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Chapter Five
Tea did, indeed, consist of some of Letty’s bread, liberally slathered with jam and butter and accompanied by cheeses and cold meats. To top it all off, there were stone bottles filled with cold cider. Letty had never tasted such a thing and she drank it all down almost in one go.
The Duke watched her throat move, his eyes wide, hand frozen halfway to his own mouth.
“Were you very thirsty?” he asked with some amusement.
She darted a narrowed glance his way. “Well, as a matter of fact, I was. Does it matter?”
“It’s just that most ladies observe a bit more delicacy in their…imbibing habits.”
Her eyes narrowed further. “Are you implying that I am no lady?”
The Duke bowed mockingly, “I do hope I have not offended.”
“You do not possess the words that could offendme,” she growled. Mrs. Haversham gasped in fear, eyes wide as she awaited His Grace’s response to this insolence. But he just smiled, amusement dancing in his eyes.
“Well, well. It seems I have hit a nerve,” he murmured, ignoring the nanny.
“You can bait me all you want, Your Grace, there is nothing for you to uncover,” Letty snapped, knowing that she was behaving in a most unprofessional manner but unable to help herself.
“Why are you making Letty angry, Papa?” She turned to find George glaring at his father in affront. To her further annoyance, the Duke just seemed even more amused.
He quirked a brow at his son. “Am I? I think she said that I could do no such thing.”
“Her face is all red and she’s upset!” George put his tiny hands on his waist, unafraid to confront his father on Letty’s behalf. She felt her face fill with color for an entirely new reason—mortification.
“George, your father is quite right. I am not affronted. Thank you for standing up for me but it is not necessary.”
She pulled him to her and after some resistance, he fell into her lap where she proceeded to tickle him, making him giggle and forget all about his annoyance. She was truly touched that the boy had stood up for her. Not many people had done such a thing in her life. Not even her father.
She knew she was developing a dangerous soft spot for the boy and that she would be heartbroken to leave him behind. She thrust the thought away from her, and focused on the present. The high tinkling sound of George’s giggles made her feel warm and content and even the Duke’s presence could not take away her enjoyment.
“All right. That's quite enough of that. You shall cast up your accounts if you laugh any harder, George,” Mrs. Haversham said anxiously. Letty stopped tickling him and let him sit up, although he did not get off her lap. He was grinning widely even as he breathed hard.
“I wasn’t going to,” he protested.
“I’m sure you weren’t. You’ve a cast-iron constitution, have you not?” The Duke mocked gently as he patted his own flat stomach to demonstrate.
George straightened his spine, lifting his chin proudly. “Yes, I have. I’m a strong one.”
Letty could not help but smile. She lifted her eyes to the Duke and was surprised to find him looking back at her, his eyes still softly amused. Her stomach swooped and she felt warm all over, the reaction perturbing her quite a bit. Flicking her eyes away, she leaned back and took a deep breath.
“Well, now that we are done with tea, what comes next?” she asked.
“The Marquess and I usually have a wee nap at this time, followed by our daily walk,” Mrs. Haversham said timidly.
“Then we shall leave you to it. Come along, Miss Strange.” The Duke took hold of her hand and pulled her up, away from George and his nanny. The little boy was already yawning even as Mrs. Haversham led him gently towards the nursery. Letty looked to the Duke. “Where are we going?”
“Not far. Follow me.” He didn’t bother to look back at her as he walked briskly towards the bottom of the garden, hands clasped behind his back. Shrugging inwardly, she did as he said, wondering all the while if he meant to seduce her and if he did, how she felt about it.
They came to a stop in the midst of a woody glen, surrounded by aspens interspersed with apple trees. Beneath the trees, within the shadows of the closely connected branches, it was quite a bit cooler and a lot darker than elsewhere in the garden. Letty quirked an eyebrow, wondering again if the Duke had brought her here to seduce her.
Suddenly he came to a stop and she almost run into him, reaching out a hand to his back to steady herself. “What—?”
She stepped back, glaring at him but he didn’t move or turn around, so she stepped around him to see what he was looking at. She did a double-take when she saw the gravestone.
“It was consumption that took her. One moment she was fine, the next, she was gasping for breath. It happened so fast, we didn’t have the time to acclimate to it before she was gone.”
