Page 2 of Snowdrops and Winterberry
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Dukes weren’t supposed to be scared. Adamknew a great deal about what dukes were and weren’t supposed to be, what they were and weren’t supposed to do. His father had taught him. And Adam was a good learner.
But as the traveling carriage approached Brier Hill, hewasscared. He’d never visited anyone before. He had experience welcoming people to Falstone Castle. Father used to hold balls there so Mother would come home. Adam would stand with them as they greeted their guests. He knew how to do that.
But this was the first time he had been a guest somewhere else. Before this, the only time he had ever left home was when he was sent to the boardinghouse next to Harrow. And that had been a miserable thing. Would this be as well? Adam was so tired of being miserable.
Were dukes supposed to be miserable? Father had never told him that, but Father hadn’t always been happy. Maybe that was one of the rules: a duke worked hard, looked after people, was very responsible, and didn’t get to be happy.
There were so many reasons Adam didn’t want to be a duke. The biggest one, of course, was that he wouldn’t be one if his father were still alive. He missed his father. He refused to miss his mother.
The coachman opened the door of the carriage, and Adamheld his breath.
“We’d best step down, wee Adam.” Nurse Robbie had made the journey with him. Dukes probably weren’t supposed to need nursemaids, but having her with him helped him be brave. And dukesweremeant to be brave.
He accepted the coachman’s hand as he climbed onto the step, but only because he was too short to do it on his own. Someday he’d be bigger.
Nurse Robbie followed close behind as he walked toward the front door of Brier Hill. He wished she could walk beside him, hold his hand like she used to. But he needed to act like a duke and not like a baby.
He’d not quite reached the front door when a tall gentleman with wavy golden hair bounded from the house. Though Adam had met him only once, he recognized Lord Jonquil. He’d bounced about the entryway of Falstone Castle all those months ago, looking like someone who wanted very much to run down a corridor but had been told that corridors were not the place for playing. Adam didn’t know any grown people quite like him.
Adam set one arm at his stomach and pointed his foot out, but he couldn’t remember where his other arm was meant to go when he bowed. At his side? Behind his back? He was making a poor showing for himself. He guessed at the position of his arm and hoped he was at least close to correct. “Lord Jonquil, thank you for your invitation.” He had heard some of his father’s exalted guests say that when they’d arrived at the castle. It seemed the right thing to say now.
Lord Jonquil returned the bow with a perfectly executed one. Adam studied it, wanting to know how to do better. The arm he’d not known what to do with was supposed to stick out at the side. He told himself to remember that. He also watched how low Lord Jonquil bowed since that was supposed to be important. Dukes didn’t bow as low to other people as those people bowedto dukes.
“We are very pleased you chose to accept,” Lord Jonquil said. “But I feel I must issue a warning.”
Worry immediately seized Adam’s heart. Was he going to be sent away? Were there other guests here? Was he not actually wanted?
In a voice that sounded like he had a great secret to share, Lord Jonquil said, “My wife is giddy at the idea of having you here. She will be here to greet you any moment and may not be able to prevent herself from squealing with delight, perhaps even hugging you.”
Adam swallowed against the lump of uncertainty forming in his throat. “She will hug me?”
Lord Jonquil shrugged and grinned. “She might. Your visit is all she has talked about for weeks.”
Adam could feel his face scrunch between his eyes. Why would she be so happy to have him visit? Adam’s father had liked to spend time with him, but his mother certainly didn’t. Nurse Robbie never forgot about him, which meant she probably liked being with him. Jeb, who worked in the stables at Falstone Castle, never seemed grumpy because Adam was there. But only those three people. Lady Jonquil was probably happy about having a duke at her house. Mother often talked about the important people she spent time with. Being a duke made a person important.
He straightened his posture and made his face as fierce as his father’s was when greeting people at the castle. Dukes were not meant to be frivolous, Father had often told him. Being serious was necessary.
“Lord Jonquil,” Adam said, motioning to Nurse Robbie, “this is Nurse Robbie. She came here with me.”
Lord Jonquil offered her a bow as well. Adam wasn’t certain servants were usually bowed to. There was so much he didn’tunderstand. With Father gone and Mother always away, there was no one to explain any of it to him.
A moment later, a lady stepped out the door. He knew her. He had never before met someone with hair the color of hers. It was brown and red at the same time. He found it very fascinating. He’d asked Lady Jonquil about it when he’d met her at Falstone Castle. She hadn’t laughed at him for not knowing about red hair. And she didn’t put the white powder in her hair like many ladies did. He didn’t know why.
The very first letter he’d received after Father died had come from her. And she had written to him many times since. He was glad Lady Jonquil was happy to have him visit, even if it was just because he was a duke. He knew she would be kind to him; not many people were anymore.
“Oh! You’ve arrived at last!”
He watched her, uncertain. “Are you going to hug me?”
She smiled. “Not if you would rather I didn’t.”
He shook his head. Nurse Robbie sometimes hugged him. His father had now and then. He wasn’t certain he wanted anyone else to.
Lady Jonquil didn’t look angry. “And what would you like us to call you while you’re here?”
“At school, they call me Your Grace or the duke.”
