Page 64 of Unchaining the Heart of the Marquess
Chapter 30
Frederick stood at the edge of the pond, absently staring off into the water. The gentle summer breeze rippled across the surface, causing the plants on the banks to sway back and forth in a most hypnotic fashion. Sighing, he closed his eyes as the air moved over him, cleansing his spirit, in some small measure, of the terrible weight that threatened to crush him.
Opening his eyes, he turned back toward the manor house and found his father standing in the library, staring out of the window. Their eyes met in a moment of shared pain. His father nodded in empathetic acknowledgement, then turned away leaving him to his thoughts.
We know each other’s sorrow all too well.
Deciding he could not bear the quiet depressing atmosphere of the house, he changed course and walked to the stables. Saddling his horse he took off down the drive, unsure of where to go, but knowing he had to escape if only for a brief moment. He turned left down the road and gave the horse its head. Coming around a forested bend, he noted a figure approaching in the distance.
As the rider drew closer, Frederick realized that it was Lt. Buckworth carrying a female passenger. His heart quickened, and he urged his horse forward unable to wait for their approach to ascertain whether the lady the lieutenant carried was his mother. As he drew his horse up beside his friend, his heart fell at the sight of his mother’s lady’s maid. In his excitement at the prospect that the soldier had found his mother, he had completely forgotten about the maid.
“My Lord,” Lt. Buckworth greeted, doffing his hat in deference.
“Lieutenant,” Frederick acknowledged, nodding his head in greeting. “Any news of the Duchess?”
“No, My Lord,” Buckworth shook his head sorrowfully. “My apologies for abandoning my post, but I felt it best to return Her Grace’s maid to Chescrown once she had sufficiently recovered from her illness. It did not appear seemly to have an unwed lass living alone with an unmarried soldier like myself.”
“You feared for the girl’s reputation,” Frederick nodded in understanding.
“Yes, My Lord.”
“You are a good and honorable man, Buckworth. No apologies are needed. You did the right thing by returning her safely home to us.”
“Thank you, My Lord. I am relieved that you agree.”
“Of course.”
“Mr. Tatham remains in London to continue the search, and I can return in all due haste, My Lord, now that I have…”
Frederick cut him off, “Nonsense, Lieutenant. I insist that you return with me to the manor house and take your rest before doing anything else.”
“Thank you, My Lord.”
“Not at all. ‘Tis I that owes you gratitude, my friend.”
Frederick turned his horse around and the two men road side by side back to the manor house, depositing their horses with grooms at the stables. Buckworth lifted the maid from his horse and assisted her to the servant’s entrance, then he and Frederick mounted the stairs. “Join me in the library for a brandy?” Frederick offered.
“I would be glad to,” Buckworth accepted gratefully.
The two of them walked to the library, and Buckworth collapsed onto the settee in front of the fireplace. Ringing for the butler, Frederick instructed Mr. Johnson to prepare the lieutenant a hot bath and arrange for food to be brought to the library as quickly as possible. Turning back to his friend, Frederick noted the dark circles beneath his bloodshot eyes. “You look as though you have seen better days, Lieutenant.”
“As do you, My Lord.”
Frederick poured them each a brandy, handed the lieutenant his, and came around to sit across from him. “I fear that Mother’s absence has taken its toll on all of us.”
“I sense there is something else amiss, if you will forgive me for saying so,” Buckworth observed, meeting his eyes. “Is it Miss Merton? Is she still ill?”
“Josephine has recovered, thanks be to God.”
“But…”
“She is to marry the footman Owen Greeves.”
“I see,” Buckworth murmured, looking at Frederick with sincere sympathy. “I am sorry to hear that.”
“As was I.”
“I would imagine so. You are sure that it is serious? There is no hope of her changing her mind?”
