Page 14 of Good Duke Gone Cold

“What are you doing here, Gregory?” Margaret interrupted with contempt.

Gregory had no clue how to answer the simple question. He tried to buy himself time by equivocating, “May it not perhaps be that I’m seeking the attention of two lovely ladies?” Margaret rolled her eyes. “Well, it’s certainly not because this is the only quiet room in the house. What is going on with all that ruckus?”

“There are workers here to fix some floorboards in the theater. It has been an age since we have used it like we did when we were children, always putting on plays for the family and close friends. Mary nearly fell through the stage a few days ago while we were rehearsing.” Gregory bristled at this news but he couldn’t understand why this news caused his pulse to quicken in fury. The evaluation of that emotional response was for another time.

“Thankfully Bugsby made arrangements for repairs to be done. We certainly didn’t want to track you down and bother you with our trivial concerns. You are a very busy man, as we both know.”

Gregory was nettled by Margaret’s mockery. Just because he did not want to see Mary did not mean that he did not want them to see him. No, that wasn’t quite right. He couldn’t think straight. Mary’s bosom was quickly rising and falling again in plain sight. He pushed his hands through his hair.

“We don’t need you here, Gregory. Mary is working on her play, and one day she will have it performed in front of a large audience with resounding applause and standing ovations. So as you can see, we don’t need you.” Margaret egged him on.

He wasn’t needed. That should be good news. He had enough to do with the estate and finding a new hobby without being too public about doing actual work, for as a duke, that may create more talk of thetonthan he would appreciate. He wasn’t needed. Great. Why did he feel such an urgent sense to be wanted?

At that rare moment of vulnerability, he prickled and turned to Mary. What did she want? Did she know he was lying about being drunk and forgetting their kiss? Was it better to stay away from her, regardless? If she knew he was lying, he should stay away to avoid awkwardness. If she didn’t know he was lying, he should stay away to avoid being exposed.

“Margaret’s right.” Mary managed to answer his unasked question. As she spoke, he thought he caught a flash of pain in her eyes. Why was his Mary in pain? His Mary? Where had that come from?

Whether for himself or for Mary’s sake, Gregory sensed that the situation at this point now required careful maneuvering.

“I believe you are two very capable women and could most certainly continue and put on the entire play without me lifting a finger to help.” Margaret huffed, and Mary started to turn her head back down to her paper. “But,” the two looked back at him earnestly. He would have chuckled aloud at their eagerness if the situation didn’t demand a certain gravitas. “I would like to help. For Jonathan.”

Period. Battle over.

Even if they wanted to, and Gregory didn’t know if they did, neither woman could rebut that point without being truly reprehensible.

“Yes, of course. That would be… nice.” Mary’s agreeance fell flat, and Gregory couldn’t read her face.

“Well, that is splendid, Gregory. I had hoped you would come around.” Margaret lightly clapped her hands together. “We shall put you to work immediately. Yes, this is perfect. There is so much to be done, and you lifting a finger or two could prove immensely efficient. Yes, indeed. Oh I shall secure us some treats immediately to replenish us for this next round of rehearsing. I’m sure we are all feeling somewhat depleted, and tea would do us all some good. I’ll have Cook whip up some of our favorite biscuits. You know the ones with the cheese and cold meats we all love so much. Yes, I must go down and remind her exactly how we like them.” This rambling continued as Margaret made her egress. Who Margaret was specifically talking about with the all-inclusive ‘we’ was unclear, but she was already out the door.

Gregory reflected on his offer to assist with the play. When he left his study earlier, he had no intention of making this offer. It was not on his mind to make amends with Mary, and he most certainly did not want to have to make time for an overly cheery, all too happy, naive look at life play.

He had only wanted to quiet his conscience enough that he could gallivant about his own house doing as he saw fit. The impulsive offer had nothing whatsoever to do with Mary’s distracting, heaving bosom.

Despite being alone in the room in what would otherwise be considered a potentially scandalous situation, neither Mary nor Gregory gave it a second thought. They were allowed more leeway in lieu of their long-standing friendship and somewhat unconventional parents.

“What are you working on today in regards to the play?” Gregory grimaced as he asked the question. Did he really want to know? But he was in for a pound now.

Gregory walked over to the bureau the footmen had brought in as a temporary workspace for the girls and where Mary was still sitting with quill in hand.

“I have just made a few edits to act 3, and Margaret was giving her feedback.”

“Let me take a look.”

“You don’t even know the play.” The last two words were uttered rather breathlessly as Gregory had swiftly moved beside her, and in spite of all the layers of fabric she was wearing, she could feel the heat emanating from his knee as it was nearly brushing her thigh.

“Act 3. The climax of the play.” She nodded innocently, and then she thought she heard him mutter, “How utterly inconvenient.”

Bewildered, Mary questioned, “What’s that?”

“It does not signify. Let me finish.” He shook his head again, thankful he was not the type to blush, and simply grabbed the papers.

Gregory knew he should not have made the comment about act three, even though he hardly expected Mary to hear him, nevermind understand the significance. He shouldn’t have walked over and stood so close to her in the first place, but now he could not seem to move his feet from their sentry beside her, nor could he pull his eyes from her bountiful cleavage. Since when did she start wearing such low cut decolletage? Since when did he care?

Upon taking the papers from the desk, he turned away, in part to regain control of the thoughts in his head as well as the thoughtless thoughts in his other head.

The words on the pages were a blur the first three times Gregory read them. Finally, after the fourth time reading through the lines, they began to make sense.

“There must be something awfully wrong with the script if it’s taking that long to work through it.” Mary spoke these words in utter naivete while consternation crossed her face in a flash. Then something changed within her. Gregory observed her slowly rolling back her shoulders and lifting her chin a notch. This girl’s found a bit of steel. With that, he realized that she didn’t care what he thought of the play. And that’s when he realized he didn’t care what he thought of the play either. He just wanted to see her roll back her shoulders and lift her chin at him again.

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