Page 22 of A Duke Under Her Spell
“It would seem so. I will go and let you get back to entertaining your guest.” Marybeth shook her head in reproachful humor and then returned to the house. Tired, she went and laid down for a moment closing her eyes. She was not sure how long she slept, but she was startled awake by the sound of someone walking about in her room. Opening her eyes, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the pale white face of the man that Lady Cordelia had claimed to be a ghost peering down at her.
“Who are you?” she cried out scrambling back against the headboard. “What do you want?” Marybeth was terrified and frantic. She prayed that someone would hear her and come to her rescue.
The man said nothing but moved away from her and out into the hall where he turned the corner and disappeared. Marybeth scurried out from beneath the bed covers and raced out into the hall with a fireplace poker ready to hit the man if needed. Once again, she found no one there and no sign that there had ever been anyone.
“What is the matter?” Felix’s deep voice asked her from behind.
“Oh, you are back. I was unaware that you had returned,” she answered startled.
“Yes, only just. I escorted Lady Cordelia to Bredon and returned directly thereafter. How is Mother?”
“She is resting comfortably in her room with her lady’s maid at her side.”
“You still haven’t answered my question. What has you so upset that you felt the need to arm yourself?” he asked gesturing toward the fire poker.
“Lady Cordelia’s ghost.”
“You saw the man again?”
“Yes, this time he was in my bedchamber while I was sleeping. He frightened me.”
“I would say so! That is unacceptable! The blackguard should be run through for his tomfoolery.”
“I will admit that I find it to be a violation, but he did not harm me. As inconvenient as his presence is, I do not think that running him through will accomplish anything.”
“It might teach the oaf some manners.”
“Perhaps so, but it is clear that there is something afoot at Arkley Hall. Something unnatural perhaps, perhaps not, but certainly out of the ordinary. I searched and searched the area in which he disappeared the first time and found nothing. There was no means of escape that I could see.”
“Let us do the same here together. I will take this side of the corridor and you can take the other.”
“Very well,” Marybeth agreed and they both began examining every surface to find signs of his escape route. They searched and searched, but once again came up with nothing.
“If this continues, I am going to be tempted to tear down a wall.”
“Let us hope it does not come to that. It would be a shame to damage your beautiful home.”
“Until further notice, I do not wish for either you or my mother to be left alone unguarded. If he is willing to violate the sanctity of a young lady’s bedroom, then there is no telling what he is capable of. I cannot be responsible for risking either of your safety. Perhaps it would be best if you took up residence in my mother’s dressing room for a time until this passes and the culprit is caught?”
“I appreciate the offer, but if he is a ghost as Lady Cordelia claims, then something as insignificant as a wall is not going to stop him.”
“I do not believe in ghosts or any other such nonsense.”
“So, you do not believe in the witch of Blackleigh Castle then?”
“Nay, I do not.”
Marybeth smiled. “My grandmother would have liked you very much. She held great affection for those with a mind to think for themselves.”
“I am sure that I would have liked her as well. Any woman who raised you must be a magnificent woman indeed.” Their eyes met and held for a moment. Marybeth felt as if the world was spinning as she gazed into his deep green eyes. “You are quite unlike any woman I have ever met,” he murmured lost in the moment as much as she.
“As are you, Your Grace, quite unlike any other nobleman, but my experience is lacking in variety to compare.”
The Duke chuckled. “I assure you that I am quite ordinary in every respect.”
“Somehow I doubt that very much.”
“You are probably right. I doubt that there are very many noblemen among the peerage who have a ghost walking their halls, or perhaps this is a common occurrence among the corridors of the ton.”
