drew in a breath and his arms relaxed. She looked into his eyes, but lowered her gaze back to his cravat. She could not stay in this house. Not and be near the duke. He held the danger of the pirates, but in a different way. She’d seen her mother’s weakness. Not the one taking her body near death, but the one that had locked her into a man’s power. The power you could not escape from because it stole a person from the inside.
He strode to the side of the desk, nearer her. ‘I will pay you whatever you ask. You can go to the servants’ quarters ten times a day if you wish. You can have your run of the grounds. The entire estate will be open to you.’
She held the bag close to her body. ‘I will not stay in your house.’
He held his hands out, palms up. ‘It’s— There’s none better.’
‘It’s not that.’
He continued. ‘You can have whatever rooms you wish if you stay as my mother’s companion. Take several chambers if you’d like. You can have two maids at your elbows all day. And two at theirs.’
‘Be quiet and listen.’
His chin tilted down. His brows rose. ‘Yes, Miss Cherroll?’
‘I will not stay here.’
He waited, his gaze locked on to hers.
‘My sister needs me for the children,’ she said.
‘I understand completely,’ he said, voice agreeing, and stepped to the door. ‘You can take my carriage to visit them as often as you wish.’ One stride and he would be out of her vision. ‘It is not a problem at all. Send your maid in Warrington’s carriage for your things. The housekeeper will be with you shortly to help you select a room.’
He was gone by the time she opened her mouth.
She stared at the fireplace. Warrington’s estate was not far. She could return to take tea with the duchess every day if she wished; she didn’t need to live in this house. Bellona did not care what this man said even if he was a duke. She did not follow Warrington’s orders and he was an earl and married to her sister.
Slipping the reticule ties over her wrist, she walked to the servants’ stairs.
The maid from Warrington’s estate was whispering to another woman, but immediately stopped when she saw Bellona and bustled to her, following as they left.
‘My cousin did not believe you’d stay such a long time,’ the maid murmured. ‘My cousin says the duchess will follow her family to the grave before the year’s gone. The woman won’t leave her chair except to weep in the garden. She gets in such a state that her humours are all gobber’d up. The duke is the only one can settle her at all and even he can’t be around all the time.’
Bellona remembered holding her own mother’s hand near the end. How cool her fingers were. So thin, and with no strength in them at all. The duchess’s hands had felt the same.
‘I will visit her again soon. Perhaps tomorrow. I am not certain. I am hopeful the herbs will help her.’ She moved to exit the house.
‘My cousin said the duke is right soured himself. Servants step wide of him since he became titled. Said he’s wearing that coronet so tight it’s mashed out everything not duke.’
‘A man should take his duties to his heart.’
Her maid puffed a whistle from her lips. ‘If he’s got any heart left. My cousin says he don’t care for nothing except for his duties.’
‘He cares for his mana.’
‘Simply another duty.’
They walked to the carriage. Bellona could feel eyes on her. She forced herself not to search the windows behind her to see if the duke watched her departure. But she knew he did.
She adjusted her bonnet and held the reticule so tightly she could not feel the cloth, but only the handle beneath. ‘Tomorrow, when I return, I wish you to stay at my side.’
* * *
‘What did you do to the duke?’
Bellona’s oldest sister, Melina, stood in the very centre of the room. She tapped her slipper against the rug.
‘I was nice to his mana,’ Bellona said, adjusting the quiver at her waist. ‘I am going to practise.’
‘The duke is here, demanding to see Warrington.’
‘Truly?’ Bellona asked.
‘But War is in London. So the butler said Rolleston demands to see you.’
‘I am not at home.’
‘I told the butler to tell him we will speak with him. The duke is our neighbour and War’s parents and his parents were very close.’ She frowned. ‘Bellona. You just cannot tell a duke to go away, particularly this one.’
‘Warrington does not like him.’
‘They are quite fond of each other, in the way men are.’
‘I am quite fond of the duke in much the same way,’ Bellona said darkly.
‘You can’t be. You have to pretend to like him. We are ladies—as I must remind you as often as I remind Willa.’
‘He wishes for me to move to his estate.’
Her sister’s foot stilled. ‘You are—imagining that, surely?’
Bellona shook her head. ‘He thinks I can help the duchess. His Grace told me I would be her companion. I will visit her, but that is as much as I can do.’
Melina stepped near Bellona. ‘She will see no one. It is said she is dying. How ill do you think she is?’
‘I do not know. Bones covered in black clothes, with her face peering out. I would not think she would make it through a hard winter or a heavy wash day.’ She forced her next words. ‘Almost like Mana at the end.’
Melina’s hand fluttered to her cheek. ‘You must move in with her. It is the thing Mana would want.’
‘I do not even want to visit her every day,’ Bellona said, shuddering. ‘She doesn’t have the gentle ways of Mana.’
‘You must. Besides, to live at the duke’s house...’ Melina put a hand at her waist. ‘He might have friends visit. And you might meet them. You could learn a lot. The duchess is a true duchess. She could help you. You are not as wild as you pretend. Her Grace could teach you so much if you just watch and learn.’
‘I already know how to say I am not at home.’
‘Sister. A woman. Her husband gone. Her daughter and her oldest son gone, too, and you are asked to help her and you will not. Mana would weep.’
‘I will help her. I just do not want to live in the duke’s house.’ Bellona turned to leave the room, but her sister’s quiet voice stopped her.
‘You
