Besides, the braid was neat, since Jane had brushed it out and re-braided it while the duke was showing his brother to his guest quarters.
However, Ailis had to get all the blonde hairs out of the duke’s brush. This was another thing someone with a sharp eye would notice.
Perhaps she was being ridiculously fretful, for who would ever look so closely at a duke’s hairbrush? But did it not make sense to remove the minutest trace of her existence from this bedchamber? What if the duke chose to take one of those beautiful diamonds into his bed? She knew such things went on at thesetonhouse parties.
The possibility saddened her profoundly.
Sighing, she dared to peek out the window. The footmen were still unloading trunks from the coaches and there was quite a bit of activity going on in the courtyard.
No one looked up, but she moved away from the window out of caution.
Whenever Jane returned, Ailis would have her be the spy and peer outside. It was safest to have Jane do the scouting for her, since the girl had bright red hair and was plumper than Ailis. No one was going to mistake one for the other.
A few moments later, she peered out again. The duke was out there now to greet more new arrivals.
Dear heaven.
Were they moving an entire army into his home? She had never seen such a long string of carriages waiting for their turn to unload. This would keep the duke and his brother busy for an hour yet. “Herd them in already,” she grumbled, knowing she could not make her way out until all the new arrivals were indoors and their conveyances driven to the carriage house beside the stable.
They were taking their sweet time, weren’t they?
Or was she being too impatient?
The duke helped an older woman down from her elegant carriage. The woman, wearing an exquisite fur-lined cloak and matching hat, patted his cheek and then turned her own cheek to him so that he could place a kiss on it.
She had to be his mother.
“She looks a bit of a dragon,” Ailis said to herself, watching as he dutifully tucked the older woman’s arm in his and led her inside. Several young ladies who had been helped down from their carriages by attentive footmen followed after them like little ducklings in a row. Ailis grinned. “How funny.”
But she knew the duke would not find it quite so humorous, for those young ladies were never going to leave him alone.
The walls would feel as though they were closing in on him, and that was not funny at all.
Another thing Ailis did not find humorous was the way these young ladies treated the duke’s brother.
In short, they ignored him. It was as though poor Lord Langford did not exist.
“And they call youPoliteSociety,” Ailis remarked with a grunt, knowing they were only polite when it served their interests.
Lord Langford suddenly glanced up and caught her spying. She hastily ducked out of sight, but not before she’d caught his frown.
Dear heaven.Who else might have seen her?
Likely no one, for he was the only one who knew the duke had a lady in his bedchamber, or even knew where the bedchamber was located. But she’d caught Lord Langford’s expression just before he had looked up and noticed her.
It was one of sadness and hurt.
This was how he must have spent his entire life, unseen within the expansive shadow of the duke. And yet he clearly never blamed his brother for the constant slights he must have endured throughout the years. Quite the opposite, he seemed to adore and worship Jonas, and the affection was obviously reciprocated.
It was not the duke’s fault that thetonregarded him as valuable while a second son was not. These diamonds might have preferred Lord Langford as a husband rather than the duke, but would any of them ever admit it? They were expected to make a successful match, although their definition ofsuccessfulwas not at all the same as Ailis’s.
Love was not a requirement intonmarriages. In fact, it was forcefully discouraged. Wealth, rank, and consolidation of power were deemed most important. Affection and warmth werelongings left to be fulfilled by their paramours. This was why so many scandals broke out among these elite.
Still, who would not fall in love with this duke? Was he not the handsomest man in all of England? One of these fortunate ladies would have it all if he chose her.
“Ah, lucky girl,” Ailis said, taking a seat beside the hearth. There was a fire blazing in it, so she held her hands out to warm them while waiting for someone to return for her.
Her idle mind drifted once more to the duke.
