Page 6 of Her Duke at Midnight
“Thank you.” She ran her hands over the sumptuous silk folds of her skirt, then pressed a hand to her middle, appreciating the neat stitches of embroidered flowers on the bodice. The dresswasa bit much, but its brightness pleased her, and she’d vowed to pursue that feeling more often—starting today. “What is it you wished to discuss? I must depart within half an hour if I’m to make it to the station on time.”
“Ah yes.” He scooped up a folded document from his desk blotter. “I’ve had a letter from Aunt Regina. You remember her?”
“Yes, of course.” She was a meddling sort who idolized both of her nephews.
“She’s traveling to Europe. A suggestion of her physician for her health. And she inquired whether you might wish to go along as her companion?”
Cecily winced and then schooled her features into a more amiable mask.
“Please tell her I appreciate the consideration, but I don’t wish to serve as anyone’s lady’s companion,” she told him firmly.
She hadn’t decided exactly how she wished to explore her newfound freedom, butthatwas not the way.
He stared at her dumbstruck a moment and then sank into his desk chair.
The lingering odor of the horrible cigars her husband favored wafted up from the worn leather. She wanted to flee from the room—from the house for good, if she could get her hands on the funds an aunt had bequeathed her.
But that was a matter for another day. She’d already decided to wait and broach the topic after the holidays.
“Then what is it you propose to do? I trust you won’t let Lady Fiona lead you into scandal.”
Cecily let out a little guffaw that escaped of its own volition. “For over a year, your main concern was that I remain here or in the countryside at the Bissenden estate, out of the rush of society, a sequestered widow. And I’ve done so. I’ve fulfilled my duty, Douglas. What I do next is my own choice.”
The elegantly papered walls drew closer, the books seemed to lean in, towering over her, and if she glanced anywhere but directly at her brother-in-law, she could imagine her husband facing her, casting judgment, distrusting her intentions. Or worse.
Both men were frightfully alike in their dismissal of women.
“I must go. I don’t wish to be late. Fiona has sent a carriage to collect me, and it’s likely out front already.”
He stood immediately, but it had nothing to do with niceties. Anger had seeped into his features. Though he was a man who liked to maintain a cool facade, much as his brother had perfected, he was far less adept at pretending.
“This discussion shall be postponed, Cecily, but it is not over.”
In his domineering tone, she heard not just Archibald’s voice, but that of her father, of her older brother, of every man who’d believed her decisions were his to make.
In her youth, such control had sometimes felt like protectiveness and care for her well-being. Now it just rankled.
“I must go. Good day, Douglas.”
Cecily didn’t wait for him to get in any parting words or further disparage her friend. She swept from the room, savoring the swirling folds of pink silk around her ankles.
Weston, the family’s butler, stood waiting with her gloves, hat, and cloak, and he’d already had her luggage secured on the carriage Fiona had sent to retrieve her.
Within minutes, she was out the front door—free of Douglas and the walls of a house that held more memories of pain than happiness. She stopped to draw in a deep breath. The air smelled fresh, invigorating. London’s usual sooty fog had been washed away by the bracing chill of a winter breeze.
Cecily didn’t mind that her dress was more suited to spring than the oncoming winter. She felt renewed, free. Now she just had to decide what she wanted to do next.
* * *
“A lady’s companion? What utter nonsense.” Lady Fiona shook with such outrage that a wave of honey-blonde hair escaped its pin and bobbed along the slope of her cheek. “You don’t need a job, Cecily, my dear,” she said decidedly. “You need a lover.”
Cecily’s jaw dropped, then her cheeks warmed with heat. She pressed her lips together, but couldn’t hold back the laughter that burst out in an unladylike chortle a moment later. She clapped a hand across her mouth.
“Oh Fee, Douglas did predict that you’d lead me into scandal. I just didn’t realize it would happen immediately.”
Fiona laughed and reached across the train carriage to take Cecily’s hand. “All teasing aside, I know Bissenden was beastly to you.”
Cecily shook her head, stalling any foothold those memories might get in her mind’s eye. “I don’t want to talk about—“
