Page 85 of Last Night with the Duke
The door opened. He didn’t ask if he could come in and she didn’t try to stop him as he walked past her into the office. She looked tired. Sad. She clutched the brown woolen shawl she’d been wearing the first day he saw her around her slim shoulders.
She avoided his eyes when she said, “We have nothing to say to each other.”
“We do, but I want to talk to Josephine first.”
“That’s not possible. I’m sure she doesn’t wants to see anyone. She’s been quite upset.”
Griffin grunted softly at her rejection. She’d spoken with that authoritative tone she’d used with Miss Pennywaite. It had scared the governess right down to her unmentionables, but it wasn’t going to work with him.
“I will see her, Esmeralda,” he said calmly.
Again she didn’t look at him. He watched her spine stiffen, and he almost smiled. She hadn’t lost her spunk. Good. That was the Esmeralda he wanted to confront.
“Only if she agrees to see you. I won’t force her. I’ll ask but if she says no, you’ll have to respect her wishes.”
Griffin had to think about that. He wasn’t good at just accepting something he didn’t want to accept, but should he force Josephine to see him if she didn’t want to?
Finally he said, “I agree.”
“Wait here. I’ll go ask her.”
“I’ll just follow you.”
For a second, he thought she was going to argue. Instead, she turned and led him out into a narrow, unlit corridor where they climbed a set of steep stairs to the top of a landing that dead-ended into a door. She opened it and they entered.
It wasn’t a large or fancy area but it was orderly. The draperies had already been drawn. A single lamp burned on a side table and a bed of hot coals added warmth to the room. There was a floral printed settee in the center of the room; an armchair was placed in front of it with a small tea table between them. Two unlit sconces and a painting of an Irish hillside dotted with sheep were the only things hanging on the walls.
Griffin’s admiration for Esmeralda grew. She had made a relatively nice and safe home for herself and Josephine. He didn’t know any other young lady who had accomplished so much, and to have done it without the help from her family was commendable.
“Josephine has been in her bed since we arrived home yesterday afternoon,” Esmeralda said, leaving all warmth out of her voice again and still refusing to look into his eyes. “She didn’t sleep at all last night. Or today. She’s very tired.”
“I won’t keep her long but I must see her.”
Esmeralda nodded and then disappeared into a room.
He waited only a few moments, and Josephine walked out in a gray quilted dressing gown. Her red hair hung limp and tangled about her shoulders. Her eyes were swollen and her nose and cheeks were red. At that moment, Griffin knew he loved her as much as he loved Sara and Vera. Josephine was his sister too. He wanted to take care of her so that she never had a reason to cry again. And, as he had with Esmeralda, he’d see to it that she never wore the unattractive color gray again either.
She curtsied. “Good evening, Your Grace.”
He bowed. “Josephine. I’ve come to see you how are you doing.”
“All right, I guess.”
“I’ll put a kettle on the fire and heat some chocolate,” Esmeralda said and then glanced at him for the first time that evening. “I’m sorry I don’t have anything stronger to offer you.”
Her gaze was weary and wary. A stab of self-inflicted pain tightened his chest, and he knew he never wanted Esmeralda to be wary of him again.
“Chocolate’s fine,” he said softly and when she turned away, he looked at Josephine and said, “Will you come sit with me on the settee?”
She nodded, and he waited until she made herself comfortable with her hands folded in her lap before he settled himself beside her.
“It’s been a sad couple of days for you, hasn’t it?”
She nodded again but didn’t speak.
“I didn’t know what had happened to Napoleon until earlier today. I would have come yesterday if I’d known.”
“It’s all right,” she said in a very grown-up voice. “I didn’t want to see anyone yesterday.”
