Page 7 of The Duke’s Impossible Match

“Oliver reads lots of books,” Teddy said proudly.

“I see. Well, I haven’t had the opportunity to be in a duel, although it may happen one day. There are some people who take a dislike to me, after all,” the duke glanced at Clara.

“You shouldn’t pay attention to mean people. That’s what Clara tells us. Miss Sterling, I mean,” Emily added hastily.

“A wise lesson,” Gerald replied.

“Children, go and find Aunt Agatha. I must show the Duke around. It is his first time visiting,” Clara said. The children sighed, but obeyed Clara’s command. However, before they left, Teddy looked up at the Duke.

“Have you come to take our home away?” he asked.

“I am here to evaluate a property in which my family has an interest, ,” the duke replied. The children bowed their heads and Clara grit her teeth. She waited for the children to be out of earshot.

“You could have humored him.”

“I don’t believe in lying, especially not to children.”

“Even so, they don’t need the worry of being cast out of their home. They have already been through so much.”

“Yet it would be worse if I made a promise I couldn’t keep. Now, shall we begin the tour?” he asked this in a way that sounded demanding. Clara thrust out a hand and led him through the house, annoyed that this was even necessary. Why couldn’t he just renew the lease and let her worry about the house? It wasn’t as though he had paid attention to it at all over the past few years.

They peered into the classroom, the sitting room, the library. The floorboards creaked. The duke clasped his hands behind his back and peered at everything intently. He clearly hadn’t been lying when he said he needed all the information before he made a decision. At one point he stopped and touched a door frame. The heights of various children had been carved into it. Clara watched as he ran his fingers along it.

“You misspoke, incidentally,” he said quietly. The words took Clara by surprise. “This isn’t my first visit. I came here as a child. My great-grandmother was keen to show off her work. I even had friends here, although I lost touch with them. I wonder what happened to them.”

“I’m sure a man of your resources would be able to find them.”

A wry smile crossed his face.

“I have many resources, but not the one that matters most. Time.”

“Then you must know of our plight. One month is no time at all,” Clara said. He looked at her strangely, and while she tried her best, she could not discern the mystery that lay beyond his eyes. Having seen the interior of the house, she took him outside.

“This is where the children plant vegetables, and the old greenhouse. I’m afraid it is in a state of disrepair,” Clara said. They walked inside, the temperature of the air rising to the point where it prickled upon their skin. The duke stood in the middle of the greenhouse, gazing up.

“We used to chase each other all around the gardens. This used to be the castle,” he said, then turned to her. “Why are they here?”

“Because they have nowhere else to go.”

“What happened?”

Clara rolled her shoulders. “They each have similar stories. Parents who turned them away because they couldn’t afford to keep them, parents who died because they lived in squalor. Sophie was left with a drunken father. Someone found her sitting outside her house. He had turned her out and slumped against the door. She couldn’t get back in. They’ve all been abandoned, and I have no intention of doing the same thing to them,” she said, hoping that this might give her some idea of his intentions, but he remained silent.

“And what is their routine like?”

“Why is it important?”

“I would like to know if they are benefiting from being here.”

Clara wasn’t used to having her aptitude called into question, but she recalled the words Agatha had whispered to her the previous day, when Clara had snapped at His Grace.

‘You don’t want him to make a rash decision based on his opinion of you. Don’t give him a reason to say no.’

Clara swallowed the words that formed on her tongue and forced herself to appear calm.

“I like to give the children as much freedom as possible. I believe they thrive when they are given independence. Even when we play, I incorporate lessons, although I do, of course, bring them into the house to teach them at regular intervals. However, I do not chain them to the desk. I don’t believe they will learn much if they feel forced.”

He looked concerned.