My father has a lot to answer for… or he would do, were he not dead. And thank God that he is.
Alas, times were that Alistair could no longer hide from what he was and what was expected of him. He might not have wanted to marry, but now that he had Hugh to consider, he was forced to accept that in this world, one rarely got what they wished for. In fact, from his own personal experience, they almost never did.
So it was that his sights had fallen on Lady Emily Pierce. The daughter of a viscount, she was a kind lady who was affable and agreeable, and she thought the world of him. It would have to do.
“Lady Emily,” he said as he came near. Inside, his stomach twisted, but outside, he wore a broad smile. “Are you not a sight for sore eyes?”
“And you are not so bad yourself,” she shot back with a wry smile.
“Yes, but I do not look nearly so good in pink,” he responded dryly. “So, you have me beat there.”
Once Alistair was down from his horse, Lady Emily led him around her home and into the back garden. There, she suggested that they walk together, a chance to stretch their legs and enjoy the beauty of her father’s garden. Alistair was only too happy to oblige.
“I feel that I should apologize,” he started as they began down the stone path which wound through the large garden.
“Oh?”
“I have been rather remiss of late, and while I have meant to write to you at least a dozen times this past week…” He grimaced so that she could see it. “It is not right of me to have kept you waiting and wondering.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “I know your games, Your Grace.”
“My games?”
“Your games,” she said rightly. “Playing it cool and unbothered, as if you have not thought about me once. This, I am sure you think, will have me tripping over myself to get your attention. As if to have not heard from you is like a knife through my heart.”
“And is it…”
She laughed, and then she took hold of his arm as they walked. “You wish that were the case! Would you believe that a lady is allowed to be just as busy as a duke?”
He eyed the hand on his arm. It was a simple gesture, and not the first time that she had touched him since they started to court. But unlike the past instances, this one felt different…
Perhaps a better way to say it was that it felt like nothing at all?
Without meaning to, Alistair’s mind flashed back to yesterday, when he had taken Miss Norleigh by the hand in his office. He had done it on instinct as he tried to stop her from fleeing, but the result sent a pulse through his body that he felt strike him in the chest.
I wonder if Miss Norleigh felt it too? Or if she noticed what her touch did to me? It was subtle, I did my best to hide it, but hours later, and I could still feel the imprint of her skin on my fingertips…
Such thoughts as these ones were not something that Alistair was used to, which is why they confused him so much. He knew their meaning, just as he knew he should have felt this way when Lady Emily touched him. But that he did not… it confused him, as well as made him feel guilty.
“Now you are just trying to hurt me,” he laughed and dragged his mind away from thoughts of the governess.
“Perhaps I am…” She cocked an eyebrow at him as they walked. “All that is to say, don’t you dare forget to write to me again.”
He laughed at the joke, she laughed too, and they continued to walk through the garden, her arm now linked through his own.
If there was one good thing to be said about Lady Emily, it’s that she was personable. There was no arguing that she was one of the more popular ladies of the ton, the type who everyone seemed to like and get along with. It made for a comfortable and enjoyable time.
Today, things felt different.
They walked in a state of awkward silence, little said, a clear tension hovering between them. Alistair worried that she could somehow tell that his mind kept drifting to Miss Norleigh… but that was impossible.
Finally, after a few more minutes of little being said, Lady Emily let forth a deep sigh. “Might I ask you something, Your Grace?”
“Please,” he said a little too quickly.
“And please, tell me if it is inappropriate or none of my business. I do not mean to pry.” Her eyes flicked at him and looked away, and Alistair could feel how tense she had suddenly become. “But I heard a rumor recently, and where I do not like to give air to rumors and whispers, this one…” She laughed awkwardly. “I have been unable to stop thinking about it.”
Alistair knew what she was going to ask, and for that, he could not blame her. Really, he should have been the one to bring it up,and that he hadn’t made it seem as if he was hiding something. Certainly not his intention.
