Page 38 of When her Duke Returns
Her mother stood uneasily on her feet.“It is, though I have been quite lost in thought as of late,” she sighed and continued upon Mary’s silent stare. “Have I ever told you how your father and I came to marry?”
Mary scowled and resumed her packing. Now was hardly the time for a lesson in family history. “No, I don’t believe you have. Though surely this can wait, we are quite pressed and—”
Mary’s mother lifted her hand up as a sign to be quiet, and Mary obliged. She began in earnest. “My father made the match when I was very young and your father quite old. You’ve seen the portraits of Papa, doubtless... When I first met him, I could hardly hide my disappointment. He hardlylookedthe part of a doting husband. I had long dreamed of a long-haired, golden prince come to whisk me away on a steed, a poet, a dancer, a man so well-versed in conversation and song we would never want for things to discuss. Instead, the match was made for me, and I was set to marry a stocky, plump little man, two decades past his prime with hair that was thinning, not golden or long. I was beside myself with grief for weeks over the loss of that dream.”
Mary rolled her eyes, and her mother noted her disdain.
“No matter how much you will refute the fact, I know the dream lives on within you still. It does for all young women. It did formefor many years into our marriage. But slowly, I allowed it to subside. I let go of my fantasies and chose instead to see what it was life had bestowed upon me: a loyal, kind husband, a beautiful son, and an existence so comfortable I would never want for food, company, or shelter. All of that was worth so much more than a dream. And then, in time, maybe even without my knowing, the loss of my naivety made room for love.”
Mary’s jaw set in annoyance. She was not keen on lectures at the best of times, and her mother had thinly veiled her lesson. “You needn’t waste your breath, Mama. I know what you will say. That I should be grateful for Antony as you were for Papa… But there is no need. As I have told you countless times, the matter has been resolved. I have accepted my fate.”
Her mother shook her head and then, in a way that was quite unlike her, she leaned over the bed and brought her daughter’s hands into hers. “No, darling, that is not what I wished to say.”
“Then what?”
The Countess lowered her eyes then, and Mary knew there was more afoot than her mother was like to reveal, something, most assuredly, that she sought to protect her daughter from. “When life presents you with an opportunity to move forward, you must take it, even if you are uncertain as to where it will lead you. And you must not be surprised when others do the same. Such is the world we live in, my darling daughter...”
* * *
“Where on earth are the Stantons?” Harry asked with an impatient tap of his foot. “We were set to leave half an hour ago, and I’ve arrangements in London that cannot wait.”
“You are free to head out on your own, brother,” Francis said then as he looked over the luggage in the back of the coach. “We shan’t be remiss with your things.”
“Hardly! You wouldn’t know what to do with my luggage if it bonked you on the nose.”
Francis laughed. “Nonsense. I’m sure I could find some nice farmers in need of a formal dress.”
“Whatever could be holding them up?” Sophia asked then with a hand to her slightly domed belly. “I shall be quite cross with Tatiana if we do not make it home before supper.”
“Perhaps they are with Redgrave and his mother. I have not seen either of them since last night,” Harry hummed. “You haven’t done away with him, have you, Burkley?”
Antony scoffed and turned away from the group. The matter of their fight had been revealed the following morning though neither of the men had gone into any great detail.
“Must wereallywait for them?” Mary asked. She was as impatient as the rest since she feared she would not survive another encounter with the Duke.
“It would not do to leave without saying goodbye,” her mother interjected, drawing herself from a conversation with Fitzgerald.
“It does not do to be tardy and leave your guests unattended, but here we are,” Francis quipped.
As if on cue, a collection of Stantons made their way out of the castle’s main entrance, followed by the younger Dowager Duchess.
“I must extend to you our apologies. We were quite caught up with some business in the study,” the Duchess declared with a graceful smile. “Though I fear it was quite important we tend to it before our parting.”
Mary wondered what business the Rowes could possibly have with the Stantons and was doubly curious as Cecelia seemed particularly jocular. She was practically beaming in her carob-colored gown, and it unnerved Mary to no end.
“Oh?” Francis asked then. “I do hope it’s nothing grave.”
“Quite the opposite,” Lady Stanton replied with a smile. “Though there will be ample time to discuss ouracquisitionlater.”
“Well, I must say, I’m quite curious as to it all,” Harry pressed, jumping from the coach to come to stand beside Mary, kicking up the gravel as he went. “Cecelia looks like a dog with two tails!”
The youngest Stanton shot an enlivened look to her mother as if asking for permission to break the news. Her mother simply shook her head.
Mary grew quite anxious though she could not pin down the reason. “Is the Duke stillcaught upin things?” she asked as if that would help alleviate some of her unease.
The Duchess cleared her throat. “Right!” she began, ignoring Mary’s question, “I shall let you get on with things, then.” With a step toward their ensemble, the Duchess whisked Mary’s mother away by the arm and began speaking of upcoming shows in London.
Something was clearly amiss, and Mary did not like it one bit. She shot another glance to Cecelia, who had not left her mother’s side, and then another at the castle. She wasalmostcertain she knew where the study was.
