“He is.”
“Wonderful. I would like to speak to him. Would you please let him know?” she asked softly.
“Of course, Miss. You may wait in the drawing room.”
Nora walked into the house, stopping shortly at the sight of a man she had never seen before. He regarded her for a moment, then he bowed curtly.
“Miss Nora. Good afternoon.”
Nora could not help but frown instinctively. “Who –”
“Mr Dante Anderson. His Grace’s right hand,” the butler introduced quickly.
“Ah. How do you do?” she curtsied with a nod, only for her to get the same in return before the man slipped away.
“He’s not the chatty kind, it would seem.” Mr Frederic said with a sigh, looking quite bothered by the interaction that had just transpired.
Nora could not help but look in the direction that he had gone in, feeling just as unsettled by the meeting. She shrugged it off and continued to make her way to the drawing room, settling into a settee as she waited for the duke to come and meet her.
The chair she was sitting in directly faced the wall that carried the painting her brother had given the duke, and she couldn’t help but stare at it.
Even from where she sat, it was certainly a striking piece. The colors were used beautifully, in a way that created both a stunning depiction of life and a haunting visual of death. But she could not understand why it was so spectacular that it managed to get the duke to do what her brother needed.
There had been a look in Godric’s eyes as Cecil had shown it to him, a mix of relief and regret in one that had puzzled Nora greatly. She could not fathom why it was so important.
“Miss Nora?”
At the sound of her name, Nora rose to her feet, whirling around to face the duke.
“Your Grace! Good afternoon.” She beamed with what she hoped was a pleasant expression.
Godric regarded her with mild curiosity, his tone portraying surprise as he said,
“The butler said you wanted to have a word with me.”
Nora nodded, wondering if she seemed too eager to speak to him.
“Yes – well… I would like us to discuss for a bit. If you would be so kind as to lend me your time.”
Godric glanced at the clock on the wall and nodded.
“Very well. You can join me for afternoon tea then.”
Nora curtsied, replying curtly. “I would be honored, Your Grace.”
She followed him to the terrace, where a table had been set, and upon his prompt, she took her seat, waiting for him to settledown as well. Once the tea was served, Godric nodded at Nora courteously.
“Please, help yourself.”
Nora took her time, making her cup to her preference, and once it was ready, she took a long sip to calm her nerves. Then she set the cup back on its saucer and cleared her throat.
“Your Grace, upon some… self-reflection, I realized that I was rather rash yesterday. And that was largely due to my confusion. I knew my brother adored me and felt protective of my well-being, but I had not expected him to go as far as enlisting your help in a bid to keep me safe. Needlessly so, perhaps. My brother has spent most of our lives looking after me, and I do appreciate his efforts. Our closeness and his reliability are something that I do not believe I could trade for the world. However, it would be doing not just myself — but him as well — a great disservice, if I let myself be coddled so viciously.”
She paused, lifting her eyes to his face, hoping to see something —anything— that would indicate her words were getting through to him. The eyes that were looking back at her bore their usual cold expression, whereas his face was calm with attentiveness.
Nora swallowed, encouraging herself to continue.
“My brother has let his protectiveness outweigh his reasoning, and I do love him immensely, but I need to face the truth and acknowledge that his efforts might have gone too far. You haveno reason to dedicate so much of your efforts and your time following me about as though I were some young invalid. I am not a child. My father might be… nonchalant about my well-being, but he remains close enough that I know better than to act carelessly, for fear I might ruin the family’s reputation. I can take care of myself. You do not need to take on such a burdensome role.”
