Page 131 of His Duchess in Disguise
“That is simply dreadful, Your Grace. What will become of the poor man?”
“Depending upon the answers Captain Arnault gets from him, possibly nothing. It is no fault of his if Harlow paid him in counterfeit drafts. If he knowingly made payment with counterfeits, then I fear I shall have to devise a gaol cell of some sort for the fellow. I cannot tolerate someone taking advantage of the villagers in this fashion.”
“You don’t have a dungeon handy?” Emma felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“Menhiransten isn’t a castle. It is a manor house. We’ve never had the need for a dungeon. The village constable has a secure room where he can allow a villager or two to sleep off too vigorous a visit to the inn.”
Emma digested that bit of information. “What about other sorts of wrong-doing?”
“We are mercifully short on such things. A little petty theft, a temper lost. Mostly, we put the miscreant to work in the fields until the financial aspect of the transgression is worked off.”
“Is that what will happen to Mr. Blank?”
“It is. His father is one of the village aldermen. He is going to be livid. I fear it will be a very long time before young Blank is allowed to do much more than build rock walls around his father’s fields.”
Emma thought about this for a while. “It seems a bit odd, but I think I am glad that nothing more than that will happen. He didn’t actually touch me, you know.”
“I know. Had he done so, I’m not sure what I would have done. But I promise you, it would be more than sentence him to a year or two of rock picking.”
“Won’t he run out of rocks?” Emma asked.
“Here? Not likely. All we need is a good rain to wash up several new ones.”
“The chalk. Of course.”
“Emma,” the Duke said gently, “I would rather have time to court you gently, but circumstances force me to make haste. Are you truly willing to marry me?”
“Your Grace, I could wish to know you better. But I think I will like being married to you. I am impressed with the care you take of your people, even though Menhiransten came to you unexpectedly. Captain Arnault, Robbie, and Mrs. Chambers speak well of you. I’m even glad of the clemency you grant to Mr. Blank, although he frightened me badly.”
“I could wish the same. To know you better, I mean. But that is what we are granting each other, isn’t it? A lifetime to know one another better?”
“It doesn’t always happen that way, Your Grace. Although it is said that in arranged marriages, the love will come with time, not all of them work out. Look at the sad state of affairs between the Prince Regent and his wife.”
The Duke looked at Emma in astonishment. “I thought you rarely got out and about, and you have only recently been presented.”
“I read the papers, Your Grace. And the servants talk. It is amazing what you can learn by listening to your serving staff, both when they are aware that you are about and when you are not.”
“Well, well. I suppose that is true. But you have not answered my question.”
“I do not think I will dislike being married to you, Your Grace. You seem the soul of gentleness and understanding. Perhaps we will grow into something more than chance-met strangers who are obliging each other’s needs. Do you think it possible?”
“More than possible, Emma. I already have more regard for you than that.”
“Then I believe I shall enjoy being married to you, Your Grace. Or,” her eyes twinkled impishly, “I shall certainly enjoy being married to your library.”
The Duke gave a shout of laughter. “Oh, my! And that is precisely why I think we shall deal famously together. No other woman I have ever met would have been so bold as to say so.”
“I like the owner of the library, too,” Emma made haste to say.
“Oh, Emma,” the Duke reached across the little table that sat between the two chairs and captured her hand. “I am so glad you found Menhiransten when you ran away. If I had met you at one of the court balls, I do not think I could possibly have liked you half as well.”
Emma sighed and looked down. When she looked up again, tears sparkled on the ends of her eyelashes.
“My dear! What is it?” the Duke asked.
“I’m not sure how to answer that,” she replied.
The Duke bowed low over her fingers, kissing them gently. “When you do, please let me know. I wish to do all that is possible to ensure your happiness.”
