Page 6 of The Duke's Last Dance
“I have been well. I am back in Town for a while.” Nicolas smiled. At least Lord Radcliff had been a good friend to him in childhood, and he was sure that would not change despite the lack of communications.
“That is very good to hear. You are actually just the person I was looking for. I cannot believe I was so fortuitous to find you on the docks,” Lord Radcliff continued. “Come to dinner at Camberton Manor. I would like to introduce you to my fiancée.” The man smiled widely.
“I would be honored to meet the woman you have decided to spend your life with, Lord Radcliff. Thank you. When will this dinner be?” Nicolas stepped off the carriage’s little ladder. He wanted to have the details he needed before he was whisked back to Ashwood… to the controlling gaze of his father.
He shuddered a little to think of what his father would be like now that his father was ill and struggling with his health.
“Tomorrow evening. She is coming over to see the family, and I would be honored to introduce her to my childhood friend,” Lord Radcliff said.
Nicolas could not help but laugh at this point.
“I never thought you would be the kind of man to find a wife and settle down,” he announced. “You are full of surprises, Lord Lockhart.”
“As you are, Lord Lockhart.” Lord Radcliff nodded to him. “I will see you tomorrow, then.”
“On the morrow, Lord Radcliff.” Nicolas pulled himself into the carriage and shut the door behind him.
Lord Radcliff continued walking towards wherever he had been heading as a consequence of trying to find Nicolas. He watched out the carriage window as Lord Radcliff became just another person in the crowd of people on the docks.
A dinner at Camberton Manor… he hoped Lady Catherine would still be there. Though it had been three years, he knew that he wanted to see her while he was here in Town. It would be a good thing to see her, even if the feelings that had been there three years ago were no longer there.
Three years… a lot could change in that time. He wondered if it was even possible for him to keep the promise he had made her ten years ago, when he was only thirteen.
He took in a deep breath as the carriage continued towards Ashwood Manor. Three years in the Navy had made him recognize why he struggled with his father being so controlling. When the Navy told him to do something, there was a lot behind the reasons. His father had only one reason to give him such a hard time about some things, and that was so that he would be the man his father wanted him to be.
The problem with that expectation, in Nicolas’s eyes, was that he was not his father’s marble statue. He would not sit there, unchanging, as his father tried to shape him into what he wanted Nicolas to be.
His father… there had been many issues with the reasons his father had sent him into the Navy. Part of him wondered if the Navy was a convenient excuse to send him away from Lady Catherine Radcliff before she could become eligible for marriage and keep him away from her until she married.
If that was the entire reason his father had sent him away to begin with, it had not worked. Nicolas knew that she would most likely be ready to debut into society as an eligible young woman for marriage this Season.
The Town Season… this was going to be an interesting change. He was here in Town for the Season instead of abroad with his regiment or in the countryside, and he wondered if his father would even want him to be home because of that.
The carriage ride, however bumpy it was, helped him to soothe his troubled mind a little. The ride to Ashwood Manor was a little longer than he remembered it being, but it was a good excuse to let his mind wander. His father had never understood how Nicolas could enjoy long carriage rides. The ride out to their country manor was a good example; though his father loved going to the countryside to spend the off-Season, he hated the long ride. It was “too long” for his father, even though his father had picked the house many years ago.
Long before Nicolas had been born, at least.
The carriage came to an abrupt stop, and that pulled Nicolas out of his thoughts.
He had arrived at Ashwood Manor with time to spare, and that was all that mattered now that he was here in Town.
Though he would be dining at Camberton Manor the next evening, he was here to see to his father’s health.
His mother met him at the door.
“I thought you would have more luggage, but never mind that, Nicolas, you’re here.” She pulled him into a hug, even though it was not something that his mother had done before he left for the Navy.
“Hello, Mother.” Nicolas hugged back, knowing that his mother needed the support.
“Your father is not doing well, Nicolas.” She pulled away as she spoke. “He… he looks nothing like himself.”
“Let me get my things settled in my room, and then I will go see him, Mother. All right?” He smiled a little.
His mother nodded before moving so that he could get into Ashwood Manor.
Ashwood Manor, for all of its fault, was not a bad house. The bricks sparkled in the winter sun, mirroring the way the still freshly fallen snow on the ground sparkled with the sunlight. Each of the windows had a welcoming smile on it as the maids cleaned them.
He wondered if any of the furniture inside had been cleaned recently or if his family had changed it out in some rooms. His mother had been thinking about moving some of the furniture around, but there was also a wish to keep a familiar air in the house. Whatever had happened, he knew that his mother had been behind it all.
