Page 22 of The Artisan and the Duke
Fredrick laughed, “You know I was only jesting.”
“For someone who has ideas, maybe it would be obvious, but I am afraid that my simple brain cannot understand the complexity of a jest,” Gregory said as he rose.
With a roll of his eyes, Fredrick asked, “When am I needed at the estate?”
“Whenever you wish to leave,” Gregory said with a smile.
Fredrick asked, “Are you sure you will not need me here to help out?”
“I think that right now, you should be concentrating on getting better,” Gregory assured his brother. “We will be fine. Though, I would appreciate it if you came for the wedding.”
Fredrick laughed and replied, “If you actually get her to the altar, then I will definitely be there.”
“That might just be the trick, indeed,” Gregory agreed with a nod of his head.
Chapter 5
Jules lay in bed pondering just how she would get out of all this. There was a knock at the door, but Jules pretended that she did not hear it. Sherry had gone to fetch some supper from the kitchens, and Jules had no interest in talking to anyone.
As Jules lay there with her eyes closed, she heard the door creak open. There were footfalls across the floor, heavier than Sherry’s light shoes. A hand touched Jules’ forehead, and her eyes popped open in surprise.
Duke St Claire gave Jules an apologetic smile. “I did not mean to wake you. I just wanted to come check on you.” He cleared his throat and continued, “I was concerned when Sherry did not answer the door.”
“She went to get food,” Jules said thickly. The idea that the man was actually that concerned about her made guilt well up inside her for wanting to run away. Surely he had done nothing so wrong as to deserve her spite.
Duke St Claire nodded, and his blond hair shifted with his movements. “I will leave you to your rest,” he said quietly.
“Thank you,” Jules said. With a nod of his head, the man was swiftly out of the room as if he had never been there. Jules rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands.
Sherry came in a few moments later and sat a tray of food on the nightstand. “Are you okay, Miss?”
Jules sat up in bed and shook her head. “His Grace came in here to check on me,” she said softly.
“Oh?” Sherry asked curiously. “What about that makes you so upset?”
Jules looked over at the woman and said, “Honestly, it is more that he never behaves quite how I think he should.”
“And he should just do as you wish he would all the time?” Sherry asked in amusement. “It is my experience that men rarely do what we wish they would at any given time.”
Jules sighed, “I just wish he was easier to understand.”
“Maybe he is only hard to pin down because you want him to be something other than what he is,” Sherry said sagely. “My mother always said that you can dress a man in fine clothes, but it does not make him a gentleman. You simply cannot make people behave contrary to who they are.”
With a frown, Jules said, “It would be so much easier if he did.”
“Easier for you to hate him, you mean,” Sherry filled in for Jules. Jules sank down in bed. Her appetite had fled.
***
Gregory spotted Sherry in the hallway the following morning and called out for her to await him. “How fares Miss Kelley?” Gregory enquired as he came abreast of the young woman.
Sherry thought for a moment then said, “I don’t know for sure, Your Grace. She seemed well enough, then she refused to eat last night saying that she was not hungry.”
Gregory frowned. He did not like the sound of that. Miss Kelley had not seemed so ill when he talked to her last night. “Perhaps I should check in on her,” Gregory mused out loud.
“It might help her spirits, Your Grace,” Sherry said with a curtsey. The Duke nodded and then set off down the hallway towards Miss Kelley’s room with purpose. Sherry smiled to herself.
***
