Page 81 of Her Duke By Accident
Alicia waited for him.
Entering the dining room with higher hopes than he expected, Matthew saw only the governess poised at the table, sipping leisurely from a blue teacup. His eyes narrowed as he passed through the threshold. A few fragments of broken ceramic lined the floor, scattering droplets of tea accompanying them.
“Good morning, Miss Ayles,” he finally said.
Her head shot up, surprise laced in her wide eyes. “Your Grace,” she replied while bowing her head lightly. “Could I pour you a cup of tea?”
“No, thank you, Miss Ayles,” he said. “Have you seen Her Grace yet?”
She frowned. “For just a moment, Your Grace.”
“Only a moment?”
“Well, she was in quite a hurry.”
Matthew tilted his head as he crossed the room, pulling back the curtain to peer out of the window. “What for?”
“I couldn’t say, Your Grace.”
Glancing over his shoulder at her, Matthew raised a suspicious brow. “I do not appreciate your side-stepping, Miss Ayles.”
“It is anything but, Your Grace.”
Matthew stood directly behind her seat, seeing a piece of paper folded and slightly hidden beneath her palm. “What is it that you aren’t telling me?”
“I only wish to shield you,” the governess said, looking up at him with wide doe-eyes. The maroon dress she wore shone unpleasantly against her face, as though her skin was hot to the touch.
“Patronizing me won’t help you.”
“Do you see me in such a villainous light, Your Grace, to believe I’d trick you with my words?”
Matthew pulled the seat out beside her, gently taking a seat. “Miss Ayles,” he began, “do not give me reason to regard you in a villainous way. I will say, my patience wears thin. If something has happened that you are not telling me, I will uncover it one way or another, and you will not appreciate me if it comes to that.”
The governess watched him silently. Her lip perked up in a smug smirk. “If you so wish, Your Grace,” she said with an exasperated sigh. Pulling the folded up paper from her lap, Miss Ayles set it down on the table. “Go right ahead.”
Matthew eagerly snatched it up, removing himself from the table at once. As if she could read it over his shoulder, Matthew retreated to the window, unfolding the letter and examining it underneath the quiet sunlight.
“Matthew, it is with a burdened heart that I must leave Garvey. Despite it all, I cannot accept a fraudulent marriage to be my future. I would rather carry the shame of a tainted virtue with me for the rest of my life than allow myself to be your duchess. I will be long gone by the time you read this — take it as a blessing.
With regards, Alicia.”
As though the sun reflected him, a series of dark clouds cascaded across the land, dimming the sun on that quiet morning. Matthew reread the letter. He read it a third and a fourth time. The words echoed throughout his head as though hisduchess had spoken them, her voice so much crueler than he remembered.
Cruel?He thought to himself.When has she ever been cruel?
“This…” Matthew began, his voice trailing off as he lacked the words to say.
Footsteps echoed through the small room.
“It is venomous, Your Grace,” Miss Ayles said, sounding a lot closer than he thought she was.
Lowering the note, Matthew gazed out the window as Renfield trimmed a series of bushes. “Perhaps,” he whispered, remembering the stare his father’s portrait judged him with, “I was too late.”
“Your Grace?” the governess questioned, unable to hear him.
“Perhaps there was no patience left to give.”
Miss Ayles appeared at his side. “What were you saying?”
