Page 78 of Sincerely, the Duke
Something she didn’t understand pricked at her intuitive feeling again. “Are you feeling all right?”
“I must get dressed for an appointment, and then I will be away for a few days.”
“Away?” Her chest heaved with anxiety. That comment sent her mind reeling. “Days? I didn’t know about this. And to leave now when I need you?”
“It came up suddenly,” he said, in a low tired tone. “Probably best anyway. I need some time to think, Edwina. And quite frankly so do you.”
Slowly, Rick turned and disappeared into his dressing room, shutting the door behind him.
CHAPTER 26
THE ART OF BEING A FINE GENTLEMAN
SIR DUDLEY SAMSON PEMBERTON FINE
The art of becoming a fine gentleman doesn’t happen from reading just one book, but if you have finished this one, consider you have a good start.
Edwina missed Rick. Thoughts of him and her feelings for him had consumed her. It had been four days since he’d left the house and she hadn’t heard from him. She’d pressed Palmer on more than one occasion about the duke’s whereabouts. The butler couldn’t have been tighter-lipped if he were made from a hunk of iron. If he knew, she didn’t think threats of being thrown into a fiery furnace could scare him into telling.
She nervously tightened the fingers of her gloves as the carriage bumped, rattled, and rolled along to her next stop. It was a short ride but would seem long, anxious as she was. She straightened the skirt of her new dark-lilac dress just to have something to do. Rick had said he’d love to see her wearing this color. And he would today. If she could find out where he was and go to him.
Edwina had had plenty of time for reflection on many things. Not the least of which was the way Rick appeared the morning after Eileen had run away. The way he looked pained and his mannerisms continued to trouble her.Something more than the aftereffects of too much brandy and headache powder had been wrong. For some reason, he hadn’t wanted her to know what it was. It could have been because she was overwrought about what Eileen had done and that Rick had helped her. That had been difficult to comprehend and even harder to accept.
Now, with disquiet, she remembered the strain around his eyes, the tightness of his mouth, the unnatural flush on his face, and his unsteady feet. At the time, she hadn’t paid much attention to how warm his body was when he’d been sleeping with no covers and wearing a damp shirt. His skin should have been cool to her touch.
Edwina had no familiarity with someone who’d overindulged in spirits or headache tonics. Her father certainly never had. Too filled with her own hurts and anger with him, she’d made little note of his condition and the way he’d winced, thinking they too were the aftereffects of being jug-bitten.
Now she was worried. A fourth day wouldn’t pass without her finding out where he was and what he was doing. Someone knew where he was. She was sure of that and wasn’t going to stop searching until she found him.
Edwina had to make sure he was all right, ask him to forgive her for being so irrational about Eileen’s heartbreaking decision to leave her family, and, most of all, she wanted Rick to know that she didn’t hate him for what he’d done. She loved him. More than anything or anyone in the world. It was just that simple.
She had to find him.
With that in mind, the first stop had been to Wyatt and Fredericka’s home, but that had been no help. They had taken Fredericka’s nieces and nephew for a picnic in the park and the butler had no idea when they might return. She’d thought about waiting but decided it would dono good to sit in their drawing room for what could be hours. Scouring the park to find them would probably take just as long.
After a bit of contemplation, she was now bound for Hurst’s house in the hope he was home and knew Rick’s whereabouts. If that didn’t work, she would be forced to her last and most dreaded resort. Rick’s mother.
The possibility of that tightened Edwina’s stomach into knots. Not that the dowager duchess had ever said an impolite word to her. Far from it. She was pleasant as the day was long. She would probably always look at Edwina with what appeared to be curious thoughts. That didn’t bother Edwina, however the idea of the dowager learning she didn’t know her husband’s whereabouts did.
If left with no other choice, Edwina would humble herself and go to Rick’s mother’s door. She would do anything necessary to find him and make amends. If it wasn’t too late.
The carriage hit a hole and jostled Edwina’s musings back to the coach. Taking a deep breath, she leaned forward and looked out the window. Through the slice of space between two houses, she saw a small section of the sky. The color was a heavenly blue and reminded her of Rick’s eyes. She remembered how she loved lying beside him and looking dreamily into them. That thought led her to think about how tenderly he caressed her cheeks, shoulders, and breasts. How his passionate kisses were filled with such desire for her that she was left with nothing but indescribable joy.
Reasoning out one’s thoughts, perceptions, and wants, and then settling them in your own mind was not an instant but a journey. Her answers hadn’t come easy the first day he was gone, nor on the second or third. The process of it all was wrenching.
At first, all the feelings of anger, betrayal, and distrust swirling inside her were raw and impossible to fathom, so she stayed numb and didn’t try. Finally, she searched her feelings for her father and Eileen to find peace within herself and with both of them. The realization she’d done all she could to fulfill her vow to her father gave her the strength she needed to let go of the bindings she’d placed on her sisters.
Her love for Rick came first and foremost, and at the end of her emotional journey, she knew Rick was right to tell her it wasn’t her responsibility to force her father’s will on Elle and Eileen. That had been a difficult decision to come to.
The carriage rolled to a stop and minutes later Edwina was waiting for the Duke of Hurstbourne in the vestibule of his Mayfair home.
Thankfully, he was at home, but since she had no appointment, the butler had to see if the duke was available for a visit. She didn’t know Hurst well. That didn’t matter. She hadn’t known Rick at all when she’d first knocked on his door.
“Edwina.”
She rose and saw the powerfully built duke striding toward her. The short ends of his light-blond hair fluttered out to the sides as he walked. “This is a surprise.”
To her astonishment, he didn’t reach for her hand, but instead, took hold of her upper arms and planted a brotherly kiss on first one cheek, then the other before letting go and stepping back.
