took a sip of tea. “How odd. I wonder why he would do something like that. And you said he wasn’t friendly with the townspeople?”

Derek snorted. “I don’t blame him there.”

Eleanor and Sarah both looked to Derek in earnest.

“Care to elaborate?” Eleanor prodded.

Derek looked at both women. “Oh, well, I mean, after how they treated his mother, I’m not sure I would not go out of my way to bend to their needs.”

Sarah leaned onto the table. Anticipation rushed through her mind like waves crashing against the shore. She shook her head to clear the chaos that was swirling around her.

“What do you mean, how they treated his mother?” Sarah held her breath, she didn’t want to risk the sound of her breath distracting her from Derek would say next.

“Oh,” Eleanor exclaimed. “You know, I do remember hearing something about his family now that you said that. I remember Mama and Papa talking about it when he got sick.”

Sarah’s patience had reached its end point. “Will someone tell me what happened with is mother?”

Eleanor’s eyes widened at her sister’s outburst, while Derek merely raised a bored eyebrow in her direction.

“I remember Mama saying that the Dowager Duchess had lost her husband and just over a year later gave birth to a healthy baby girl. But, due to timing, there is no way she could have been the late Duke’s. So…” Eleanor’s words trailed off when she looked to Sarah.

Sarah could feel all the color drain from her face. Her throat ran dry and her hands shook.

Honora.

Piece by piece the scraps of information she picked up started to take shape.

She knew from the stories she was told his mother was once beloved by the town. After her husband’s death she became pregnant, which would have been quite the scandal.

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