Page 6 of Her Cursed Duke
“You say that now, Grandmother, but when you think no one is looking, you gaze upon them with a peaceful expression on your face. I know you are very happy for my sister, even if you refuse to admit as such,” Prudence stated patiently.
“And I will not do so until my dying day.” Martha sniffed with a little smile.
“Fine, we shall leave our displays of affection for more… private settings,” Agnes conceded with a smirk, then changed the subject as Prudence began to cough. “What are the hosts like?”
“They are a kind sort. The household is ruled by the Duke of Serpenhood and his godmother, the Dowager Marchioness of Foresthill. She raised the Duke after a tragedy took his family from him, and I think it is safe enough to assume that she intends to use this party to find him a young bride. As though the poor soul has not been through enough.”
“Grandmother, please,” Prudence said in a tired tone.
“What is he like, the Duke?” Agnes asked her sister.
“I… I do not know. Although we technically live next door to each other, we have never formally met. Grandmother and I do not attend social events often, and our paths have never crossed in town. From what I have heard, he likes to keep to himself. Lady Foresthill does drop by now and again to have tea with Grandmother, and it was she who specially invited us to attend today’s party.”
“He is much like one would expect of a tortured soul,” Martha commented, fiddling with her fan. “Gloomy and withdrawn. Not a particularly good look on someone haunted by all sorts of tragedies, the latest of which involved a maid who collapsed after locking eyes with him in the corridor as she went about her duties.”
“She died? Just like that?” Agnes gasped in horror.
“Curiously enough, no. She swore she felt overcome by some strange lightheadedness when her gaze met the Duke’s, but the doctor who had attended to her told her that she merely had a fainting spell due to long hours of sun exposure. It had been a very hot day.”
“Oh,” Agnes mumbled, seeming a little underwhelmed by the turn the story had taken.
Martha nodded. “That was only one of the many strange occurrences that have transpired in his presence. A gardener has fallen to his death, trimming a tree while the Duke was walking about in the garden. Their former housekeeper suffered a broken hip when he rounded a corner, startled her, and causedher to tumble down the stairs. There have been quite a number of happenings, just from the start of summer alone.”
“How do you even know all of this?” Prudence queried in confusion.
Her grandmother shot her a look of mild disbelief. “I spend most of my days within the walls of my grand—yet admittedly boring—house. I have to entertain myself somehow, and if there’s one thing I can be sure of, it is that the servants will never hesitate to gossip.”
Prudence thought that was quite fair, but she still wished her grandmother would not make it a habit of retaining such disturbing bits of gossip. She thought those happenings might have been mere coincidences, but she could not be certain, because she had not been there when they had taken place. In any case, she hoped that the party would pass without any such disastrous events taking place.
Something flashed in Agnes’s eyes, and she nodded, sitting back as she pondered on everything her grandmother had shared. “Well, let us hope that whatever jinx seems to trail after the Duke will allow both he and his guests a moment of reprieve, that everyone in attendance might spend the day peacefully and happily. And in return for their generous invitation, I suppose we will have to be sure to enjoy ourselves to the fullest, then.”
“A splendid idea, Agnes.” Martha nodded just as the carriage came to a stop. “Ah, we have arrived.”
They all disembarked and followed a maid who guided them to the garden, immediately enchanted by the sights that awaited them. The Fitzroy country estate had its own charm, and it stood in magnificence, but Serpenhood Castle held a rank of its own.
The castle itself was grand and glorious, seemingly glowing white beneath the sun. The garden was a different affair, carrying a magical air, as it was covered with numerous colorful, blooming flowers, their scents premating the atmosphere and basking it in the warmth that was typical of summer without turning into an overbearing heat wave.
People were already present, chattering eagerly over glasses of punch and treats, some playing the miniature games set up around or swaying lightly to the music the hired performers were playing. Prudence felt a little out of her depth but felt comfort in knowing that her sister was by her side.
“Martha! How lovely of you to have been able to attend!”
They all turned around as a man and woman approached them, the woman reaching for the Dowager Countess, who accepted her quick embrace.
“Beatrice, it was an honor to have been invited. We would not have missed it for anything else. Yet, there was also nothing else—we do not live lives nearly as exciting as yours.” Martha grinned.
“Oh, you flatter me. I long for the peace of mind you have had all these years. Keeping up appearances can be exhausting sometimes,” the Dowager Marchioness said.
“But you love the gossip afforded by your social life.”
“That I do, darling. I see you brought guests with you, although I am only familiar with your lovely granddaughter, Lady Prudence.”
Prudence curtsied.
Martha nodded, gesturing to Agnes and her husband. “This is also my granddaughter and Prudence’s elder sister, the Duchess of Forestwood, and her husband, the Duke of Forestwood. Agnes, Silas, meet Beatrice Cruz, the Dowager Marchioness of Foresthill, and her godson, the Duke of Serpenhood.”
After years of hearing rumors about this man, he seemed nothing like the vile rumors suggested when Prudence took a good look at him. Of course, she had not believed everything she had heard, fully aware that there was no such thing as a curse, but she had half expected that something about the Duke’s appearance had aided in the spread of such falsehoods about him.
But looking at him now… he did not seem scary in any way. If anything, he was quite handsome. Very handsome, indeed. His dark blonde hair fell over his forehead and down the nape of his neck in thick curls, making his grey eyes even brighter as they flitted over the room in disinterest, before settling on Prudenceand her family. He appeared bored but still bowed politely after he had been introduced to them, plastering on a smile that looked fake but no less attractive.
