“Perhaps you might tell me where you wish for it to be put, Your Grace? There is no need to trouble yourself,” Mrs. Farthing said, still holding out her hand for the flower.
“Lady Emmaline, the sooner you release the flower, the sooner we can see the secret garden,” the duke pointed out, raising his good brow.
Reluctantly, Emmaline released the flower into the housekeeper’s capable hands. She did indeed wish to see this secret garden that the duke had mentioned a few times now. It was most intriguing. And yet, letting go of the flower was harder than she had ever anticipated.
What it symbolized was a newfound intimacy between herself and the duke, one she had never hoped would pass between them. And the warmth she had felt at receiving it, she did not quite want to let go of just yet. More than that, it represented the fact that the duke was not nearly so cold-hearted as he had made out. After all, what kind of man would pay so much for a single rose if not for charity? And what kind of monster paid any mind to charity?
“Please, see that it is well cared for, Mrs. Farthing,” Emmaline insisted before she placed her hand once more on the duke’s waiting arm.
“Of course, Your Grace,” Mrs. Farthing said. She curtsied low once more before she hurried off to see to the yellow rose.
Emmaline watched her go until the duke finally started to guide her through the house.
“It is just a rose, Emmaline,” the duke insisted but Emmaline shook her head.
“No, it is far more than that,” she said, smiling back at him. “It is a reminder of our morning together.”
“Ahh,” the duke said, eyeing her closely. “Then it appears I have married a sentimental little fool.”
His words might have been overly harsh—perhaps he meant for them to be that way—however, there was a great deal of affection in his tone that actually made Emmaline smile.
“I suppose you did,” she responded rather proudly. She saw nothing wrong with being sentimental, and if that made her a fool then so be it.
They walked through the house and out into the gardens in silence. Yet, it was not any kind of awkward silence. In fact, Emmaline found the quiet reassuring. Just as she found the closeness of the duke and the sound of his footsteps comforting also.
An odd sense of security had begun to creep over her in the last few days. Perhaps her mind was finally growing used to the fact she would be married to this man for the rest of her life, and she could certainly imagine a great many men far worse to be married too. Or perhaps it was the fact that she was actually beginning to enjoy the duke’s company.
As the duke had promised her, the secret garden was about as hidden as one could expect. They neared what appeared to be the very end of the gardens where an eight-foot brick wall was decorated with climbing plants of green ivy, purple clematis, and pale pink wisteria.
They walked down the shingle path that ran parallel to the wall for a few minutes until the duke stopped where the wisteria seemed to grow exceptionally thickly.
“Here we are,” he announced, and Emmaline glanced around, her cheeks growing hot as she became all too aware that she wasn’t exactly sure where here was.
The duke smiled with the good side of his face, his eyes sparking with quiet affection. At least, that was what Emmaline thought it was.
He slipped his arm out from her grasp and stepped towards the wall. Emmaline watched in astonishment as he reached out and pulled back the trailing wisteria to reveal a small archway just wide enough for one person at a time to slip through.
Holding back the plant with one arm, he held out his other hand and said, “After you, my dear.”
Emmaline swallowed hard. Of course, the duke had told her there was a secret garden but how was she to know that was what lay beyond the archway?
For a second, she hesitated, frozen with fear. She remembered all too well the rumors and gossip she had overheard of The Devil Lord over the years. The man had tricked and tormented half the men of thetonand a wondrous amount of their families besides. But why?
The man half-smiling at her now couldn’t possibly be that man, could he? The duke was far too pleasant to be that man.
And so, she slipped her hand into his and allowed him to help her through the archway. Sweeping a couple of loose fronds back with her own arm as she went, she stepped out into what was perhaps the most beautiful area she had ever seen in her life.
The garden was entirely walled off. At its center was a large weeping willow tree that overhung a pond decorated with water lilies. The abundance of bees, butterflies and dragonflies that were all buzzing about caused the place to look like some kind of paradise. The flowerbeds were a mixture of wildflowers and purposefully planted flowers like yellow rose bushes and fruit trees.
Emmaline stood just within the archway, taking in the wondrous sight. The duke was only just able to slip in beside her, allowing the wisteria to drop back down behind them, cutting them off entirely from the world.
“I… I…” Emmaline struggled immensely to find her voice. “It’s beautiful.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the duke offer his arm again. Instinctively, without looking, she slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow and clutched hold of his forearm, her knees trembling as he guided her around the pond to the trunk of the willow where a bench had been built right around the tree. Its white paint was flaking a bit, but it did not take away from the beauty of the place.
In fact, it only added to it. This place had been here a long time. That much was clear from the bench, from the height of the tree, from the overgrowth of several plants.
How many people have sat upon this bench?Emmaline wondered even as the duke gestured for her to sit. Somehow, she closed her eyes and imagined what the duke’s mother might have been like, sitting in this very spot where she sat now beside her son.
