Page 23 of My Daring Duchess
“I’ve been more than pleased to be delayed by ye, Anne,” Simon replied and then departed from the carriage.
She watched him stroll away with easy grace. The man walked with an air of utter confidence, which she found admirable rather than annoying, as she normally would. All the way home, his face and things he had said to her filled her thoughts so that the minute she entered her grandfather’s estate, she went straight to his bedchambers.
She entered her grandfather’s sitting room to find him reclined on a chaise with a blanket over his legs, a book in his lap, a scowl on his face. Dr. Talbot was standing beside him wagging his finger at her grandfather. She suspected he was not being a cooperative patient.
“And how are we faring today?” she asked cheerily, glancing first at her grandfather and then Dr. Talbot.
“I feel perfectly well,” her grandfather grumbled.
“He has a fever,” Dr. Talbot countered, “and the congestion in his chest sounds no better.”
“I’m hale and hearty,” Grandfather said as a coughing fit overtook him.
“You are not,” Dr. Talbot said, using the sternest voice she had ever heard from him. As her grandfather threw off his blanket and started to rise, Dr. Talbot said, “If you do not heed my advice and stay in bed until youarewell, you will likely become so ill that you will die and leave your granddaughter here all alone and unmarried.” Dr. Talbot gave her a quick, apologetic look to which she inclined her head with a smile. She understood he was trying to scare her grandfather, and she prayed it had worked.
Her grandfather slowly sat back on the settee with a guffaw. “You make me feel like an old man,” he snapped at his friend, at which the doctor simply chuckled.
“I have other patients to attend to, Rowan, but I will return tonight to see if your fever has broken.” Dr. Talbot turned to Anne. “He needs plenty of rest and fluids, and to stay calm so as not to cause unnecessary coughing.”
Anne nodded, thinking upon how she wanted to ask her grandfather about Mary and Simon. She’d have to be careful, though, so as not to upset him. Once Dr. Talbot departed, she sat in the chair facing the settee, picked up her grandfather’s cup of tea, and held it out to him. “Drink,” she commanded.
He cocked his eyebrows at her. “I’m not so sick that you can order me about.”
She smiled, pleased that he was showing surliness. That meant he was, indeed, not too ill. “Drink this please, Grandfather.”
After he took several sips of tea and handed it back to her, she said, “I met the new Duke of Kilmartin last night.” She watched for his reaction.
Her grandfather’s face clouded with obvious uneasiness. “At the ball, I presume?”
She nodded, noting her grandfather was drumming his fingers in his lap. “I was taken aback, as you had never mentioned that the old duke, your friend, had a grandson.”
“I did not mention him because, er, I have never met him. His grandfather cut him out of his life many years ago.”
She tried to school her features into an expression of indifference. She couldn’t believe her grandfather was lying to her! She knew very well he had met Simon when he had demanded Simon wed Mary!
“So you never met him? Not even once?” she pressed.
“No,” her grandfather replied, darting his eyes away. “But I was wondering when he would return to attend to his estates after his grandfather’s passing.”
She ran her hands over her skirts, thinking upon the best way to learn what she wanted. Her grandfather was not being forthcoming with information, nor the truth. Perhaps, if he thought she had a fondness for Simon…
“He’s very nice and easy to talk to,” she said.
“Did he seek an introduction to you, or was it given as a matter of course?” her grandfather asked.
“Oh.” She grinned purposefully. “I do believe he sought an introduction to me. I think I might be ready to be courted again.”
A ferocious scowl came to her grandfather’s face. “Not,” he said in a severe tone, “by that man.”
She cocked her head as if confused. “You sound as if you don’t like the new duke, but you said you never met him. So whyever would you not care for him?”
“It does not matter. You will simply do as I say,” her grandfather growled. He hadn’t used such a commanding tone with her since they had come to truly know each other.
“I’m far too old for you to order about, Grandfather,” she said, “and I’m far too old for you to try to protect my sensibilities by lying to me.” If she was correct, that was what he was doing.
His lips parted momentarily before he clamped them shut. After a moment of his shifting around, he let out a long, rattling sigh. “How could you tell?”
“Your face,” she replied, motioning to him. “Being ill must be taking a great deal of energy because you are showing your emotions clearly. It’s quite unlike you. Usually, you are like a blank canvas.”
