Page 24 of The Odd Riddle of the Lost Duchess
“Do you think we can dip our feet in the water?” asked Emmeline.
“Milady, in the cold water?” gasped Bridget.
“It will be tiresome to take our stockings off and what if someone sees us?” Ann shook her head. “I do not think so, Em.”
After talking for a long time and munching on the finger foods, both ladies lay down on the blanket and drifted off to sleep Emmeline was jarred awake by the sound of hooves in the wood behind them. She shook her friend to consciousness.
Squinting at the trees, for the sun was in her eyes, Emmeline waited for the rider to become visible. The lady’s maid, Bridget, gaped at the trees, her eyes wide.
“I think it must be the gentlemen’s hunting party! Miladies, it is unseemly for us to be seen this way. Come, let us return.”
“Wait a moment, Bridget. There is nothing to fear. I feel I know him,” Emmeline soothed her.
Anxious, Bridget began packing their belongings in the basket she had been carrying. She was more worried about the Countess’ disapproval, who had instructed her maid to keep a vigilant eye on the young ladies.
A lovely black horse emerged, with a rider dressed in black, as well. Emmeline frowned. “He looks familiar.”
As he neared them, Emmeline gasped. “Quickly, Ann, tell me how I look!”
“Why?” Ann demanded, biting her lip at Emmeline’s disheveled appearance.
“Because that is the Duke of Newberry,” Emmeline said.
“Oh, good! I do have some words to say to that gentleman.” Ann scowled.
Emmeline patted her hair. “It is too late to pinch my cheeks?”
“You look fine, Em,” Ann lied, pulling one of the twigs out of Emmeline’s hair.
The Duke dismounted from the coal-black horse and stood still. The sunlight behind him gave his darkly-clad figure a glimmering halo. Noah held out his hand and crooked a finger at her in a “come hither” gesture. Emmeline shook her head at him. He gestured even harder.
“The insolence!” Emmeline huffed. “He wants me to go to him.”
“Well, do not!” Ann said firmly.
Ann’s words were dim sounds to Emmeline as she couldn’t move her eyes from the Duke. Before she knew it, Emmeline was rising to her feet and walking towards him. She vaguely heard Ann groan but ordered her, “Stay here.”
“You are very arrogant, Your Grace,” Emmeline commented, halting right in front of the Duke.
“I believe you agreed to call me by my given name, My Lady,” Noah added, playfully. “I have kept my end of the bargain, Emmeline. Try it, say my name.”
“In spite of your…peculiar greeting today, I am glad you are well, Your Gr–Noah.What are you doing here?” Emmeline pressed. “I thought you were at your home in Newberry”
“I was,” Noah admitted. “Lord Bexley is my close friend, and despite all the hubbub about me, he invited me to his home.”
Emmeline was a bit perplexed, “Did the constable not tell you to stay out of social events for some time?”
“I determined that if I do so, I shall look guiltier,” the Duke scowled. “I am anything but a coward and I am assured that the barbs of those who think I am guilty will pay for it when I am absolved. But there is a second reason I am here.”
The look in his eyes changed from righteous indignation to a gentler gaze, and the hard lines in his face softened to a tiny smile. “I had to see you in person, Emmeline, and ask you, have any of the rumors made a mark on you?”
“No,” Emmeline defended strongly, her voice like a whip. “I have never counted idle talk as substantial. In truth, I do not know you all that well, but I know you would never murder someone.”
“What if you were in danger?” Noah asked softly, “Would your opinion of me change if I killed to save you?”
Emmeline was dumbstruck at the Duke’s question. The implications of his words were just too much for her to contemplate then. She swallowed heavily, “It would only enhance your valor in my eyes.”
He chuckled, “You are too gracious for a cad like me–but then again, your goodness may alter the damnable parts in me.”
