Matilda whispered as they walked, unable to help herself.
“Oh, I feel that he truly is a duke,” she said, glancing up at Duncan’s back. “I have never been this close to a duke.”
“Matilda, do not embarrass us…”Augusta hissed under her breath. “What difference does that even make?”
“Well, he is practically royalty, is he not?” Matilda said, and Augusta groaned loudly.
“Stop arguing,” Charity said to them. But truly, that was the least of her concerns.
They were to embark on a new journey. But as long as she had her sisters in her sight and safe, she knew that anything that was to come afterwards could be faced.
CHAPTER 9
“Ibelieve I missed the part where you swore an oath of silence,” Augusta said snarkily.
They were all in the carriage, and not a single word had been exchanged in the last hour or so. Matilda had curled herself into the corner with her hands clasped in her lap, while Charity was gazing out the window.
Upon hearing Augusta’s remark, she exhaled a deep sigh.
“No one asked you to sit in silence,” Charity said, and she tried to sound calm. “You may speak, if you have something to contribute.”
“You have not asked, no,” Augusta replied, and her gaze flicked to the opposite seat where Duncan sat with his long legs braced, “But you also have not spoken, and he has not spoken, and Matilda looks entirely too frightened.”
Matilda’s fingers tightened together, and she shot Augusta a warning glance.
“Please don’t provoke him,” she pleaded, looking briefly in Duncan’s direction. “Or he might get angry, and then we don’t know what might happen.”
Once again, Duncan did not react. Charity wondered what ought to be going through his mind. Her sisters had been making all sorts of assumptions regarding him, and he had not defended himself once.
Which, perhaps, was a response in a way as well. Duncan was not one to chat for too long.
But Charity felt unsettled by the assumptions.
He is not like our uncle, she wanted to tell them.
“You do not have to be afraid of him,” Charity said instead. “I told you, he is only here to help us.”
Augusta let out a short laugh that held no humor.
“That is easy for you to say,” she replied, but before she could continue, the carriage gave a slight lurch. Duncan’s head turned sharply, his attention snapping from the sisters to the road ahead.
“What is it?” Charity asked, suddenly alarmed. “Have we hit a bump on the road?”
Duncan was immediately on alert. He peered out through the front opening.
“Nobody move at all,” he said, and his hands moved down south. Charity realized with a gasp that he was reaching for his pistol.
“Malcolm,” he called out.
“Is everything all right?” Charity asked, instinctively moving to hold Matilda closer. Augusta, seated across from her, seemed to quiet down as well.
“There are riders ahead, Yer Grace,” Malcolm answered.
Augusta’s hand went to Matilda’s arm, grasping her tightly.
“What riders?” she demanded.
But Duncan didn’t respond to her and the carriage rolled to a stop. Without saying another word, Duncan opened the door and as soon as he was about to step out, Charity gasped again.
