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“I am looking forward to starting their training in estate matters.”
Again, a myriad of expressions fought for supremacy upon her face before she blinked them away. “Of course,” she replied, casting her eyes downward again for a moment before they flitted back to examine his face as she frowned. “Did you say starting their training?” she asked. “I would have thought it would start as soon as they began to toddle.”
“Their mother was not in favour of starting so young. And then they went off to school.” Gil tried to keep all emotion from his tone or face but wasn’t sure if he had succeeded as she stared at him, scrutinising his features.
Her head tilted a little, inquisitively. “How long have they been at school?”
“Three years,” he answered as simply as possible. There was no way to avoid the truth. She again blinked, nodded, and frowned.
“But I meant, when did they leave for this term?”
“They haven’t been home at the breaks.” Gilbert held his head up, refusing to feel the shame that threatened to rise over his words and the surprise written on her expressive face. She made an obvious effort to control her reaction, pinning a small smile to her lips.
“Well, then, it will surely be a joyous occasion for everyone, won’t it?” she declared cheerily. “Perhaps, we ought to plan some festivities to mark the occasion.” Miss Jones had turned back to Adelina with that last proclamation before adding, “I now better understand your excitement, my lady.”
“What do you suppose we could do to mark the occasion?” Adelina’s excitement was palpable.
Miss Jones laughed. “We shall have to give that a great deal of thought, won’t we? Just now, I don’t actually have a single idea, as I do not know them and I am not terribly familiar with what boys might like, but I’m sure if the two of us put our heads together and talk it out, we will come up with some wonderful ideas that your brothers will enjoy.”
“Oh, I do hope so.” Adelina breathed the words.
Gil wondered if he ought to have waited until they had finished the meal before making his announcement. It was obvious the girl was now far too excited to be able to eat anything further.
“You may leave the table, if you wish,” he told his daughter. “Miss Jones and I will finish our meals,” he added when he saw that his daughter’s companion was about to get up to follow Adelina.
~~~
Felicity tried not to panic as she watched Adelina skip and hop from the room. She hoped her reaction wasn’t on display for all to see. But how was she going to spend time alone with the duke and not have him realize they had met previously?
The occasion had been brief and was more than a year ago, but still, if he wasn’t vision impaired, he would surely recognize her. She ought to have darkened her hair again before now. Felicity was afraid spending time out of doors had caused the natural blonde to start showing through, despite the bonnet she never removed.
Of course, she tried to reassure herself, she had altered her appearance. Darkening her hair and changing its style was for the very reason of keeping Rathnelly from recognizing her. But she hadn’t expected to spend so very much time with the nobleman. Felicity had fully expected to dine alone or with only Lady Adelina for company. She had certainly never expected to be eating in the dining room nearly every night.
She learned it was rare that the duke went out. Far rarer than she would have expected of a gentleman of such rank. Felicity was fairly certain her brother-in-law, the Duke of Wexford, was only at his own table half the time. And that was by great personal effort, she had been led to understand by her sister Rosabel. But Rathnelly never seemed to leave the grounds of his estate. She wondered why the man was suddenly such a homebody. From the chatter of her family’s servants, she had thought the man had tried to court at least one of her sisters. Or rather, that was most likely the previous duke, but it still seemed to imply that it is expected that dukes went about in public. And he had been present at her sister Vigilia’s wedding. So obviously, the duke had spent at least some time in Town.
So, why did he never leave the house now?
And why did he wish to speak privately with her?
Of course, he might not actually wish to speak privately with her, Felicity reminded herself. It could be an act of kindness. To allow her to finish her meal while also excusing Adelina from remaining. That was probably it. Stilling the urge to nod, and once again hoping her panic wasn’t evident, Felicity returned to her seat and waited for the duke to speak first. In an effort to appear calm, she took another bite of what had been a delicious meal until it all turned to sawdust in her mouth upon the duke’s words.
Felicity hoped her face was suitably arranged in an expression of polite interest and not one of morbid curiosity. She also hoped she didn’t look like a terrified cow as she wondered what to do with her gaze. Ought she to look at him? Should she keep her gaze on her plate? She didn’t even know what a debutante ought to do in a situation such as this, let alone someone in the socially awkward position of paid companion.
Finally, he broke the silence.
“You seem to have taken well to your role.”
Rathnelly’s statement didn’t really help her fluttering nerves. Was his tone one of censure? That didn’t seem to coincide with the words. Should he not be delighted that she had taken well to her role? What a very strange man.
That last thought conversely settled Felicity’s nerves, and she met the duke’s gaze with a small smile.
“Thank you, Your Grace. Your daughter is lovely and a pleasure to be with.”
One of his eyebrows lifted, and he bowed his head in acknowledgment. The ducal pride was evident, and Felicity had to bite the inside of her cheek to contain her inappropriate amusement. He didn’t seem to have anything else to say, much to her surprise. Felicity was sufficiently versed in social interactions to know that silence should not be allowed to stretch indefinitely.
“It should be a lively summer with your sons in residence. How old are they? All of our correspondence and discussions have centered around Adelina, but we haven’t really discussed the boys.” Felicity felt a slight qualm, wondering if that was something she ought to already know but with an internal shrug, she reminded herself that only Adelina was her responsibility.
“Wickham will be eleven shortly and Easton just turned eight.”
