Page 22 of The Duke's Scandal
“Oh, Your Grace! You have come to join us, I see.”
Amos blinked, his shoulders dropping. He had not seen Lady Deborah near him. “Lady Deborah, good evening.”
“My mother is just there.” She waved one hand carelessly to her left. “You recall Lady Victoria, yes?”
“Yes, of course.” Amos bowed, sweat breaking out across his forehead, his chest tightening with the feeling of being trapped. “Good evening to you also.”
Lady Victoria smiled but did not drop into a curtsy as Amos might have expected. “Your Grace, good evening.”
Smiling quickly, Amos wondered silently how he might escape this conversation and return inside. It was clear nowthat Lady Isobella was not present outside, which meant he had no cause to linger.
“Are you to disappoint us again, I wonder?” Lady Victoria continued when Amos did not say anything. “You are not to dance, mayhap?”
“I am not certain as yet,” Amos responded, wondering what made the thought of dancing with him so very appealing. “I may yet.”
“You shall have to be quick to make your decision, Your Grace!” Lady Deborah laughed, tapping his arm lightly, her eyes sparkling. “What if you discover that there are to be no young ladies left to dance with you? What if all their dances are taken and you are left quite despondent?”
“Then despondent I shall be,” Amos replied, with a forced smile. “I should excuse myself, for – ”
A sudden sound caught his attention, ripping the rest of his words from his mouth. It sounded like a cry of some kind, albeit quieter than a scream. Had someone been surprised in some way?
“I presume someone did not stay close to the lamps,” Lady Deborah remarked dismissively. “The paths through the garden are not well-lit. It is much more preferable to remain here, I am sure.”
Amos pulled his lips to one side, looking over to the darker part of the gardens. “I hope there is no one in some sort of distress.”
“I am sure there is not.” Lady Deborah shifted her stance so that she stood a little more directly in front of him, blocking his view of the garden. “Now, Your Grace – ”
“It did sound a little troubling to me.” Lady Victoria frowned, her eyes going to Amos, searching his face. “It was as if someone had been startled.”
“Because they did not stay close to the lamps.”Sounding exasperated now, Lady Deborah sighed heavily. “Come now, we need not worry, I am sure.”
The sound came again, a second time, and Amos’ skin prickled. “Mayhap I should go to make certain all is well. Even if someone has only been startled by something, it would be best, mayhap, to make certain all is well.”
Lady Victoria nodded, her eyes flicking from his face to the dark garden and then back again. “It would certainly make me feel a good deal more at ease if you would. We do not want anyone to be in distress.”
“Indeed not.”
Lady Deborah let out a heavy, almost plaintive sigh. “I am quite sure you are both making a good deal of fuss over nothing at all. Whatever it is, there will be nothing whatsoever to worry about.”
“You cannot be sure of that,” Lady Victoria said, quickly. “If the Duke wishes to go, then I am quite supportive of that.”
His mind made up, Amos began to walk away from Lady Deborah and Lady Victoria, still hearing Lady Deborah’s complaints ringing towards him. The garden grounds were not particularly well lit aside from the one area he had been standing in, which gave him some concern. Whatever that cry had been, he had to agree with Lady Victoria – there was some concern there.
“Is everything quite all right?” he called, the moonlight the only way to light his path now. Stumbling over something, he let out an exclamation of frustration, only to stand tall again.
A shadow moved.
“I do not mean to interrupt,” he said, a sudden flush of embarrassment overwhelming him. What if he was interrupting a moment between a gentleman and a lady whomight, unbeknownst to him, be already engaged and stealing only a brief few minutes together? “I must know that all is well, however. I heard something and – ooft!”
Something smacked into him, hard, making him stumble back and knocking into what felt like a thousand needles stabbing him at once. Someone rushed past him, then another. Whispers floated by him as Amos struggled to regain his standing. Every time he put a hand back, something stung his skin, making it rather painful to stand.
“I am nothing but a fool,” he muttered to himself, managing now to right himself and brushing his hands down his clothes. With a sigh, he took a breath, closed his eyes, and then let it out, giving himself a slight shake. He would have to return to Lady Deborah and Lady Victoria and assure them that all was well. Evidently, it had been just as he had feared, hehadinterrupted a moment between lovers. There was nothing here of note at all.
“Lady Victoria?” Coming back to where the ladies had been standing, Amos did not find them. Frowning, he made his way back to the ballroom, walking through the French doors as two other gentlemen followed him.
A frown tugged at his forehead as he stepped inside. A young lady was pointing in the direction of the French doors – Lady Clara, was it not? Walking away from her just as quickly as he could for fear that she, too would pull him into conversation, Amos tried to melt into the crowd but, for some strange reason, many a gentleman and lady were staring at him. Frowning, he continued on his way, wondering just where he might find Lady Isobella.
“Your Grace?”
