Page 17 of Duke of the Sun

The butler’s presence in Michael’s life left him feeling more like a father figure than an outright servant. It was why, in moments like those, Michael found himself capable of holding back his tongue. He gave Hunters a nod, pressing further into the room.

“If you say it so,” he muttered. “But it does not change the fact that the Duchess’s transgressions have impacted my reputation within society.”

“So, what will you do?”

“You will act as my valet, Hunters,” Michael said. “I will need to go into the city far more than usual.”

Hunters nodded. “Of course, your Grace.”

“For now, you may leave me.”

The butler bowed and left the room, not saying another word.

Michael strode towards the windows, grasping onto the curtains and untying them. Before he let them cover the window, something caught his eye. Down below, near the hedge maze, the Duchess walked alongside them. Beside her was Mrs. Bellflower and her little dog, talking as they walked aimlessly. His eyes narrowed.

She was quite beautiful after two years. Not that she wasn’t attractive before, but it felt more dangerous then. Now, as solitude and work caused her to mature, the Duchess looked much like the flowers blooming beside her.

Michael bristled, and let the curtain flutter shut.

CHAPTER5

Though it was only spring, a deep heat came quickly and suddenly the next day. There was a gentle breeze, every now and then, that soared up from the direction of the lake. It felt coaxing and gentle, though it hardly helped against the smoldering sun’s stare.

Cordelia rose early in the morning to tend to the orangery. Many estates in London found themselves building them, though most tended to have them connected to the original building. Cordelia, on the other hand, uncovered a rather stunning design of an orangery disconnected from the estate itself, instead acting as a hub within the garden. It all gave off a fantastical aura to the estate, as if mystical beings and ghosts lurked in the garden’s shadows.

By that point, when the sun just began to reach over the distant treetops and hills, Cordelia already had beads of sweat trailing down her face. The workers arrived for the orangery right on time. And despite most things going strictly to plan, Cordelia found herself searching and wandering the estates back fields for the butler, Hunters.

“Mrs. Bellflower!” Cordelia called out from the back of the garden. Across the way, just coming out of the estate’s backdoors, was the housekeeper. Cordelia waved her arm in the air. “Over here, Mrs. Bellflower!”

The housekeeper carried her skirts as she rushed over. Rosy cheeked and out of breath, Mrs. Bellflower held a hand to her forehead tiredly. “Dear me,” she cooed, “How can you survive this heat, your Grace?”

“I suppose it is quite sweltering, isn’t it?” Cordelia asked with a light laugh. “I can’t quite help but enjoy it. The outdoors, the fresh air. Heat or not, I soak it in like I am nothing more than the flowers we grow.”

Mrs. Bellflower laughed. “What can I help you with, your Grace? You looked to be rather in a tizzy before.”

“Before the Duke’s arrival,” Cordelia began, a sour taste entering her mouth at the mention of her husband, “Hunters agreed to help me watch over the work being done at the orangery. I’m afraid there’s only so much I can do with my own two hands.”

“Well, you quite enjoy doing the work yourself, don’t you?”

Cordelia smiled. “In some ways. To be hands on every now and then is rather invigorating.”

“Oh, silly me,” Mrs. Bellflower blurted. “Are you looking for the butler, then, your Grace?”

“I am.”

Mrs. Bellflower looked back to the estate. “I suppose I last saw him tending to chores inside, your Grace. Would you like me to look for him?”

“Perhaps some time away from the sun could do me some good,” Cordelia replied. “Won’t you keep an eye on the workers while I am away, Mrs. Bellflower?”

The housekeeper gave her a nod. “Of course, your Grace.” Picking up her skirts once more, Mrs. Bellflower began to make her way down across the hedge maze.

Cordelia looked over the view. In the distance, she could make out the workers moving to and fro, carrying their supplies and pulling carts. The work did not have much longer to go. Soon, the one thing she looked forward to the most would be finished. She glanced back forward towards the estate. And then, there would be nothing to fill her time, in a place where she had no one alongside her. The Duke’s words from the day before came back in a haunting sort of way.

Once I have cleaned up the mess you have made, I will return to my private estate.

The brooding husband she barely knew would be gone before she knew it, if only she was patient enough to survive it. Despite her feelings towards it, and how frustrated he made her, Cordelia’s mind always drifted back to their wedding day. There was no love about it, but rather, something new and alluring, a mysterious gentleman with frightening scars standing before her. Cordelia shivered despite the heat and walked up the stairs towards the estate’s back door.

As soon as she stepped over the threshold, Cordelia was met with a cool breeze. The opened windows merely let in the wind, the sun not exactly peering through yet. She took in the shadows and dimly lit rooms eagerly, feeling the heat slowly fade from her skin.

---