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The butler stepped forward silently and bowed to his master, offering him the scarf. The Duke took it up and held it up so that he could see its length. Though it was not quite long enough to go around his neck twice and there were a couple of dropped stitches within the scarf, the Duke looked more than a little pleased with his gift.
“It is wonderful!” he announced. “I shall cherish it forever.”
When he said the final words, his gaze met Matilda’s for a moment, lingering there for perhaps longer than necessary and she felt a strange shiver run throughout her entire body.
Then, just as quickly, he dropped the scarf onto his lap along with his gaze and took a moment to fold it up again before handing it back to the butler. “Burns, will you see that this makes its way safely to my chambers, please?”
“Of course, Your Grace,” the butler responded with a bow. “I shall see to it myself.”
With that the butler withdrew from the table and disappeared from the room. For a few moments, the three of them ate in silence and Matilda had a brief moment to appreciate the cook’s fine work. The food was exquisite, perhaps the best food that she had ever tasted, and it only made her mouth water for more.
“So, Matilda, how has your day been?” the Duke asked after several moments. He reached out to pick up his wine glass, looking at her over the lip even as he took a sip. In order to give herself a moment, Matilda picked her own glass up and took a sip. Even the wine tasted better than anything she had ever had before.
It was such a shock for the Duke to take a genuine interest in her that for several moments she was unsure of how to respond. “I can honestly say that my day has been wonderful,” she said finally, turning a smile upon Amy to let her know that she was one of the reasons for it being so. The little lady blushed slightly almost as if she were embarrassed to receive such veiled praised.
“I am glad to hear it,” the Duke responded, and he offered her such a pleasant smile that a few seconds she forgot that he was a duke and she a governess, that he was her employer and her practically his servant. It was in that moment that Matilda realised without a doubt that the Duke was unlike any other nobleman she had ever met before.
For the rest of dinner, he was charming and attentive, even humorous, and Matilda could not remember ever attending such a wonderful dinner. In a matter of twenty-four hours Matilda had quickly come to feel as though she was a part of the Duke’s family, just as Helen and Quintin had suggested that she would.
By the time that dinner was over, Matilda found that she was disappointed at its drawing to an end. The three courses that they had shared together, the wonderful conversation and simply not feeling quite so alone, had left Matilda wishing that it could last longer. Even Lady Amy looked displeased, pleading with her father that she might be able to stay up longer tonight, just this once.
The Duke looked as though he was struggling to come up with some reason for his daughter not to stay up and Matilda thought that likely the Duke had much more work he had to get finished before he could retire to his own bed.
“If your father is in agreement, I would be happy to come with you to your chambers and read you a story for bedtime?” Matilda suggested, then she quickly remembered how old Amy was and the fact that she had spent most of the day reading herself.
She did not exactly need somebody to read her a bedtime story. She braced herself, half expecting for the old Amy to break the surface, for her to argue that she was not a toddler and did not need a bedtime story.
Instead, Amy looked hopefully at her father and asked, “Oh please, Papa, can she?”
The Duke turned his gaze upon Matilda, looking as if he were trying to figure something out. His eyebrow rose and he looked quite curious for several moments before he responded, “If it is not too much trouble for you, Miss Percival… Matilda.”
“Of course, it is not!” Matilda exclaimed almost automatically. “I like to read before bed anyway and so we shall kill two birds with one stone so to speak.”
Both the Duke and his daughter looked pleased at her response and Matilda was even more surprised when the Duke pushed himself up from his chair to come and help her from her own. She held her breath even as he held out his hand to help her stand.
“Miss Percival, I wish to thank you again for giving my daughter such a pleasant day,” he told her, holding her hand for a little longer than she thought was appropriate though she did not dare to speak up about it. In fact, she found that she rather liked it and the way it made her heart flutter like a bird trapped in a cage.
She could feel Amy watching them with a mischievous smile and in order not to give the girl the wrong impression, Matilda quickly dropped into a curtsy and said, “Please, do not feel the need to thank me, Your Grace. I am just doing my duty.”
She then cursed herself, biting the inside of her lip as she wondered whether Amy might take that the wrong way. The last thing she wanted was for the girl to think she did not enjoy her company. Yet when she glanced around Amy was still smiling happily as if nothing could bring her down from the wonderful day that she’d had.
The Duke continued to smile even as he walked around the table to help his daughter from her chair just as he had Matilda.
“Thank you both for a wonderful dinner,” the Duke said, taking hold of his daughter’s hand and kissing her small, gloved knuckles before he took her into his arms and embraced her as the most loving of father’s might have done. Matilda’s heart squeezed at that.
She was not sure that her own father had ever been so affectionate toward her though she was pleased to see it between these two. It was clear that no matter how much the Duke worked, he was also determined to show his daughter just how much he loved her.
“Come, Lady Amy, we ought to let your father return to his important work,” Matilda suggested after Amy had given her father an affectionate squeeze in return. Even as the young girl moved around the table to join Matilda to exit, the Duke offered the governess a grateful expression and bowed his head respectfully. Matilda smiled back in return, offering him a curtsy and a bow of her own head before she started to herd Amy from the room.
I think that went well,she thought as she left the room behind the young girl.I hope.
Chapter 6
Well over an hour after dinner, Watson was sitting at his desk in the library, going over the documents and such that he would need to take with him for business the next day. He had found it increasingly hard to do when all his mind kept creeping back to was dinner and how much of a good time he had shared with his daughter and her governess.
It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders yet there was still tension there and he knew that there was one final piece of the puzzle missing.
Almost as if she sensed his anxieties, there was a knocking at the door, and when he called for whomever was without to enter, in Miss Percival walked, looking a little sheepish.
