“Has someone assisted Lady Donoghue?”
“Mrs. Chester has seen to the lady, sir. His lordship asked Lady Donoghue to join him in breaking their fasts.”
“Extend my gratitude to those below stairs for responding so quickly last evening.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“How is your master this morning?” Richard asked in quiet tones.
“Lord Duncan is not accustomed to taking orders,” Mr. Fields said softly as the man glanced over his shoulder to know assurance that others were not near to overhear him. “Mrs. Braylon is equally as accustomed to having her own way as is his lordship.”
That information made Richard smile. “I should see if Lady Emma requires an arm on which to lean.” With a kind squeeze of Mr. Fields’s shoulder, Richard attacked the stairs. In less than a minute, he was standing in the open doorway of Lady Emma’s room. The woman was dressed and standing stiffly before a dressing table as Marjory braided Lady Emma’s long hair.
“You are up,” he said with a bit of surprise.
She did not turn towards him, but he could tell she smiled.
“I thought I might offer my arm to steady your step.”
“Shall Lady Theodora be breaking her fast also?” she asked.
“I would imagine so. Is there a problem?” He detected a bit of oddness in Lady Emma’s tone.
“I simply wished to extend my gratitude and assure your young lady I shall return the gowns once they are properly laundered,” she said as Marjory tied off the end of the braid.
“You sound as if you intend to leave Duncan Place,” he stated in tones sharper than he intended, but he did not like the idea of Lady Emma returning to her own home. “Have you recovered your memory?”
She thanked Marjory for her care before turning slowly to face him. “I cannot depend upon the kindness of strangers,” she argued.
He waited until Marjory bobbed her curtsey and disappeared through the servant door, though he suspected the girl had been instructed to wait nearby. He was well aware of Duncan’s orders on such matters, especially when it came to Alexander and Theodora. However, to the best of Richard’s knowledge none of his brothers had ever thought to bring a female to Duncan’s home. “I would disagree, my lady. You have discovered strangers who have shown you great consideration. Do you mean to turn your back on their kindness?”
“I am not your responsibility, my lord,” she said, but her bottom lip trembled. “You have others requiring your care.”
“Who would that be?” he asked suspiciously, as the first bell rang somewhere in the house to indicate ten minutes’ warning.
“I understand you are obligated to a tea party with Lady Theodora, who I have yet to encounter, though she has freely shared a nightgown, a robe, and this day dress with me.” She caught the skirt of the dress as if she wished it were gone.
Despite her complaints, Richard smiled. “First, Lady Theodora does not see me as anything but a brother figure, and I hold her in affection, but I do not love her, not in a romantic sense. Lord Duncan lost his wife early on in their marriage, and Theodora is his only child. Over the years, he took in a number of boys, like me, who have lost their parents and required guidance and, I suppose, protection, in order to secure each of the peerages we all were to inherit. When we were young, none of us realized there were others who wished us dead.”
“How awful,” she said in sympathy.
“Lord Duncan will tell you I was customarily one of the more stubborn of his boys. Now, I am content to know his lordship executed what was necessary to save me and my earldom,” he admitted.
“And Lady Theodora is simply a sister?” she asked.
He smiled, for her question meant whatever it was that was happening between them was not simply on his part. “Theodora holds Lord Marksman in tenderness. Yet, Marksman has his own devils to fight before he is willing to settle for a bride.”
“Something terrible?” she asked. “More terrible than I have experienced?”
“It is a very complicated story, which I will gladly share as we become more familiar with each other. For now,” he offered her his arm, “Lord Duncan does not approve of anyone in the household being late for a planned meal.”
“One of the rules you despised?” she asked as she wrapped her hand about the crook of his arm. It amazed Richard how natural the gesture felt.
“Absolutely,” he remarked as they set their steps in motion. “I much preferred to continue my study of the skies or find another who wished to play shuttlecocks and battledores or go riding or fishing. Food is necessary,” he said as led her down a hallway where the temporary morning room had been set up since Lord Duncan was recovering from being shot, “but meals always being at a set time is problematic for a young boy too curious for his own good.”
“Do you possess a telescope?” she asked. “That would be something to see.”
“I suppose my comment said I indulge my curiosity. Unfortunately, my telescope is at my estate in Lincolnshire, or else I would be delighted to share it with you.”
