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Louisa blushed.“If you meant that instance—I keep telling you that I never meant for that curtain to catch afire.”
Snickering, Amelia closed the door behind her and led Louisa down a path to a set of wooden benches sitting under a thick thicketof trees. Seated there, Louisa was able to untie her bonnet’s ribbonand place it on her lap. She gazed upon Amelia with pleasure and relief that she was with a familiar face.
Her friend looked so happy, her light brown eyes glimmering and stubborn curls of her dark hair, freed from her bun, were curling over her temples.
“So, tell me,” Amelia gushed. “What is it like working at the Montagu home?”
Her lips opened, then closed.“Honestly, it is wonderful living there, but I have many questions, some of which I do not think I will ever get answers to.”
Amelia’s brows knitted with concern.“Like what?”
“Duke Westwood,” Louisa said, hearing the concern and confusion in her voice.“I am picking up a few things about his life here and there, but a few things still bother me.”
“And you came to me for answers,” Amelia pretended to pout. “And here I thought you wanted to see me.”
“I do,” Louisa laughed.“I do, I promise you, but I did not feel it right to ask the other servants there until they feel comfortable with me. I placed myself in their shoes and I know that if a veritable stranger came to me asking me about my sovereign, I would be suspicious.”
Tugging at her apron, Amelia nodded. “I see, I see. There are a few things I have heard, Louisa, and it saddens me.”
Though this was partly why Louisa had gone to her friend, the words Amelia just spoke made her second-guess herself. “I have heard about his parents, is that it?”
Shaking her head, Amelia said, “Not, it’s worse. A year or so ago, he was engaged, and I am told that he loved her, truly, undisputedly loved this lady, but she broke his heart, and he has never recovered from it. Some say that he was in the depths of despair and that he tried to kill himself.”
Unmeasurable sorrow causedan unwitting whimper to leave Louisa while her heart felt flooded with enough sorrow that her body felt ladened. That was why the Duke was so sad. There was no haughtiness or coldness about him—the man was nursing a broken heart!
“Oh, no,” she cried.
“Sadly yes,” Amelia sighed. “And for him to lose his parents as well, his mother birthed him rather late in life, you know.”
“I’ve heard that too,” Louisa sighed, while shaking her head.“And I thought we lived a hard life. I know we were unfortunate to not have parents in our lives, but to have a loving mother and father, only to lose them, sounds so much worse.”
The wind shifted the tree’s limbs overhead, casting a fleeting shadow over Amelia’s face.“It is, isn’t it?”
Decidedly, Louisa turned the subject away from the Duke and asked her friend how it was to be away from the dourness of London. Amelia’s expressive face turnedjoyful, while she told her how the Lady of the house, a young mother, was kind.
“She gave me a few books from the library to keep after I told Miss Beck’s secret on how to care for colicky babies.” Amelia smiled. “She frets about everything though, so I’m glad I’m here to help her with the babe.”
“You always were good with children back at the orphanage,” Louisa mentioned, while a part of her was still trying to digest the tragedy that had befallen Duke Westwood.
While musing over the new knowledge, Louisa began to realize a few more things she had dismissed but now, they were thrown into sharp focus. The dark circles under the Duke’s eyes, how he was awake with the sun, or possibly before it, and how he gazed out into nothing when he was in his mother’s garden. She realized why, from the one visit of Lord Ashford, he had never had another.
He’s brokenhearted and alone. Who is there to show him any kindness?
“Louisa?” Amelia asked. “Is something amiss?”
“Yes,” she replied. “There is. Now I understand so much more and I want to pity him, but I do not think he is man who takes much to being pitied. I feel moved to do something—but what? It not as if I have anything much to give.”
“Monetary no,” Amelia said. “And besides, even if you do have such means, he is a Duke—he has all and more than what he needs. But you do have something to give, Louisa, and it is what made you stand out back at the orphanage—your kindness, use that.”
“But—” Louisa failed to imagine out what she could do with kindness? Give him a listening ear? That was if he—on the very faint chance—would let her do so.
“No buts, Louisa,” Amelia shook her head defiantly. “You will find a way, I know you will, you always do.”
Internally, Louisa doubted it but if there were a possibility, she would try her best to find it. “I’m sorry that I got lost in my thoughts, but I am glad that you have found a good home.”
They spoke at length until Louisa noted that she had to get back to the Montagu home before it started to get dark. Reaching for her bonnet, she placed in on and tied the strings. “I wish I could stay longer, but I cannot, not this evening. I’ll send a note again to tell you when I can come to see you.”
Standing, Amelia embraced her tightly.“I am so glad to see you, Louisa, and don’t fret, if you cannot come to me, I will come to you.”
