Page 10 of The Truth about the Duke
A knock at the door had Lady Hampshire’s warnings fall silent and she quickly called for the servant to enter. A footman came in, handing Lady Hampshire a card, though she quickly looked towards Lydia.
“Are you expecting Lady Markham this afternoon?”
“Yes, I am!” Lydia set aside her embroidery immediately, making to rise to her feet only to recall the book she had underneath her. “Might she join us, Mama?”
Lady Hampshire sighed heavily. “Lydia, I am not quite finished with my conversation with you but… ” She sighed again. “On this occasion, I shall leave you and your friend to take tea.”
“Thank you, Mama.”
With a nod, Lady Hampshire made to leave the room, only to glance back at Lydia and frown. “Are you so improper that you will not rise to greet your friend in the correct way?”
“I shall, of course.” Lydia forced a smile, praying that her mother would not linger and wait to make certain that she did so, relieved when, with a click of her tongue to make clear her disapproval, Lady Hampshire walked out of the door.
Relieved, Lydia got to her feet, turning to pick up the book but managing, somehow, to tangle it up in her skirts all the same. Frustrated, she began to mutter to herself, only to hear a peal of laughter coming from the other side of the room.
“Whatever are you doing, Lydia?”
With a wry smile, Lydia turned to face her friend, only for the book to drop to the floor, the thump making Sophie’s eyebrows lift. “Good afternoon, Sophie,” Lydia began, turning around again in an attempt to find the book and, seeing it, bending to pluck it from the floor. “Aha! I have you now.”
“Were you reading?” Coming to sit down, Sophie gave Lydia a slightly confused look. “I do not understand why you were so tangled in your skirts!”
Lydia laughed and handed the book to her friend before going to ring the bell for a tea tray. “I was, yes. But when I heard my mother coming, I quickly sat on the book and it was only when she left that I was able to find it again.”
Sophie laughed again just as Lydia sat down, the rueful smile still on her face. “Goodness, that must have been a little difficult for you!”
“It was certainly uncomfortable.”
Her friend tipped her head just a little. “I am sorry that you cannot be encouraged in what you love.”
Lydia let out a slow breath, lifting her shoulders as she did so. “I cannot change it, I suppose. So there is nothing to be done aside from attempting to hide my love of it from my parents.” Her lips quirked. “Though I did not do so when it came to speaking with the Duke of Melrose and the Marquess of Kendall last evening. Goodness, is not the Duke of Melrose an arrogant gentleman?”
Her friend spread out her hands. “I could not say. I am not acquainted with him particularly well, though my husband knows him better than I. But is it not expected for a Duke to be arrogant? I would have thought that it would not be a surprise to learn of his condescension.”
“I suppose that is true. Though, as I have said, I did make it quite clear that my respect for his opinion was somewhat lacking.” Wincing as she recalled the heavy frown that had pulled at the Duke’s forehead, she shook her head. “I must hope that he does not say anything to either my mother or my father.”
Sophie looked back at her steadily. “What did you say?”
“Not too much,” Lydia answered, still having a vague sense of triumph lingering in her from the previous evening’sconversation. “He stated quite clearly that young ladies ought not to do various things, that it would be wrong or shameful for them to be learned and knowledgeable beyond that of what a governess teaches.”
“Ah.” Sophie rolled her eyes. “I am sure you made your feelings on that subject more than clear.”
“I certainly did.”
“Then I think that very good,” her friend declared, determinedly. “And that is one of the reasons I am come to call on you today.”
Lydia’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh?”
“I have some connections to The London Chronicle,” Sophie continued, with a wave of her hand. “They are always looking for something new and interesting to place within it. I did wonder whether or not you might wish to approach them about writing a piece or two?”
The idea did quickly pique Lydia’s interest, though doubts instantly began to cloud her mind. “I do not know if I am much good at writing and, even if I were to be, whatever should I write about?”
“You are quite excellent at the written word,” came her friend’s reply, as the tea tray was brought in. “I have had some thoughts on what you could write within it. Though I know that you love all manner of learning and you know a good many things, not everything will be of interest to thetonand therefore, rejected by The London Chronicle.”
Lydia’s lips pulled to one side as she thought, the idea taking a greater hold of her mind.
“You might be able to suggest that you write a brief history of England?” Sophie continued, shrugging her shoulders. “Or different parts of England, mayhap?”
Getting to her feet to pour the tea, Lydia considered the idea. “Perhaps the traditions and customs of each place?”
