Page 6 of Her Duke Next Door
Oh,this is about to get very interesting.
ChapterThree
Mary was woefully irate. It seemed nothing was going her way today.
First the incident with that awful man on the road. On the way back home, Eloise tripped and fell in a muddy puddle, and cried the rest of the way back to the house. Then, after her second bathing of the day, due to the muddy fall, the bonnet she had planned for Katie’s garden party had gone missing. It turned out she had left it in the garden after the girls’ last picnic.
Mary was still glad Katie had been able to have her birthday party, regardless. She could only hope that the Duke of Livingston had turned up for his daughter. Mary was half-minded to write to such a man who would neglect his own child, if it was in her right.
“Katie!” Eloise called, as she raced over to the other girl.
Mary did not pay them any mind, knowing Eloise was safe with Katie, around so many adults. She made her way over to the two couples who sat at a table on the large terrace. She knew them from a charity that people of the Ton had hosted annually that she had attended once or twice, not quite being a Patreon but enough to recognize some faces.
Guests crowded the garden, more guests than Mary assumed would be present for the affair. She wove her way through to take up a seat at the beckoning of the two couples. The women both wore similar dresses of pale blue and a faded buttery yellow, while their husbands looked smart in their own matching coats. Mary felt a stab of envy at the sight.
Lady Irina Johnson, the woman in the blue, passed Mary a cup and gestured for a footman to fill it.
“Lady Yore’ cup should not be empty for the rest of the afternoon,” she instructed with a smile at Mary. “It seems she has had quite a day.”
“Ah.” Mary grimaced. “It is that obvious, my lady?”
“Oh, but of course,” said the other woman in her yellow dress. Lady Francesca Halton nodded. “Your eyes say it all, dear.”
Mary winced and pressed her hands to her eyes, knowing she had dark circles beneath them that not even her personal maid could cover up. “Yes, well, it has been quite a morning. I am so sorry to be late! A rather insufferable cretin almost killed Eloise and I this morning while we were picking flowers!”
“No!” Lady Johnson gasped.
Mary nodded. “Quite! All poor Eloise wanted to do was make a wreath for her friend. The next moment, there he was, on a ghastly beast of a horse, with no care for our wellbeing whatsoever.”
“Awful,” Lord Johnson said, shaking his head.
“I do hope he apologized profusely,” Lord Halton said.
“He did but it was rather backhanded, I fear.”
“They let anybody traverse these paths nowadays,” Lady Johnson muttered, shaking her head. “I do wonder who it could be. One would think not a gentleman due to his behavior, but if he had such a horse then…”
“Itwasrather big,” Mary nodded. “And he was rather decent in his looks. He looked travel-worn but proper, still.”
“Lord Wimphrey has been traveling lately,” Lord Halton mused. “He was at the gentleman’s club today after just arriving in London. Could it have been him?”
“Perhaps Lord Basil otherwise?” Lord Johnson considered. “He and his wife returned from their trip to visit his aunt in France just this morning.”
The two of them discussed who might be worthy of the gossip this might cause, and Mary observed, keeping up with the names she knew of from the gossip columns. Despite not being in London’s society for quite some time, she kept up with the columns in the paper. Her sister, Anne, also kept her updated in her letters, ever the gossip.
“Say, where did the accident take place, my lady?” Lord Johnson asked.
“Not too far from here, my lord,” Mary told him. “There is a grand field full of wildflowers. That is where we collected them from.” She glanced at Eloise, who, across the garden, handed Katie the wreath she had bought. Katie spun around with it and hugged her friend. Mary smiled.
“His Grace returned today for Lady Katie’s birthday,” Lady Halton said. “I wonder if he saw anyone on his travels as he returned. Your Grace! Your Grace, oh, you must join us for a moment.”
At the mention of the Duke, Mary felt a flare of excitement. She would have quite a lot to say to this despicable man who left his daughter waiting for him for weeks and weeks. This neglectful awful man who…
…who had knocked her over with his horse that morning.
Mary tried to cover up her shock as the two couples greeted the Duke of Livingston but Mary stared at the very man who had called her beautifulandinsolent. The man she had spoken so poorly to. The man whom she had thought she would not see again and had vocally hoped not to as well.
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment as the Duke came to sit with them. His eyes found hers, and he smiled. It was not arrogant nor like the smirk he had given her hours ago. He looked…kind. Charming. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles.
