Page 79 of The Odd Riddle of the Lost Duchess
“Sit, Noah, before you fall down,” The Duchess ordered.
Numbly Noah stumbled down the stairs but instead of going to the sitting room, reached out for Emmeline’s hand. When it was willingly given, he pressed the back of it to his cheek, wanting and needing to feel the warmth of it, to tell him she was alive and he wasn’t dreaming.
With her hand pressed to his face, Noah’s mind darted back and his fragmented thoughts solidified on one moment that had scarred him.
“I know…Noah…please, I understand that you’re mourning Lady Emmeline Grant but the Noah I know is not one the one I’m seeing now. Son, you have to let her go, keeping up with this is only trapping her soul here and making you a shell of your former self.”
Noah’s eyes widened and he spun his mother before repeating it, “That time, you were testing me…weren’t you?”
The Duchess smiled, “I was but do you remember what I had said after that?”
“You said…” Noah reiterated the words and it was when they were coming through his mouth, he realized the true meaning of them. “You said love… love will come back to me someday. Was that another of your tests Mother?”
“It was and you passed both of them, Noah. I’ve never seen such true love in all my years. You held on even to the very shreds of hope after there was no reasonable cause to keep believing that she was alive.” Duchess Newberry smiled.
“But…how?” Noah repeated as he was still amazed.
“The tale is a long one. Let us sit.” The Duchess proposed again. “The first thing I need you to know is this was the most feasible way to save Lady Emmeline’s life.”
Noah still couldn’t believe that his mother was the mastermind behind this miracle while he had been so preoccupied with investigating the wrong Duchess. His grandmother had tried to do something but his mother had outdone her. He was totally confused. He finally obeyed and followed his mother and beloved to the sitting room chaise and made sure Emmeline sat beside him–he was not going to let her out of his sight.
Noah marveled that how his mother had seen his distress and grief and had not even given him a clue to her actions. Maybe his mother should have been an actress instead of a Duchess. Overall, Noah didn’t need to dig into the underlying factors, the torrid step by step, he was just overjoyed that Emmeline was alive.
“Noah?”
The Duke snapped to attention, “I’m sorry?”
“Did you and my brother find some middle ground?” Emmeline asked kindly.
“We came to an understanding but it wasn’t easy. Leverton kept believing that I had something to hide or that I was tricking him somehow. We even came to blows once…or thrice. Hostilities were ever on the horizon.”
Emmeline huffed–a lovely sound that Noah swore he’d sear into his mind.
“That stubborn mule, when is he going to learn?”
“But how did you do it, Mother?” Noah pressed.
“I will tell you but we need to wait,” the Duchess smiled. “Another party is coming.”
“Who is–?” the sound of a screeching carriage’s wheels and the doors blasted open. Noah spun on his chair to see Leverton rushing in with frantic pace. He then spotted the lady sitting on the chaise and his face showed it all.
“EMMELINE!”
The Duke of Leverton was standing there with his hand braced on the door jamb, his coat askew and his hair windswept. Though he had come by carriage, the Duke looked like he had just bolted off his horse, as his face was sporting the rigorous red of exertion, his golden eyes were wide, and his breath was frantic.
Noah felt Emmeline pull her hand out of his hold and she stood, “George.”
The Duke’s eyes snapped to Noah, who was standing as well, and to the Duchess of Newberry who was still daintily seated, before focusing solely on Emmeline. He stumbled inside and grabbed at his sister’s shoulders and pinned her with his eyes.
“Emmeline?” George asked faintly, “How is this possible?”
“If you would care to take a seat, Your Grace” Duchess Newberry inserted kindly, “We will tell you.”
Duke Leverton’s eyes darted up to the seated woman, “We?We? Are you’re telling me that that the two–threeof you were in collusion…against me?”
“Not against you, George,” Emmeline rolled her expressive eyes. “And Noah wasn’t a part of it. Come, sit, we’ll tell you all about it!”
Emmeline took her seat beside him, and Noah met the golden glare that was directed at him.
