Page 40 of Taken By the Broken Duke
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Horatio knocked at Juliet’s door.
Outside, he could hear rain hammering on the rooftops and window panes of the castle. The late afternoon had become unnaturally dark as the storm closed in. There was no answer from within the room and he knocked again, this time louder.
Perhaps she was asleep.
“Miss Semphill? It is Horatio. May I come in?” he called.
“May I be of some assistance, Your Grace?” came a voice from the end of the hallway.
Horatio looked up to see Frances Godwin standing outside the door of her room. She wore a gown of dark red silk that was cut low over her bosom. It clung to her hips in a way that emphasized her feminine figure. Dark, lustrous hair was curledabout her shoulders, held in place by delicate silver filigree chains.
“I wish to speak to your cousin,” Horatio said, unmoved by the display.
Frances Godwin was beautiful, of that, there was no doubt. Her sultry good looks would at one time have earned her a portrait, had Horatio seen her from the vantage of his gallery during the annual ball.
But now, his thoughts were full of Juliet’s burnished bronze hair and delicate, pale skin. Her slender, swan-like neck and emerald eyes. On the smattering of freckles across her cheeks that were emphasized when she blushed. He stepped away from the door, putting his hands behind his back and facing Frances, who was swaying along the hallway towards him.
“You wished to speak to Juliet?” Frances asked curiously.
“I did. I have come to a decision and it is something I would speak to her in person about.”
“Adecision?” Frances chimed, stopping too close to Horatio. “Perhaps concerning which of us you will marry? I am sorry to be so direct. That is not ladylike of me, I know. But on a matter of such importance, one must be bold.”
“I wish to resolve this matter of her illness once and for all. I do not like being lied to and would confront her about it,” Horatio put in.
“You will not receive the truth. I am not sure that Juliet knows what is truth and what is lie any longer. I do not mean to speak ill of family, but you must know. Believe me when I say that you will not get it from Juliet,” Frances said in an earnest voice.
She glanced up at him, eyes wide and lips parted. Horatio looked from her dark eyes to the closed door of Juliet’s room. He had not tried the handle. She did not need to lock it to know that he would not simply enter without permission. The door might as well be locked.
“Your description is so very different to the woman I have met and spent some time with. I do not see a liar or a fantasist,” Horatio muttered.
“That is Juliet’s nature. She is very persuasive. Very manipulative. Has she told you of her betrothed?”
Horatio had turned away, unsure what to do next. Now, he whirled to face Frances.
“Betrothed? I was not informed that Juliet was engaged to be married.”
“She would not have told you, obviously. That would have impeded her plans. She is betrothed to Viscount Hemsworth.A charming fellow who became quite smitten with her. She has been playing him along for a while now. I have tried to remonstrate with her, as has my mother. She will not listen, and he is so besotted that he will hear no ill of her at all.”
Frances shook her head, sadly. Tears actually glittered in her eyes and she turned away.
“You must forgive me, Your Grace. I cannot bear to think of that nice gentleman being heartbroken. Nor you, for that matter.”
“I had not intended to be,” Horatio stated.
He went back to the door and rapped loudly.
“Miss Semphill! Please open the door!”
He thought he heard a soft tsk of vexation. Even a stamped foot. When he looked back at Frances, she looked at him with large, stricken eyes, and hands clasped in front of her. She breathed heavily, which showed off her barely concealed bosom to its fullest.
“Allow me, Your Grace. I will enter and see how Juliet is. She may be asleep.”
Frances went to the door and Horatio stepped aside for her.
“If she does not wish to be seen, is there a message I may take to her?” Frances asked.
