Page 30 of Her Duke in Shining Armor
Eleanor knew she was not going to sit by and let chance dictate her next moves. She delighted in being proactive, not reactive. She was the master of her destiny, and despite what it might look like, Oberton was not a part of it.
With the tea drunk, she began rifling through her closet, she heard the maids from the kitchen announce themselves and go on to fill the tub behind the screen. She plucked out the direction card that Darcy had given her and noted she lived in Kensington.
She sent a message to Miss Malcolm that she was about to visit Miss Darcy before she got into the bath. The soft scent of lavender soap and vanilla oil calmed her and found herself languishing in the water for longer than she had planned.
When she came to, she dried off and dressed in sky-blue muslin and a deeper blue spencer jacket. While pinning her hair up a maid came with a message, “My Lady, Lady Darcy is here.”
Eleanor almost dropped the brush—Darcy was there. She cleared her throat, “I’ll be down in a moment, thank you.”
Tugging off the spencer jacket, she placed it over her arm and left the room. Her skirts whispered on the rugs as she descended the stairs. She did not have a set plan of what to say to Lady Darcy but she knew she had to say something.
She had barely got her greeting out when Lady Darcy hugged her. The older woman’s pale blue eyes were contrite. “I am so sorry, Eleanor. I realize that I have not been fair to you. I shouldn’t have pushed you into Oberton’s way when I knew you two had a falling out years ago. I had hoped you’d make peace—and you did—but I not consider how fast it would be for you.”
The wind in Eleanor’s sails whooshed out in a breath. Her indignation had grown with the supposition that Darcy had connivingly shoved her and Oberton together, but this show of remorse made her think she had been off the mark with thinking Darcy to be conniving.
She could have done it wholeheartedly but I’m the one who took it the wrong way.
“I…I…thank you,” Eleanor replied with a sigh. “Come on, let’s sit.”
“If you don’t mind…” Lady Darcy hedged, “Would you mind taking a carriage ride with me? Fresh air would do us good, don’t you think? I see that you were already prepared to go out.”
“I was coming to see you,” Eleanor said wryly and smiled when delight lit up Lady Darcy’s eyes. “So, I suppose a ride would be fine.”
Calling out for a maid, Eleanor sent her to tell Miss Malcolm. “Where though?”
“Regent’s Park,” Lady Darcy replied, “then we can have luncheon at my home in Kensington.”
“Very well,” Eleanor nodded. “Regent’s Park it is.”
While putting the jacket back on, Miss Malcolm walked in, her dark dress and low bun pronouncing her role of chaperone. “Lady Darcy, it’s good to see you. How are you?”
“Very well, thank you. I am craving the fresh air of Regent’s Park and hope you would join us,” Lady Darcy offered.
“I would be delighted,” Miss Malcolm replied.
The smile that lit Lady Darcy’s face forced Eleanor to wonder what secret potion the older woman had to be so lighthearted all the time.
“Wonderful,” Lady Darcy said. “My carriage is waiting.”
As a group, they left the room and descended the short, wide stairs of the townhome to the waiting carriage. The door of the dark carriage harnessed to a pair of nondescript brown horses was opened and the three ladies entered. Lady Darcy tapped the roof and the carriage went off at a middling pace.
The light sable haired lady laid her reticule on her lap and folded her hands on her skirts. “Eleanor…I was not right to push you into seeing His Grace. I think…drat…it is the incurable romantic in me. It is my opinion, misguided as it can be, that you and he could be good for each other.”
“Oberton…” Eleanor said quietly, “…and I would be good for each other?”
“I know it’s not…pretty at the moment, but imagine if you two had not met the way you did? Would you have seen something in him then? Just think about it for a moment.”
Eleanor feared that Darcy’s request would make the same white fog descend on her mind but, strangely her mind was clear. Would she have reacted differently to the Duke of Oberton if he had not insulted her then? If she had met him in an assembly room or a ball or even in the park, would she have seen him differently?
“It is likely,” Eleanor replied. “I know that logically enough Oberton is a good man and for him to take over the dukedom at such a young age, he must be brilliant and hardworking.”
“He is,” Lady Darcy added. “He might act like a nonchalant person all the time but what many do not see is that he stays up late, wakes up early and works. His age is a sticking point for him as he thinks that all the—”
“Please, stop,” Eleanor suddenly said then apologized. “I don’t want to disabuse your efforts, Darcy…but…” and she hesitated in her next words, “I’d prefer to hear these things from him.”
A light lit up Lady Darcy’s face, “You would talk to him then?”
“Just to finish clearing the air between us,” Eleanor admitted while shoving the other reason deep inside. She realized that Oberton was not the person she had believed him to be. Yes, he annoyed her and yes, she knew she annoyed him, but she had enough worries to sort out at home and did not have much more mental space to be constantly thinking about him.
