Page 73 of The Best of Friends
At least this way, there was a chance of a good outcome.
The hackney came to a stop. Daria dared a peek out the window. She had arrived precisely where she’d asked to be taken.
Do what you must.
With her bag still hidden by her shawl, she alighted and paid the driver using one of her coins, then turned to face the intimidating edifice of Falstone House.
When the butler opened the door and his staid facade broke for a moment with confused surprise, Daria realized a significant hole in her plan. Artemis would not be home, she having gone to the dress shop to meet with the other Huntresses. It was, in fact, the reason Daria had come here: Miss Martinette’s was the first place her parents would look, knowing it was where she’d been expected to go. The Huntresses would be able to say she’d never arrived. Her path would be better disguised.
But with Artemis gone and Daria arriving unaccompanied by even a maid, she was in an odd position.
“Is—”Think, Daria.“Is—” She couldn’t ask for Charlie; that would be considered shockingly inappropriate. She was too terrified of the duke to ask for him. “Is Her Grace home?”
“This is not her at-home day, Miss Mullins.” Thank the heavens the butler recognized her. He would be less likely to send her away for being ill prepared to face this complication, one she should have anticipated.
“Would you ask her if—I’m not here for a formal call. I—” Good heavens, she was out of her depth already. She swallowed thickly. “Would you ask her if I could have a moment of her time, please?”
She was motioned inside. For just an instant, she thought she might be required to stand in the entryway like an interloper, but the butler indicated she should step into a small sitting room nearby.
Alone, she let herself breathe. No matter the outcome of her pleadings at Falstone House that day, she felt certain she would be permitted to remain until Artemis returned. And Artemis would know what to do. Artemis was the most ingenious person Daria knew, and the most loyal friend she could imagine.
Daria set her portmanteau on the floor beside a chair and draped her shawl over it. She attempted to stretch some of the tension out of her shoulders and back, but she suspected it was futile. Too much had happened too quickly for her to be calm.
After what felt like ages but was likely no more than a few minutes, the duchess stepped inside the room. Though her coloring was quite different from Artemis’s, they looked enough alike to testify to the fact that they were sisters. “Miss Mullins. You asked for me?”
Suddenly, Daria felt terribly presumptuous. Artemis was her friend, yes. But who was she to make demands on the time of a duchess?
“I didn’t mean to inconvenience you, truly I didn’t. And I won’t continue to do so if I can at all help it. I already have, so I suppose I can’t help it to some extent. But I’ll do what I can to lessen that extent. At least until Artemis arrives.” She shook her head. “Not that I mean to be a nuisanceaftershe arrives.”
Her Grace’s eyes darted to the bag at Daria’s feet, not entirely hidden by her shawl. “Are you in some sort of trouble?”
Daria’s breath caught in her throat as she nodded. What would the duchess think of her now? What assumptions would she make?
The duchess quickly closed the door, then crossed to Daria, taking her hand in what seemed like a very sisterly manner. She didn’t know for certain, not having a sister of her own.
“Is this trouble you find yourself in the sort that would mean we would do best to keep your presence here a secret?”
Daria nodded.
“From everyone or simply from your family?”
“Certainly from my family,” Daria said. “I really don’t want them to know where I am.”
“Then I should warn you that your brother is here. Charlie’s friends are enjoying a leisurely morning together.”
Tobias was at Falstone House. She hadn’t anticipated that complication. Heavens, there was a reason she was not usually the one to think of schemes and execute plans. Did she want Tobias to know she was there? She couldn’t imagine not telling him, and yet she needed to be certain her parents could not discover her whereabouts until she knew what to do next. Tobias wouldn’t intentionally give away her location, but there was a chance he might do so accidentally.
“That you are hesitating as much as you are tells me we ought to, for the time being, not tell your brother.” The duchess didn’t seem to think that a terrible thing, which made Daria feel a little better. “And I suspect we also should avoid advertising your presence to the staff.”
The enormity of her decision was beginning to set in. She had run away, leaving behind her family and home, and she wasn’t entirely certain what came next.
“The butler knows you are here, as does my lady’s maid—she was in the room when the butler told me of your arrival—but both are as reliable as the sunrise. You can pass the morning in my personal sitting room. No one will bother you there. Once Artemis has returned, I will send her directly to you.”
“I didn’t intend to cause you difficulty in coming here. I don’t always think things through.”
The duchess squeezed her hand. “If you are in difficulties enough to justify taking such drastic measures, then coming here was the right thing to do.”
“Your husband will likely be angry with me.” No one with even a drop of sense dared make the Dangerous Duke angry.
