Page 5 of Her Lion of a Duke
The Danton ball was a most fine occasion to begin the Season. That is what you all expect me to write, so that you may applaud and congratulate one another on doing your due diligence and attending an event. Unfortunately, dear readers, that is not why I write. Then again, I suppose it is not why you gave that boy a shilling so that you could read this, is it?
No, my readers look for something more than mere scandal. You want to hear something real, the true thoughts of someone capable of more than gawking at an unflattering gown or a misplaced step. Such niceties can be reserved for your gossip sheets and your afternoon promenades. I write for the people who dare to think for themselves.
And oh, it is good to make my return.
Felix Gray.
Leonard read the passage, then read it again. He could not tear his eyes away from the name written at the bottom. He recognized the author’s name in an instant, and he did not know what to do with it.
The memory came flooding back, and he forgot that his housekeeper was watching him.
“Is everything all right, Your Grace?” she asked. “I thought you might have liked to hear about his return. I know you always had his articles delivered to you.”
“Yes,” he muttered. “Yes, quite. It is wonderful to see that he is writing again.”
“You may now read something of substance again,” Mrs Herrington quipped, “rather than those scandal sheets.”
“They have their uses,” he argued. “Should there be any stories circulating about me, I would rather learn about them at the same time as everyone else.”
“I know, Your Grace.”
It had been years since Mrs. Herrington had started calling him by his new title, but he was still not used to it. She had always been a second mother figure to him and had always called him ‘dear,’ never by a title.
“I do not plan to have any scandals attached to my name this year,” he clarified. “There has been quite enough of that in the last few years, and I am looking forward to it coming to an end.”
“Does that mean that you are looking for a wife? That would help you greatly.”
“And yourself, but no. It is not the right time for that, and I do not plan to bring a lady into the mess that is this house.”
Mrs. Herrington looked around pointedly. “I would argue that the house is rather tidy, but if you are not happy with it?—”
“Of course I am.” He chuckled. “I mean the family name. No gently bred lady would want to bind herself to such a strange dukedom or a supposed murderer.”
“Except that you had nothing to do with that.”
“No. But that is not what they want to hear, is it?”
Mrs. Herrington sighed and shuffled away, resuming her duties.
Leonard sat there for a moment; he knew that the time to find a wife was quickly approaching, and that if he had to find one eventually, then it was for the best that he did so sooner rather than later.
It would have indeed helped dispel the rumors. A joyous occasion, an extravagant wedding, would be a worthwhile distraction, as far as the ton was concerned. Though he had to admit that he had very little interest in his life as a bachelor, coming to an end.
He pushed the thought away, knowing that he had to save his energy for the musicale that evening. It was to be a famously terrible one, given the unfortunate sisters who were to perform, and it would be a long night of smiling sympathetically at them.
He had considered not attending at all, but he knew that Lady Cecilia would be there, and he did not want to make her sit through it all alone.
She was a friend to him, and he hoped that she saw him in a similar light.
As soon as he arrived, he heard the whispers. In truth, it was not the whispers themselves that he noticed, but the way they stopped the moment the other guests saw him.
There were eyes on him, and though he was very skilled at pretending not to care, he felt uneasy.
“Good evening, Your Grace,” Lady Cecilia greeted brightly when she saw him, her cousin standing meekly by her side.
“Good evening, ladies. I trust you are prepared for this event?”
“My cousin shall not know what has hit her,” she quipped. “It is her first time here.”
