Page 14 of The Duke's Last Dance
When he was done, he politely excused himself and headed towards the stables.
“Sir.” A voice stopped him before he could arrive at the door to go to the stables. “Your father would like to see you in his study, Lord Lockhart.”
Nicolas turned around to see one of the butlers behind him.
“Tell him I shall be up presently,” he responded. “I have one thing I wish to take care of first.”
The butler nodded, and then left to give the message to his father.
When the butler had completely vanished from his view and Nicolas could no longer hear the footsteps of the man, he let out a frustrated sigh. Of course, his father would want to see him before he could leave the house for the day. There was always something with the man, even if it was simply delaying his plans an hour.
He did not want to go to the study, but he knew that there was going to be a lot of backlash if he did not go to see his father in the study. So, he took his time and headed out to the gardens. His father’s study overlooked the stables, but not the gardens.
As he took a walk through the gardens to calm down, he came to a decision. He was going to tell his father that he would be pursuing someone this Season, and that he did not care if his father approved of the match. He would follow his heart.
Perhaps his father forcing him into the Navy had been a good thing for Nicolas. He had learned how to speak up for himself in the Navy, and that was the last thing his father wanted from him.
He took in a deep breath.
That was going to change. Everything was going to change this Season, and he would make sure that his father was no longer able to hold him under his control.
As Nicolas headed back inside, he realized it had been almost half an hour since the butler had come to see him. Thankfully, he had not specified how long this thing would take to finish, so he hoped his father would believe that it had taken him longer than he thought it would.
That was, of course, only partially the truth, but when it came to his father, that would be better than telling his father that he had needed to calm down before coming to see him since he had had other plans that he had wanted to take care of first.
He walked slowly through the halls of Ashwood Manor. It had been too long since he had been here, and the familiar oaks and maples had started to fade. The colors needed some painting, and he was sure that his father had let it all start to go when his health had started to fade. It was sad to see Ashwood Manor fall into disrepair like this.
Perhaps he would suggest to his father that he could take care of fixing up the house where it was starting to show its age. Even though he knew his father would not be hosting any kind of events this Season, he wanted to host people such as Lady Catherine.
And he wanted the house in good shape when it happened.
The study loomed ahead, and he took in another deep breath. It was either now or never that he was going to cast his father’s control off, and he planned to make it now.
He put his hand on the doorknob, and then hesitated. For some reason, his stomach knotted at the idea of speaking against his father. Perhaps that was because it had never ended well in his childhood, often ending with him being sent to bed without dinner.
Chapter Six
Amelia finished tying the back of the dress up. The morning dress was pretty enough as it was, and it had now been two days since she had seen Lord Lockhart at the dinner party. She was happy to avoid him the day before, but she knew that he was going to be in her life a lot more now than he had been in the last three years.
“Is something wrong, Lady Catherine?” Amelia seemed to notice that something was wrong, and she turned to face the lady in waiting.
She sighed.
“I’m conflicted… seeing Lord Lockhart again brought back so many memories that I had not thought about for so long…” Catherine shook her head. “I do not know what to do about it anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Amelia furrowed her eyebrows.
“Do you remember the brooch I wore to the dinner party with Miss Juliet where he showed up without much warning?” She refused to pull it out to show Amelia, but her lady in waiting nodded. “Well, that was a token of a promise from him. He had promised me ten years ago that he was going to marry me when we were older. I thought he would be faithful to the promise he made me, but then… three years ago, we came to Town for the Season, and… and he had gone off to the Navy without so much as a letter to tell me where he was going or when he thought he would be back.” She sighed.
“Sometimes, ma’am, life happens in ways we do not expect. Perhaps he needed to be in the Navy and him returning now at your debut is a sign you are still meant to be with him,” Amelia suggested.
“With my debut coming… I feel that I want to meet other men. I want to see where other relationships lead,” Catherine mused aloud. “Is it wrong of me to feel that way?”
“I do not believe so, but do you believe he will want to do the same? That is the question you should be asking yourself. He seemed quite intent to go after you at the dinner party, and I believe that your silence towards him was the only reason he did not try anything,” Amelia said. “Forgive me if I have overstepped my boundaries, but there it is.”
Catherine took in a deep breath.
“Thank you for that, at least.” She was not sure what else she could say to her handmaiden, especially when what she had just said was probably incredibly true. Catherine simply did not want to admit that she still felt her heart fluttering when she thought of Lord Lockhart, and especially now that she had seen what he had grown into after three years in the Navy.
