Page 21 of Her Duke in Shining Armor
Aaron’s eyes narrowed as the sugar taunted his nostrils. He had forgotten that she knew his love for sweet buns, though he rarely indulged in them, and was now using it as a lure. “And what price must I pay?”
“The lady you were looking at yesterday at Vauxhall,” Lady Darcy said while handing the treat over. “Who is she?”
Aaron groaned internally. He had hoped that Lady Darcy would have missed the exchange but that was the price he was paying for being close to a constable’s wife.
“Lady Eleanor of Brisdane,” Aaron said wryly. “Who would happily sell all her wealth just to have the ferryman take me to deepest pit in Hades’ domain.”
Lady Darcy’s sable eyebrows rose a smidgen, “Why?”
“I was foolish when we first met, she was ten-and-five and I called her a tomboy and then, a couple of years later, I went on to call her spoiled,” Aaron sighed regretfully. He felt as if he was betraying Lady Eleanor with every repetition of his story.
She brushed her fingers off, “Forgive me, but that was incredibly stupid.”
“I noted.”
“But…” Lady Darcy brows contracted a little. “Do you think there is more to it? She seemed rather upset.”
“Of course she was looking upset. She was looking at me, remember?” Aaron replied while pointing to himself. “She hates me and I am not fond of her either. As I see it, her only comfort is in education and her delight is in rebuffing men.”
“My older sister Jane used to be like that,” Lady Darcy mused. “She buried herself in books and outpaced her schoolmates with ease. No one could match her but then Lord Darlian came along. We all thought she was cold, but Darlian had her melting at his feet. You should not simply look at the surface, Aaron.”
“You are the second person to tell me that,” Aaron replied while reflecting on Ambrose’s words. “But even if I wanted to, I have no power to endear her to me, and furthermore, I do not want to.”
“I do not believe you,” Lady Darcy replied. “Drop your pride and show her that you are not the man she thinks you are,” his companion added. “Do something nice…dance with her perhaps.”
Aaron cringed, “That cannot happen…” He then went on to tell her about the Greyson ball and of him impetuously filling in a dance card and giving it to her chaperone.
“You…” Lady Darcy said slowly. “Filled in every slot in the card with your name on it.”
“Yes.”
“And she did not think it amusing?”
“Hardly.”
Lady Darcy’s lips twitched and then a laugh not fitting for a lady of her stature burst forth. She grabbed at his arm as tears ran down her cheeks. Her mirth caused her to lose her balance and she then canted to the side and Aaron rushed to grab her to stop her from falling over. Her soft snickers made him laugh himself.
“Oh, you poor cake-brained man,” Lady Darcy sniffed. “You men are such imbeciles sometimes.”
“I suspect that I should be offended,” Aaron added. “But you have a point. We are the uncivilized sex and we do make fools of ourselves much of the time.”
While dabbing at her eyes, Lady Darcy reached and repacked her picnic basket. “I’ll be taking my leave of you now, darling. I’ll see you this evening for our jaunt to the theatre. Until then, do not let your mind run ahead of you and take over. You might do something even more foolish.”
Aaron stood and helped her up, “What are you planning?”
“Nothing you need to know about now,” she smiled and patted his cheek. “Goodbye, Aaron. No need to escort me out.”
Watching her go, Aaron had to compliment Julius silently. Lady Darcy was a singularity. He kept wondering how she was so optimistic despite her painful past and knew that his friend had certainly found his match. Going back to the room, he put the coffee table back in its spot and went to his desk to work, softly shaking his head.
“What are you going to do, Lady Darcy?”
Chapter 6
Typical,Eleanor snorted as she dropped the letter her father had sent her. He was tied up with matters and would not be in London for a good while. “Trouble with the tenants he says…well if they did not have a tyrant for a master there would not be any trouble.”
Moving away from her desk, Eleanor’s mind ran over the memory of Oberton and the lady friend he had been with. She was pretty and if she was who Oberton was courting, well, good for him.
“Good for him…” she added while making her way to the drawing room. That day had started off well as she had prevailed on the cook to give Maria more food and her entreaty had been received well. She had spent the next few hours reading until the pianoforte began calling her.
