Page 44 of The Duke Who Loved a Widow
Robert took the weight of the basket, and she saw she wasn’t needed. They walked together in companionable silence, and she gasped in wonderment at the rugs and a table for the food to be set out. Of course, this was a picnic for a duke, and it looked as if it might be a very pleasant occasion.
“Mama, mama, come and look at the boat. We’re about to put it in the water. We’re just waiting for Mr Brown and Lord Robert to help us push it.” Henry couldn’t hide his excitement.
What a scene, she thought. There was Dash, with Mickle, following the boys and looking interested in everything they did. Emma stood to one side, talking to Nathaniel.
And then from the other path appeared Elinor and the dowager duchess, accompanied by Jim, the stable hand, carrying a second sizeable basket.
“We couldn’t miss seeing the boat launched,” said Elinor. “Have you just arrived?”
“Yes,” said Arabella. “I’ve brought the pony and trap and a very large hamper filled by the cook. I’m not sure we’ll be able to eat it all!”
The three ladies settled on the rugs on the ground, spreading their skirts around them. Arabella gasped when two footmen arrived, clearly expecting to serve the picnic on china plates.
She felt a moment of pride seeing that Mrs Alton’s contributions measured up to those of the chef at Castle Montbury.
Henry and Freddy showed the dowager duchess their sketches and work on the project. Elinor complimented her son on the neatness of his writing, and he glowed with pleasure.
Henry told Arabella how to age a tree by counting the rings in its bark and showed her a bark rubbing he’d done that morning.
As soon as Jason Brown returned, they went to the edge of the lake to watch the boat being launched. Robert was clearly in charge as they pushed the wooden frame to the lake edge and heaved it onto the water with a final effort. Robert surprised them all by jumping into the boat as it left the land. He reached out a hand for Henry, then Freddy, and Nathaniel handed them over to him.
Would they sink? It didn’t matter, thought Arabella, they were having such fun.
Robert held a metal pail, ready to bail out water, but the old wooden boat seemed almost watertight. “There’s a little water coming through, but it’s between the joints, and that’s normal after a wooden boat hasn’t been in the water for a long time. By tomorrow, the joints will have swelled up and closed together,” he explained.
All she could hear was the excited shouting of the boys. They fell silent for a moment, and Robert called out that he was going to row them a little way into the lake.
The boys waved as they rowed off along the edge of the lake.
“You mustn’t worry,” said the dowager duchess. “Robert spent longer on that lake than he did in the castle when he was growing up. I think you were down here much of the time, too, until I decided it was time for you to start behaving like a young lady,” she said to Elinor.
“Quite right, Mama,” replied Elinor, “and I’m going to shock you now and tell you that tomorrow I am going to climb into that boat and sail on the lake.”
“I believe I might join you,” said Arabella, smiling.
“There isn’t room for three adults and two small boys in that boat.” The dowager duchess laughed. “If there were, I might be tempted myself. It’s been many years since I rowed to the island in the middle with your father.” A dreamy expression came over the dowager duchess’ face at the memory.
“I suspect you might be the best at rowing in the family,” said Elinor, laughing. “Now let’s get this food sorted out as the boys, and I include my brother Robert as a boy, are going to be hungry after their adventure.”
At that moment, she heard the sound of voices, and a man, who reminded her a little of Robert, accompanied by one ofthe most elegant women she had ever seen, joined them on the lakeshore.
“How quaint,” said the woman. “You’re having a picnic. Your Grace, how modern you all are.”
To Arabella, the words carried a hint of sarcasm and disdain.
She moved over to the table and lifted the lid of the wicker baskets. “It’s a feast. I’m so sorry we can’t join you, but I have an appointment in town. It was such a lovely day we thought we’d look at the lake before the confines of the carriage.”
Again Arabella couldn’t help feeling that this was all beneath the new arrival.
The woman’s focus of interest then turned to Arabella. The dowager duchess came forward to make the introductions. “Lady Arabella Farrington and Miss Emma Thraxton, I’d like to introduce you to Rosalind, Duchess of Wyndale, and my son, Simon, Lord Orsdale.”
The dowager duchess paused and smiled at The Duchess of Wyndale before saying, “And they are engaged to be married.”
Arabella offered her congratulations, feeling quite comfortable with social etiquette. Emma appeared besideherself with nerves, seemingly tongue-tied and in awe of this great lady.
As the dowager duchess led her son and his betrothed to look at the wooden boat out on the lake, Emma whispered to Arabella, “She must send for those clothes from Paris. I’ve never seen anyone as grand.”
They left Lord Orsdale at the lakeshore and returned to take a glass of lemonade before returning to the castle. Arabella found herself talking with The Duchess of Wyndale.
