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“Good idea,” the Duke said, copying her, coming up behind her and then standing at her side as they both managed to right themselves.
“Perhaps we ought to return to the manor and get cleaned up?” Matilda advocated, all too able to imagine what they might look like walking down the lane in such a state.
“Nonsense, we have already reached the field and we are bound to only get dirtier by the end of it,” the Duke insisted, wiping his hands down his sleeves as if to remove a little of the mud. It only seemed to make things worse.
“If you are sure,” Matilda responded, hoping that the mud smears she could feel drying on her cheeks would hide the fact that she was blushing.
“Please, Miss Percival, let’s not let a little mud spoil a fine walk,” the Duke insisted and offered her hand to help her make it the rest of the way to the stile. Quickly debating whether it was better to take her chances or not, Matilda finally placed her hand in his and allowed him to help her.
“Eww! Do not touch me!” Lady Amy cried, quickly hurrying up and over the stile before either of them could reach her. She was still laughing haughtily whenever she glanced in their direction and saw the state of them. Glancing down at herself, Matilda could not say that she blamed her. Her charcoal grey dress was now practically brown with mud that was already growing lighter as it dried and turned to a crust on her gown. It even cracked a little as the Duke helped her to climb over the stile.
Even as the Duke followed the two of them into the field, Matilda could not help but say, “We must be mad.”
“All the best people are, Miss Percival!” Lady Amy assured her, and Matilda and the Duke glanced at each other, smiling and chuckling at the words, both slightly nodding in agreement.
“It is certainly more fun,” the Duke pointed out, gesturing for Matilda to take the lead once more even though his daughter had already gone hurrying off.
“Lady Amy, try not to find another mud wallow for us to slip in!” Matilda called after the girl.
They had been walking in relative silence for several minutes when Matilda realised that Lady Amy had begun to make her way back to them. At first, she thought nothing of it but then she saw the grim look on the girl’s face.
“Lady Amy, is something the matter?” Matilda asked even as the girl came hurrying back to them. She was even more alarmed when the girl quickly moved to stand slightly behind her, sliding her hand into hers. Whatever had spooked her was must have been terrible for her to actually hold her hand. “What is it, Lady Amy?”
It was not until she heard a sharp intake of breath from the Duke that she turned her gaze back to the horizon just in time to see a brilliant white parasol floating into view.
Putting two and two together with Lady Amy’s reaction to whoever was coming over the little hillock, Matilda felt her entire body growing tense.Lady Florentia,she thought even as the woman and her maid appeared a little further down the path they were walking on.
“I think perhaps we ought to have turned back after all,” Lady Amy commented under her breath and Matilda quickly looked to the Duke, hoping that he had not overheard her. Luckily for them, the Duke’s attention seemed to be entirely on the woman walking toward them.
As if she saw the state of them, Lady Florentia paused for a moment some distance away, looking as if she believed she might be able to be set up by a pair of mud monsters. Matilda had to stifle laughter at the thought of it.
“Come on,” the Duke said, though he did not sound all too enthusiastic, “We ought to say hello.”
Gritting her teeth and still holding onto Lady Amy’s hand, Matilda began to walk toward the lady and her maid who looked as though her arm was aching terribly from holding the parasol above her mistress’s head.
“Lady Florentia, it is good to see you,” the Duke called over to the woman as they approached and as though she finally seemed to recognise them, the woman started to walk forward, smiling brilliantly at the sound of his voice. Matilda could not say that she blamed her. His voice was music to her ears too. And yet seeing the look on the woman’s face made her stomach clench painfully with jealousy, mainly because Lady Florentia had every right to look at him in that way while she had none at all.
“Your Grace! I barely recognised you!” Lady Florentia exclaimed even as they met upon the centre of the trodden grass path. “Lady Amy, Miss Percival! Whatever has happened to you both?”
Though the woman looked the Duke up and down with an affectionate gaze, when her eyes turned to Matilda, she could feel the scathing in her glare and the way that she judged her for being found in such a state.
“We came into a little trouble on the lane,” the Duke explained with a shake of his head. “It is nothing a bath will not fix.”
“I am glad to hear it, Your Grace,” Lady Florentia responded, the smile instantly returning to her face when she turned her full attention back to him. “Watson, I have missed you. I was rather hoping you might come to call before now.”
Matilda was shocked to hear the words from her lips. The Duke had been away from the manor several days previously and Matilda had half expected that during his time away he might have visited Lady Florentia. After all, their relationship had grown remarkably over the last several weeks, what with him deciding to introduce her properly to his daughter and all.
“I am afraid I have been quite bogged down with work of late,” the Duke responded, offering no real excuse for having been absent from the Lady’s residence.
“I was beginning to think that you were avoiding me after that terrible tea,” Lady Florentia commented, glancing quickly at Lady Amy. Matilda had to fight the urge to automatically step in front of the young girl to protect her from the woman’s gaze.
Could he really be putting distance between them?Matilda asked herself.Why?
“Everybody has their off days,” the Duke pointed out, standing a little taller as if he were preparing to step in and defend his daughter further if he needed to.
“Of course, Your Grace,” Lady Florentia responded with an elegant and exaggerated bow of her head. “Perhaps you all might join me in my walk, and we can catch up a little?”
“Thank you, Lady Florentia, for the offer but as you can see, we are not exactly in a state for company at the moment,” the Duke pointed out and Matilda found she was even more shocked by his response. Only minutes before he had been all too happy to finish their walk in his current state.
