Page 37 of The Curious Life of the Unfortunate Duchess
“I do not imagine Miss Priscilla would agree,” David retorted. Catherine, unladylike, whooped with laughter, fuelling Leonard’s mounting annoyance.
“DAVID!” The cry was simultaneously uttered between his father and Elizabeth.
“Mind your manners!” Elizabeth hissed, her face flushed although whether she was embarrassed for David or for himself, Leonard could not tell.
“Forgive my son,” Percival grunted, his face red with humiliation. “I fear the exhaustion of the day has caught up with him and dimmed his wits. David, I suggest you apologize to our host and retire immediately.”
“Of course,” the boy muttered. “Forgive me, Your Grace. I must rest.”
He hurried from the dining room before another word could be exchanged but there was little sincerity in his tone. David did not give a whit how Leonard felt. The boy simply saw the Duke as a threat.
“Please, forgive him,” Percival said again. “He knows not what he says.”
“I cannot fault the boy for being protective of his sisters,” Leonard replied graciously. “I have been known to speak out of turn on Catherine’s behalf, also. There is nothing to forgive.”
Yet as he shifted his eyes back to Elizabeth, he noted that she had moved her eyes away again and he was consumed with a sense of disappointment.
He could see whatever doubts she had dismissed about him had come flooding back with her brother’s bold words. Leonard was left wondering if Elizabeth would ever fully trust him in light of how they had met.
She will,he told himself firmly.I will not give up until she does.
He forced a smile he did not feel upon his face.
“Shall we, Miss Elizabeth?”
Slowly, she raised her eyes back toward him and nodded meekly.
“Yes, Your Grace.”
He moved toward her, extending an arm for her to take. She accepted it and the two silently slipped from the hall, embarking on their first moment together away from the eyes of the world.
Leonard barely noticed when Bernadette fell into step, quietly behind them. His eyes were focused only on his lovely companion.
Chapter 12
“Dare I ask?” Catherine whispered in Elizabeth’s ear. “You are smiling like a cat who swallowed a bird whole.”
Elizabeth eyed her companion, a warm flush creeping up her neck.
“I had not realized,” she replied with embarrassment but it did not surprise her. She had been unable to get the thought of her walk with Leonard out of her mind since they had returned to the manor the previous night. She should have been exhausted from lack of sleep but if anything, Elizabeth felt rejuvenated, as if she had been reborn, on a simple constitutional which had lasted two hours.
In some ways, she could still feel Leonard’s arm in hers, much like his sister held fast to her. Up ahead of the two ladies, Frances skipped in her usual fashion, pausing only to stare at storefronts and point in excitement at something she saw. The men had embarked upon their hunting expedition early that morning, leaving the ladies to attend town as they had discussed the previous evening.
“Are you as smitten with my brother as he appears to be with you?” Catherine urged, pressing Elizabeth for details . “I have not often seen him as vigorous in his approach.”
“I like His Grace very much,” Elizabeth offered lamely, despising the sound of her reply. She knew that Catherine was hoping for a much more satisfying answer.
“Well, I suppose that is something,” Catherine chuckled. “I would loathe to hear you did not care for him at all.”
Elizabeth knew she was teasing her but in truth, she was still very conflicted by her feelings toward the Duke. It was not that she did not savor his companionship. In fact, even as they continued their tour of the town, Elizabeth could not deny that she was looking forward to resting her eyes upon him that night at supper, where Leonard had promised to next see her. She could not get the thoughts of his handsome face, the timbre of his laugh, nor his good humor from her thoughts for one second. Even Frances’ endless girlish blathering could not shift her focus from the Duke.
Yet in the shadow of Elizabeth’s thoughts were David’s cross words at supper and the notion of Priscilla, who had been badly slighted in such a humiliating way.
Who is to say His Grace will not treat me in the same manner if he finds another he prefers to me? Catherine claims he is smitten but how often does he become smitten?
A part of her knew that it was impossible, that Elizabeth had nothing to fear in that regard, as the Duke had never cared for Priscilla. She reminded herself how cold he had been to Priscilla. There had been no sense of love between them, even though she had clung to Leonard like a leech. Moreover, the look in Leonard’s eye when he stared searchingly into Elizabeth’s face was not that of a man who had anything but loyalty and devotion on his mind.
She forced the lingering unpleasantness from her mind, determined not to think of Priscilla again or the situation which had led her to be in Pembroke.
