Page 55 of The Duke Who Loved a Widow
“We know that King Henry the Eighth wrote this song,” said Elinor. “It’s one of my favourites.”
“It’s lovely,” said Arabella. She closed her eyes, listening to the music and the harmonies. When she opened them, she looked around and found herself gazing into the blazing blue eyes of the duke.
He held her gaze, and she found it difficult to look away. She felt warmth spreading throughout her body and welcomed the sensation. In a split second she decided to smile at the duke and took a deep breath as he smiled back and raised one eyebrow in his usual wry style.
In a moment, he was standing beside her. “Pray sit, Your Grace,” she suggested, indicating the empty seat next to her. “I see I have been abandoned by my cousin Emma. I suspect theReverend Nathaniel Colbrooke has arrived,” she said, laughing. “I know they always seem to have much to talk about.”
The band finished playing and moved on to introducing the next song. “I think we all know this one,” Arabella said. “The bouncy rhythm always makes me smile.” She joined in with those singing around her, and her light soprano voice sang out the story of Bobby Shafto.
She noticed how the duke looked disdainfully towards his brother as he joined in the song.
Of course, she thought, how clumsy of me to mention this song. It is all about a lost love, and if I remember rightly, Bobby Shafto broke the heart of his fiancée, Bridget Belasyse, and married a rich heiress instead.
The duke had joined in, and she closed her eyes and listened to his baritone voice. Well done, she thought, that can’t have been an easy one to sing.
They went to find the pies and savoury treats while listening to Emma and the Reverend Colbrooke singing the gentle ‘Greensleeves’ as a duet.
As the duke escorted her to the table piled high with cold cuts, he spoke quietly to her. “I find that I am lucky enough to have a delightful partner with actual green sleeves this evening,” he commented, noting the colour of her dress.
“You’re right, Your Grace. I am wearing green again this evening,” she agreed.
“The colour becomes you. All those shades of green in the summer forest. And I am doubly blessed that you also have green eyes. I believe this song might have been written for you.”
“I do like it very much. I also know that it may possibly have been written by Henry the Eighth to his second wife Ann Boleyn, and I wouldn’t want to suffer her fate,” declared Arabella.
“A French swordsman to chop off his queen’s head …”
“Poor woman. She knew she would die in that way.” Arabella paused. “And to leave her tiny daughter without a mother. Such sadness.”
Arabella realized the duke was looking at her strangely as if he was seeing her for the first time.
“Let’s not be melancholy,” he said. “It’s an evening for joy. What a splendid idea Thomas had to host a different sort of evening. What shall we call it … a summer soiree for the village?”
“And I thank you for the compliments, Your Grace,” said Arabella, smiling at the duke.
“Arabella, Robert,” called Elinor. “Can you come and join us? We’re going to sing Scarborough Fair. You can lead as baritone. The Reverend Colbrooke will join you as a tenor. I’ve told Mr Fanshaw that we’ll sing in a few minutes.
Elinor, the duke, Reverend Colbrooke, and Emma stood together as the introduction began quietly, becoming louder as each of their voices joined the song. The mood changed in the Beehive Tavern as the audience stopped talking and listened to the hauntingly beautiful melody.
As she sang, Arabella listened to the words sung by the duke’s strong, deep tones, telling an ancient story of two lovers at cross purposes, both insecure about how they felt about each other.
The words are almost like a poem, she thought. I wish I could write something this beautiful.
She felt tears in her eyes, knowing that the lovers were setting each other such impossible tasks to prove their love, that they would never succeed and be together.
How often do we sabotage our chances of happiness? she wondered.
At that moment, Arabella saw the barriers people so often placed in the pathway to love. The man and woman loved eachother, yearning to be together forever, yet they destroyed all possibility of happiness through the ridiculous tests they set.
In the final verse, Elinor gestured to her and the duke to stop singing and let Emma and Nathaniel carry the song to its bittersweet conclusion. The two voices chased each other through the notes, never quite coming together in harmony until the last line.
Emma and Nathaniel sang of their own love, and she envied them the joy they had found in each other's company. As the applause broke out and they returned to their group she looked towards the duke and found his gaze upon her again. She had a sudden impulse to move towards him and step into his arms. Instead, she kept her feet firmly focused on staying where she was.
When he smiled gently, his eyes twinkling in the torchlight, her heart melted, and she felt a cool balm of contentment flooding through her body and giving her strength. This felt so different from the racing pulse and excitement she had felt earlier that day. This felt like a safe harbour, after long days on a turbulent sea.
Chapter 19
As he stood bowing to the audience, Robert reflected that only his sister Elinor could have cajoled him into singing a ballad in a tavern. His sister had a way of organizing people and creating an event. There had been no plan for them to sing that evening, but Elinor had suddenly had an idea and immediately made it happen.
