Page 45 of Yours Truly, the Duke
Like thee, my love will blossom till the last!
Fredericka closed her book and observed the duke’s beautifully appointed drawing room. It was such a peaceful place to sit and read. Four tall windows allowed an abundance of afternoon sunshine to light the room and show off the exquisitely detailed porcelain of vases, bowls, and figurines intricately placed about the room.
Expertly made draperies of a pale rose-colored velvet adorned the room and looked as soft as butter. Over each window, the cornice above the floor-to-ceiling panels was draped with lush swags trimmed with rows of small dark-ivory tassels. Larger ones held the fabric to each side of the window.
A tall, ornately carved gilded mirror hung over the fireplace. The four walls were elegantly and beautifully crowded. There was hardly a space that didn’t have a painting of some size covering it. Some were large, with lavish frames and bracketed by a series of smaller ones, while others were of a simple nature. Landscapes weremixed with still lifes and portraits, and garden scenes were paired with dogs, horses, and sheep. But somehow, they all seemed to fit perfectly together.
Fredericka’s eyes kept going back to the painting of a garden in full bloom of summer. In the forefront was a white bench with a lady’s straw hat and book lying on top of it. It looked to be the perfect place for reading or writing poetry.
She turned away from the art to Bella and Elise sitting on opposite ends of the flower-printed damask-covered settee. Charles occupied the identical one facing them. Miss Litchfield seemed most comfortable in a cozy wingback by the window overlooking a small, beautifully structured knot garden, while Fredericka had taken the stiff-cushioned, straight-back armchair near the doorway.
After a rather hectic morning of helping the governess get the children dressed, fed, and working on their lessons, while simultaneously keeping them as silent as possible, things had settled down to a bit of peacefulness. Now Fredericka was allowing them time to do something they wanted. As long as they were quiet so they wouldn’t wake the duke.
Elise was intently studying over her embroidery sample of a pretty rose and leaf pattern. Charles played with his carved horse and man, letting them gallop over his legs, around the arm of the settee, and up the scrolled back. Bella was whispering to her doll and drawing on her chalkboard. Keeping her eyes mostly on the window, Miss Litchfield was busy making strokes with her pencil in a little drawing booklet she carried with her everywhere.
Fredericka seemed to be the only one who wasn’t content with what she was doing—reading the only book she’d brought with her to London. And it was no wonder. Wyatt was on her mind.
A place he’d occupied since she’d met him.
Today thoughts of him were especially vivid as she remembered his kisses. They were much more exciting than pleasant as she’d told him. They were thrilling, and it was distressing he knew that. He kissed her with such tender passion her breath left her lungs. Not only that, she wasn’t sure she could trust a man who would burn poetry books. At the very least they should have been given away to someone who appreciated verse. It didn’t seem the kind of thing a human would do. Only a monster. But he was the best-looking monster she’d ever seen.
She couldn’t imagine a reason for such an appalling act. Not that any excuse would be good enough. She probably didn’t want to know anyway. All books were a treasure to be cared for properly and shared with others for their enjoyment, enlightenment, or education. By the duke’s tone of voice and the intense look in his eyes, there was no doubt he’d spoken the truth. Worse, she didn’t think he was sorry for what he’d done.
She remembered good things about him too. He was the man who had saved her from possibly marrying someone who sniffed constantly. And because of the duke’s generous allowance, she was close to hiring an additional governess. Now that she was in London, she would find someone to come to Paddleton and help Charles with his stuttering. It wasn’t getting worse, but it wasn’t getting any better either.
Remembrances of those few minutes in his arms forced their way into her thoughts and crowded out all other contemplations. Which was bad enough, but each time the memories filled her with that uncontrollable feeling called anticipation, making her want to relive them all over again.
If that didn’t give her enough to consider, there was the fact that she really didn’t know what to think abouta man who slept away more than half the day. It was a couple of hours past noon already and he still hadn’t come belowstairs. She had even asked Burns just to make sure she hadn’t missed him.
Perhaps the best way to get Wyatt off her mind was to have the conversation with the children she had been avoiding all day. She steadied her breath, rose, placed her book in the chair, and walked over to stand between the two settees.
“While I have all of you here together,” she started, waiting for the three children to make eye contact with her. “I wanted to let you know that we won’t be returning to Paddleton in the next day or two after all.”
“But yesterday you said we would be going home soon.” Elise immediately reminded Fredericka of her previous words.
“I thought that. However, some important things have come up to keep us here longer than expected. Don’t be disheartened. I think you’ll like some of them very much.”
“I already know I don’t like them,” Elise complained under her breath, and plopped her embroidery hoop impatiently onto her lap.
“I l-like them,” Charles said in his loud, high-pitched boyish voice. “I w-want to stay here.”
“Me too,” Bella chimed.
“Not too loud, please,” Fredericka prompted, putting her forefinger to her lips. “Remember, we don’t want to wake the duke and be a bother to him while we are here.”
Bella pressed her finger against her lips too and whispered, “Shh, Charles. You must talk in a whisper in this house.”
Fredericka smiled. They really were delightful children and she loved them with all her heart. She didn’t know what she’d do if Jane took them from her. It was importantshe nurture them and bring them up in a way that would make Angela proud of her, and them.
“Thank you, Bella. And as for you, Elise and Charles, you don’t know what thethingsare yet, so you can’t possibly know whether you’ll like or dislike them.”
Elise rolled her eyes and huffed.
“One of the reasons we must stay longer is because the duke is getting us a new carriage. He’s insistent we have one, so we’ll bend to his wishes.” Some of the time.
“A b-big c-carriage?” Charles asked. “W-with six horses?”
“I’m not sure, but I think six would be too many.”
