of her parents? Have they died?”
“Oh, they’re alive. I understand they’ve gone to Europe for an extended period. Lord Pimblett apparently feels it would be better for his gout, or so Lady Hester said. She asked me some questions about the complaint. A most intelligent, compassionate young woman.”
“Which again begs the question, why would she shut herself up here with my esteemed stepmother?”
“Why don’t you ask her?”
“Perhaps I will.”
Mapleton’s brow furrowed and Adrian sighed with genuine dismay. “Oh, not you, too. I assure you, she will be quite safe from the clutches of the Dark Duke.”
Mapleton chuckled, then finished his drink and rose. “I know it. Now I really must be on my way. Take care of that leg. No riding for the next few days.”
Adrian nodded absently. “I wonder how long she’ll stay,” he mused aloud.
“Lady Hester?”
The duke nodded.
“Why should she leave, after putting up with the duchess for so long already?” Mapleton asked.
“Because while you and I both know she has nothing to fear from me, Lady Hester may feel otherwise.”
Later that evening Hester tried to pay attention to the card game she was playing with the duchess and not to let her eyes stray toward the drawing room door.
Indeed, there was no reason she should keep doing so. She couldn’t expect anyone to walk into the room, except a servant, for the Duke of Barroughby had not come down to dinner. It was because of his injury, so Jenkins said, after also informing them that Mr. Ma-pleton did not think it a particularly serious one.
She also suspected, however, that the duke was reluctant to listen to his stepmother continue to denounce him to his face, a quite understandable reason.
“So, Lady Hester, you have never seen my stepson before?” the duchess asked. She was currently winning the game of piquet, which Hester thought explained her somewhat mollified tone, and the duchess’s good humor was ample recompense for playing less than honestly.
“No, Your Grace.”
“I daresay you moved in better circles in London society.”
“I did not move much in any circle, Your Grace,” Hester replied.
“Why not?” the duchess demanded. “Surely your father’s rank made your welcome assured.”
Hester tried not to squirm with discomfort, because the duchess would surely chastise her for wiggling. “I preferred to remain at home.”
“With your mama? How sweet,” the duchess murmured as she checked the number of tricks she had taken.
If that was what the duchess preferred to believe, Hester did not correct her. It was better than admitting she found it difficult to watch as her lovely sisters received all the attention, while she was treated as little more than a piece of furniture.
The duchess smiled with satisfaction. “I win again! You know, Elliot is quite a clever fellow at cards. He can even defeat me on occasion.”
“Really, Your Grace?”
“Indeed. He is quite in demand at card parties, and when he can be persuaded to take a moment from dancing at balls. La, that is not often, I assure you.”
Hester merely nodded.
“But you shall see his qualities for yourself when he arrives.” The duchess opened her fan and frowned as she began to wave it. “Let us hope the duke is far away by then.”
It was on the tip of Hester’s tongue to ask the duchess why she didn’t send the duke away, if she found his presence so odious, but she knew the woman would not enjoy being questioned. Therefore, she was forced to merely wonder about that, and about the duke himself.
In one way, he more than lived up to his reputation. She had had more than ample time to observe people at the social functions she did attend, and she had never seen a more handsome man.
On the other hand, she had found his patience with his waspish stepmother quite astonishing and completely unexpected. She would have thought a man who had done all the things he was said to have done would be rather hot tempered and quick to take offense. Maybe the fact that the duchess was a relation explained it.
Hester glanced at the door again, to see the duchess’s maid waiting. “I believe it’s time to retire, Your Grace,” she said softly, nodding toward Maria.
“Ah, so it is.” The duchess rose majestically, moving her beaded black skirt around the delicate chair with a graceful gesture before she glanced at Hester. “Aren’t you coming?”
“In a moment. I believe I left my book in the library. I would like to read a little before I sleep.”
The duchess frowned with disapproval. “You will ruin your eyesight,” she admonished. “Or fall asleep with the candle lit and burn the house down.”
“I shall be very careful, Your Grace,” Hester said, trying to ignore being chided like a recalcitrant child. Again.
“Oh, all right,” the duchess said ungraciously. “Mind you do not sleep too late.” With that, she turned and left, preceded by the dark-haired Maria.
As if I ever do! Hester thought, taking a candle and heading for the library. She had never seen the duchess so much as pick up a book or newspaper, let alone read one, so it was no surprise the woman had no respect for reading.
It was a fair way along the corridor to the darkly paneled library, a room the duchess never ventured into, and where Hester went when she wanted a few moments alone. It was quiet and a little solemn, like an empty church, but Hester liked it all the more for its aura of benign neglect
Barroughby Hall itself was an immense building, the work of several generations and several architects, each seemingly trying to outdo each other in the spending of the Fitzwalters’ money. Fortunately, the estate was a large one, too, and more than one of the dukes had been a wise investor in art and sculpture, as well as business ventures, so there was little fear of putting the family into bankruptcy.
By this time the house and grounds were magnificent. Built in a square, with an open courtyard in the middle reached through the imposing main entrance, the hall boasted a corridor nearly a mile long around the inside, filled with paintings and statues purchased in Europe. The ceilings of the main rooms on the lower level were all painted by master artists; even the hearths of the fireplaces were works of art. The large dining room would easily seat one hundred at an immense mahogany table. There were over fifty bedrooms, not counting those in the attic used by the small army of servants.
Other rooms in the house included the large drawing room, the
