Page 3 of A Duchess Mistaken
“If it happened for us, I am certain it could happen for you as well,” Solomon said. He reached for his wife’s hand and squeezed. The adoring look they gave each other made Agnes’ heart clench with hope.
Lord and Lady Sutton had been strangers to each other prior to their marriage. In fact, they had not even met each other until the wedding day itself, due to Mary coming down with a cold just a few weeks prior. It was as much an arranged marriage as any other one in London.
Every time Agnes heard of how their love had begun, she couldn’t believe her parents could have been so short-sighted. It was obvious that they were meant for each other. Aside from the fact that they physically looked together—both with dark hair and dark eyes and their heights complementary to the other—their personalities balanced each other out. While Solomon tended to be serious and matter-of-fact, Mary liked to tease and poke fun at others, especially her husband.
Agnes took after her father for the most part. Not only had she inherited the shade of his hair, a lighter brown than Mary’s, but she also adopted his love for knowledge, with a good eye for numbers and a keen indulgence in the sciences. And like her father, she hoped to find someone as light-hearted and jovial as her mother. Someone to balance her like her mother balanced her father. And then one day, someone to love her.
It made what was about to happen all the more nerve-wracking. This would be the third gentleman she would try to determine a future with. Agnes wasn’t sure how many she could reject before she came across the right one.
She opened her mouth to ask something else but the carriage began veering to the right. Her heart banged against her ribcage when she saw that they had arrived at Claymore Castle.
It was stunning. The entire building was lit up so brilliantly it was a wonder she had not noticed it before their arrival. Even under the cover of darkness, she could admire the stately structure. Balconies lined the upper floors, bay windows adorning nearly every inch. Trellis crept up the left side of the castle and a few trees poked up next to it. Agnes was willing to bet the path that led to the left would bring her to the gardens.
“Paul!” Solomon called sharply.
Her brother jolted away. “Huh? What?”
“We have arrived,” Mary drawled, her voice tinged with the barest hint of amusement. “Heavens with all the sleeping you have done, I doubt you will find rest tonight.”
“You know how tired long trips make me, Mother,” Paul said as he yawned. Shadows played across his face, deepening his jaw more than it actually was. For a few brief moments, he looked far older than his seven-and-ten years.
But then he sent Agnes a cheeky grin and said, “You look as if you wish to use the restroom.”
Agnes scowled. Solomon sighed. Mary hid a smile.
“And you have dried drool on your cheek,” Agnes countered, then looked away as her brother furiously began scrubbing his cheeks. They were clean of drool, but she had no intention oftelling him that. If he intended to be immature, then she could very easily stoop to his level.
She hadn’t been like him at his age. Granted, she’d easily surpassed her studies by the time she was five-and-ten and had begun helping her father with the business. Agnes had a passion for such things while Paul…Paul simply liked to do anything that did not require too much energy. Their father found it endlessly frustrating and their mother hopelessly adored it.
“I hope I need not remind you of how you should conduct yourself while we are being hosted by the duke,” Solomon lectured with a stern look directed mostly at Paul. “One mistake and we may very well ruin a good relationship with an influential figure.”
“I thought you two were acquainted,” Agnes pointed out, raising her brow.
“Not enough that we cannot easily get unacquainted.”
“You’re making this vacation sound dreadfully dull, Father,” Paul sighed.
Solomon scowled and was about to say something when Mary laid a hand on his arm.
“Try not to forget that His Grace invited us tovacationwith him, dear. Yes, it would be nice if we grew close during this time, but we should try to enjoy ourselves at the same time.”
Agnes saw the fight go out of her father in an instant. “You’re right, dear,” he said. And that was that.
The door opened a moment later and one of the duke’s footmen reached out a hand to help her out. Agnes allowed herself to be guided out of the carriage. She didn’t pay much mind to her parents and brother exiting the carriage, nor to the second carriage pulling up in the rear bearing their luggage. She wandered instead to the row of shrubbery lining the side of the driveway. Slowly, she traveled along the side of it, letting her eyes trail from the shrubs to the trees to the trellis crawling up the side of the house. She tried to decipher what the genus of the plants were, despite her limited vision.
“Agnes?” came her mother’s voice.
Agnes turned to face her and her ankle instantly twisted. She let out a yelp, throwing her hands out to break her fall.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around her a second later. The scent of the person holding her assaulted her first. Musky and manly, the cologne clearly an expensive one. The muscles bunching against her minor ones was the second thing she noticed and she flushed at how safe she felt within the arms of this stranger.
At last—though it was only a second—she looked up at him, words of gratitude on the tip of her tongue.
They died the moment she locked eyes with the most handsome gentleman she had ever seen.
No words came to her mind, nothing capable of doing him justice. Black hair cropped to his face, a pair of soft lips set in a hard line, a strong jaw. His eyes were the brightest shade of blue she’d ever seen and she couldn’t help but wonder how they would look in the daylight.
“Thank you,” Agnes managed to say, her voice barely above a whisper.
