Page 14 of A Duke Changes Everything
He was counting on her, feisty, curvaceous, deceptive woman that she was.
“Come now and tell us what he’s like?” Mrs. Scribb quizzed as she dug inside Mina’s bedchamber wardrobe of serviceable and rarely worn gowns. Nearby, Emma sorted ribbons and pins Mina hadn’t glanced at in years.
“Not what I expected.”
Good heavens, what a fool she’d been to assume Nicholas Lyon would be like his brother. Eustace had been too occupied with vices to care that Mina had taken her father’s place. But this new duke was a man of business, creating enterprises and success with his own force of will. He wasn’t the sort to let anything slip his notice.
She’d underestimated. Badly. Now she had to find some way to fix it.
“I can’t be late, Mrs. Scribb.” Mina tugged at the skirt and bodice the housekeeper had chosen for her to don after she’d washed. Fighting the vise grip of her corset, Mina fumbled with the fastenings. There were too many panels and buttons and hidden hooks, and she had no time for any of them. “Why is this so complicated?”
She cast a longing gaze at the breeches she could slip on quickly and the soft cotton shirt she’d tossed over her head this morning.
“Let me.” Mrs. Scribb shooed Mina’s fingers aside and had her laced and buttoned before she took her next breath. “Perhaps you need a bit of practice with ladylike clothing.”
Mina would have laughed if her insides weren’t churning and the corset she’d imprisoned herself in wasn’t cutting off her air.
Behind her, Emma, the closest Enderley had to a lady’s maid, steered her to a chair. “Sit, miss, and I’ll fix your hair.”
“Just something simple.” She never did more with her hair than tie it back in a plain knot, even when the previous duke was in residence. Mina wasn’t certain they should be making such a fuss over the new duke.
He was going to be trouble. Tall, broad-shouldered, unexpectedly appealing trouble who now held their fates in his hands.
Mrs. Scribb stuck her head out of the wardrobe long enough to plant her hands on her hips and give Mina an assessing look. “He’s unsettled you. What did he say?”
“I’m perfectly settled.” Except that she couldn’t keep her heel from tapping, and her heartbeat hadn’t steadied since he’d put his hands on her waist.
The man’s scent still clung to her skin, and his eyes haunted her. They marked him as his father’s son, whatever the rumors might be. Only one was the same cool blue as the old duke’s eyes, but the unique almond shape of them made the men mirror images. The jagged scar lancing Nicholas Lyon’s cheek did nothing to diminish the chiseled symmetry of his features or the striking beauty of his eyes.
There was life behind his gaze, intelligence and flickers of fiery emotion, though she’d detected little in the way of compassion. Except when she’d caught him scratching Millicent’s chin, attempting to soothe the feisty cat. Millicent hadn’t taken much notice, but Mina had.
“He didn’t seem pleased to learn that I’d taken on my father’s role.” Her deception had displeased him, as she’d feared, though he’d seemed more irritated than furious. “There’s every chance he’ll sack me.”
“Then we shall all go.” Mrs. Scribb sealed the declaration with a fervent nod. The wholly unrealistic plan had been proposed in the months they’d fretted over the new duke’s arrival. If he attempted to dismiss one of them, Mrs. Scribb insisted they should all give their notice in a show of unity.
“I can’t lose this post,” Emma said softly as she swept her fingers through Mina’s hair.
“We’ll find you another, girl.” Mrs. Scribb was quick to dismiss the maid’s distress. “Mr. Wilder and I will write you a good character.”
“No one is losing their post because of me.” Mina turned in her chair and clasped Emma’s hands. The girl didn’t only fear for her own future. Mina knew she sent wages to her parents in Dorset, who struggled to support her six siblings. “I’ll apologize to His Grace the moment I see him again.”
She wouldn’t let the new duke take his anger at her out on the rest of them. They hadn’t chosen her as steward any more than she’d chosen to lose her father.
“Besides, he’s likely to keep all of us in our posts. A duke can’t run an estate without a staff, and why wouldn’t he prefer servants who know Enderley well?”
Emma seemed satisfied with that logic. She nodded and reached up to finish arranging Mina’s hair. “Tell us more about him, miss.”
“He’s a gentleman, like most others.” Now, thatwasless than the whole truth. He didn’t look like any man she’d ever met, and so far he hadn’t behaved like most men of her acquaintance either. She struggled to focus on what was mundane about him. “He’s tall like his brother. Well-dressed. Arrogant.”Confidentmight be a better word. His self-assured air was every inch what a duke’s should be. “He has his father’s eyes.”
“Odd eyes, Tobias tells me. One dark and one light. Some say he wasn’t his father’s son at all.” The young maid mumbled the words just above a whisper.
“Bite your tongue.” Mrs. Scribb stepped close, wagging a finger of chastisement. “Those rumors were never true. The duchess was faithful as they come, but the old duke’s jealousy blinded him to the truth. Anyone can see the new duke is the very image of his father, and the man’s our master now, come what may.”
“But will he be a good one?” Mina wondered aloud.
Masculine beauty didn’t matter. Eustace had possessed the cool Tremayne eyes and an occasional charm too. All that counted was what the new duke intended to do with Enderley and those who depended on the estate for their survival.
“Can’t be worse than his father and brother,” Mrs. Scribb declared before clapping a hand over her mouth. “Forgive me. ’Tisn’t kind to speak ill of the dead.”
