Page 37 of A Duchess Mistaken
“Miss Agnes,” came his voice and she was quick to turn around.
“Yes?” she asked, mentally cursing herself for how eager she sounded.
The duke’s face was impassive, but his eyes flashed with far too many emotions for her to name. “I should apologize for how curt I was with you earlier.”
“There is no need to, Your Grace. You had every right to say what you did.”
“Perhaps I had the right to, but it does not mean that I should have. Nor should I have been so cold in my manner of speech. It is quite unbecoming of a duke. And I cannot blame you for being curious about what you’d walked in on.”
Agnes hesitated. It wasn’t lost on her that they were alone together in the middle of the night, not very far from her chambers. Propriety dictated that they go their separate ways as quickly as possible, lest they were caught.
Right now, Agnes didn’t care about propriety. Satisfying her curiosity came first, as it always did.
“Was Her Grace not feeling well tonight?” she asked softly.
The duke sighed softly. He meandered over to the wall, leaning against it as he tucked his hands into his pockets. Agnes had never seen him so…of-guard.
“Mother has not been well for quite some time now.”
“What does your physician say?”
He shook his head. “I do not think a physician will be able to help her. She has not been the same since Father’s passing.”
“Oh.” She hesitated. An air of sadness had descended upon the duke so rapidly that Agnes had been wholly unprepared for it. She didn’t know how to console someone she barely knew.
As if he sensed her uncertainty, he straightened, pulling his shoulders back. In a second, the duke had returned.
“I do not mean to burden you with my family matters,” he said. “I only wished to relieve my guilt by apologizing. I do not think I would have been able to sleep tonight had I not.”
Agnes was tempted to continue their conversation. Even though she wasn’t sure how to comfort him and didn’t know the rightwords to say to him, she wanted to know more. She wanted to understand why it suddenly seemed as if he was carrying a deep sadness that he could not be rid of.
But the moment had passed and she had no idea how to get it back.
So she nodded. “Believe it or not, Your Grace, that very same reason is why I left my chambers in the first place. I thought to fetch a glass of milk so that I may finally get some rest.”
“Guilt?” he asked, but then shook his head. “I find that hard to believe. You have nothing to be guilty for. Perhaps?—”
“I do,” she interjected. “Prying is a rather unbecoming habit of mine, you see.”
“Ah, I do see. So I shall add that to the list of things to understand about you, Miss Agnes. You are terrified of horses and you love prying into others’ lives.”
Had it not been for the twinge of humor she detected in his voice, Agnes might have felt offended at that. Instead, she thinned her lips to keep her smile at bay.
“Will I not be able to convince you that I am not terrified of horses?”
“Your scream still echoes in my ear, Miss Agnes. I do not think that is a feat you will be capable of.”
“I am capable of many, many things you could not even fathom, Your Grace.”
“Oh?”
“And one of those things, is convincing others to do or think what I wish. You should take care not to forget that.”
The duke tilted his head to the side, his smile a warm and welcoming smile. “Will I even be able to detect it happening?”
“If you are astute enough.”
“Something tells me you do not think that I am.”
