Page 56 of Her Duke By Accident
“Oh,” a lady’s voice called out, “Your Grace! Funny seeing you out here.”
Looking over his shoulder, he watched the governess Miss Ayles making her way down the stairs towards him. He sighed. “Funny how, miss?”
She laughed. “Just funny.”
“Where might my sister be, Miss Ayles, if not in your care?”
“Lady Lucy preferred solitary reading in the library today,” she explained, now standing beside him. “Shame. It’s a beautiful day.”
Matthew glanced at the governess, and saw a slight smirk on her lips. While she was the last person he wanted to talk to, it seemed that his other choices were slim. “Might I ask you a question, Miss Ayles?”
“Well, of course, Your Grace,” she replied, turning to face him.
“Have you spoken to the duchess about a ball?”
“Yes, Your Grace,” she said. “If you mean the ball she is organizing.”
He sighed. “Has she… confided in you about it at all?”
Miss Ayles smiled sweetly at him. “The duchess has hoped to show the ton her new status for quite some time now.”
He frowned. “Really?”
“Yes, Your Grace. I’m sure you know of the scandal that has rocked her family name. It kept her from debuting when she normally would, and almost ruined the debut of her wild, younger sister.”
“The duchess has never given me the impression that it mattered to her.”
“Well,” she drawled, “some women are quite skilled in manipulation like that, Your Grace.”
“Manipulation?” he repeated, taken aback.
“The last time I spoke to the duchess, I tried to tell her that it wasn’t worth it.” The governess paced around him. “I told her you were too far above it all to be spited by it.”
Matthew shook his head. “Speak plainly, Miss Ayles. What do you mean?”
She gazed up at him through her lashes. “The duchess confided in me just moments ago, Your Grace. The ball is to affirm her station, and when you denied her of it the first time, it became something born of malice instead.”
“So you’re saying,” he slowly said, “that she is planning the ball now in order to anger me?”
“Yes, Your Grace!”
He shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like her at all.”
Miss Ayles appeared by his side, her head tilted with wide eyes. “Forgive my boldness, Your Grace, but how much do you really know about her?”
Matthew eyed her.
She put a hand on her chest. “I feel so much better after telling you.”
Matthew bristled. “Now, now, Miss Ayles. Perhaps you would find your time better spent mentoring my sister.”
She frowned at him. “Of course, Your Grace.” Miss Ayles gave him a bow, and a devilish smirk before she began to make her way back up the stairs into Garvey Manor.
Matthew turned, looking back at the courtyard as the carriage began to make its way around the corner. The sound of Miss Ayles’s steps as she went back up the stairs clung to him like a bad omen. While he was unsure as to why the governess sought to sully his wife’s name, Matthew could still see it, and would not let it go unnoticed. He stole a glance over his shoulder, watchingher disappear into the manor.Perhaps a ball might reveal the rats within my home.
“All will be well,” he told himself, and entered the carriage, leaving Garvey behind.
CHAPTER 15
