Page 54 of Destined to be a Duchess
“You say that as if you know something that I do not about them,” Anthony replied.
“I assure you that I am as ignorant to whatever passes through Patrick’s head as you are, salacious thoughts and all.” She dropped her voice to a whisper as footsteps sounded from the steps behind them. Their proximity set Anthony’s skin alight, and he held his breath.
“But if you look closely, you will see that Patrick has spent a great deal of time since our return watching Miss Barclay. I think Mr Bowers has developed a little tendresse for the maid, though whether Miss Barclay realizes it, I am yet unsure.”
“And I think you have been reading too much Shakespeare, filling your head with nonsense,” he quipped. Anthony laughedwhen Marianne did, delighted that she could still gossip and amuse herself despite the gravity of their circumstances.
“Well, of course, I have been reading.” Marianne snickered, gesturing at her clothes. “I had to study for my performance this afternoon. Just call me Rosalind.”
Anthony tutted, grateful to see the carriage approaching. “Thankfully, you needn’t make the doctor fall in love with you.”
“As you like it, Your Grace,” she joked, stepping towards the carriage with a playful walk. “But it will not be my fault if he does.”
No, Anthony thought.For unfortunately, you have that way about you.
A few minutes later, Patrick exited the house behind Miss Barclay. Anthony watched them pile into the carriage, searching for evidence of his ‘tendresse’. Like Anthony, Patrick was far from a rake but had enjoyed a few innocent flirtations on the Continent. Anthony didn’t know what his friend looked like in love and was unequipped to tell whether Patrick’s teasing of Miss Barclay was just that,teasingor something more.
Anthony looked back up at the manor, second-guessing his plan before it was even underway. His mother would rightfully have him hung, drawn, and quartered if she discovered that he was putting Marianne in danger. But Marianne had proven time andtime again that she was more resilient than she appeared—and seemed almost excited by her role in his scheme.
Anthony needed to harness his own resilience too if he was going to survive an afternoon in her company while all manner of improper thoughts about her still ravaged him. Their discovery by Eliana, returning to Moorhaven, his promise to make amends ... Nothing that had happened in the last week had discouraged his feelings for her.
Which is precisely why this plan must succeed,he thought, turning towards the carriage.Once Warren is exposed as the fraud I know him to be, Marianne can start living the life she deserves—far from me or close to me, whatever she chooses.
The thought filled him with anxiety as he ducked into the carriage and took his place beside Patrick, fixing his eyes anywhere but on Marianne’s excited face.
“What were you reading this morning?” Marianne asked Patrick as the carriage set off, jostling down the pebbled drive. “Over breakfast ... The letter you received made you look miserable. Was it bad news?”
“It was a letter from my mother, and that in itself is always bad news,” Patrick said, sighing. He straightened the lapels of his grey travelling jacket. “She wrote enquiring whether I had any intention of coming down to London in the autumn.”
“And do you?” Miss Barclay said, surprising Anthony.
“That depends on His Grace,” Patrick replied. “Is the plan still to go to London soon?”
“I admit I have not given the matter much thought since Hagram.” Anthony found himself sighing, too, crossing his arms over his chest. “We should go, and perhaps soon. We will discuss travel arrangements once we are done with the tour today.”
He glanced at Marianne, who understood his meaning. The sooner she was legitimized in the eyes of the court, the better her chances of surviving Eliana’s potential rebuttal.
Relieving him from the duty of conversation, Marianne turned eagerly to Patrick and Miss Barclay, asking Patrick about his home in London and the possibility of visiting his family once they all went down for their individual duties—her meeting with the courts, Anthony’s petition for the Westden title.
Anthony half-listened to the conversation, staring out the window as they drove through the gates of Moorhaven, then along the thoroughfare, until the ecclesiastical spires over Norwich town came into view.
He ordered Plym to park along Little London Street, providing a ten-minute walk to their first destination, St Andrew’s Church.Which just happened to be a five-minute walk in the opposite direction to Doctor De Laurier’s private office.
“You will have to forgive me if I show little enthusiasm for the day’s events,” Patrick muttered, exiting the carriage and stretching out his back. “Playing tourist in one’s own country feels somewhat redundant.”
“Not all of us have the pleasure of exploring the Continent, Mr Bowers,” Miss Barclay said as she followed Marianne onto the street. She smoothed the skirts of her sage green coat. “We ignoble must content ourselves with the artifacts within our reach.”
“You are far from an ignoble,” Patrick shot back, dashing to her side enthusiastically. “I wager you know far more about the world than I do. Your insight today, for instance, will make this chore worth its while, I’m sure.”
“There are guidebooks for that sort of thing,” Miss Barclay replied, seeming more carefree and defiant than Anthony had ever seen her. She turned from Patrick to fix Marianne’s bonnet, likely looking to distract herself from Patrick’s attention.
. “I might show you where to purchase one.”
“And deny me the pleasure of experiencing the churches of Norwich through the lens of your incomparable wisdom?” Helaughed, wagging his finger. “Now, that really is too cruel. Shall we be about it, then?”
With a forced sigh, Miss Barclay allowed Patrick to accompany her down the road, headed towards the church in the near distance. Anthony glanced sideways at Marianne, who looked at him victoriously.
“I told you, didn’t I?” she quipped, taking Anthony into a walk of her own. “It will be no trouble to lose those two today. I doubt they will even notice we are gone.”
