Page 74 of The Wolf and the Wildflower
James’s heart started to pound. “The anniversary of his death looms.”
“Yes,” she said gently. “I no longer spend it weeping but in conversation with him. You might think it silly, but I feel as if your father is here with me. Even when I sleep, I feel his arms wrapped around me and I am comforted.”
“There is nothing about you I find silly. You are a woman of strength, Mother.”
Her lips parted in surprise, and she stared at him as if she did not know what to make of him in that moment.
“And your strength amazes me, my son,” she said with another smile, reaching over to touch him.
He froze, and as she snatched her hand back, James reached for it and held it between his. It was not an unpleasant feeling. His mother stared at where they touched. When she looked up at him, unshed tears brimmed in her gaze. Unable to hold that connection for too long, James slowly released her. She did not seem to mind it, for she beamed at him, her happiness naked on her face.
“Do you believe you will be ready to dance with Lady Emelia at the ball in town?”
That coldness whispered through him. “With some contrivance it might be bearable.”
Though the duchess nodded, worry burned in her eyes, reminding him how much she still needed for him to present the perfect facade to the world.
James stood, leaned forward, and brushed his lips over her cheek. “I shall return to Hertfordshire in a few days.”
As he walked toward the woods, the tension loosened itself around his neck.
“James?”
At that soft entreaty he paused and turned to face his mother. She was looking behind him into the darkened woods.
“No duchess of yours will be able to accept that you spend most of your time…there. You do not sleep in your bed or dine formally with your family!”
From the rough frustration in her tone, he surmised not even his mother accepted it.
“You will need to give up any sort of behavior that…that might give the impression you are…savage and…” Her lips tightened over whatever words she meant to say.
James gave no answer, merely turned back around, that dark wash of humor filling him once more. What did the world truly know of savagery? That amusement eased and an odd sort of bleakness filled him. A sense that taking a wife might be akin to placing himself in a tightly confined cage of expectation that he would never be able to meet scythed through him. He thought of this phantom creature who might swoon and wilt at his supposed savagery and unrefined manners. James frowned, but all thoughts of this wife he would need to pick crumbled as he ventured deeper into the woods, the scent of his wildflower reaching him and calming the tempest.
…
A couple days later the Marquess of Linfield took the duke and Jules out on the town. First they visited a popular drinking establishment for gentlemen. They tried the ale and Jules struggled to keep up with their drinking, making sure to swap tankards with James when Linfield went to the jakes, thus avoiding drinking too much. There were cards and dice being played at other tables but no heavy gambling as there would be in a gaming house.
“Are you going to play cards or dice, my lord?” Jules asked.
“The bit I experienced of gambling bored me. That is what I will tell Linfield if he wants to take us to a gambling den. Don’t worry—I won’t let you be fleeced by the sharpers in Town.”
She jutted her chin and affected her most mincing drawl, “I am brilliant at gambling, my good duke. There is no need to worry I’ll be taken advantage of.”
James’s lips quirked in a smile. “Are you?”
“Hmm, the lads at University thought they could defeat me many times. I took pleasure in correcting those assumptions. I must take you to theAcolytes, a very notorious gambling hell that only caters to the elites of London.”
He lifted a brow. “A regular, are you?”
Jules laughed. “I was not lofty enough to gain admittance…but you…they will trip over themselves for their enigmatic and possibly feral duke to attend, and since I am your most loyal…erm, friend, how can I not take advantage and dazzle you with my skills at poker?”
“Poker?”
“Aye,” she drawled, leaning back in her chair. “Many said it was our Queen who demanded to know the rules after hearing about it. It was introduced in theAcolytesonly a few months ago, according to the scandal rags.”
James’s eyes gleamed with amusement. “You read the scandal rags. A creature of such interesting facets.”
She took a sip of her ale. “An annoying love inherited from my mother. The stories can be rather titillating.”
