Page 23 of The Artisan and the Duke
When Gregory reached the door, he knocked hesitantly. He did not want to startle the woman as he had the night before. “Miss Kelley?” Gregory called. He listened for noises behind the shut door but heard none. “Miss Kelley, are you well?” Gregory tried again.
With great care, Gregory opened the door. He saw the shape of the young woman in the bed. “Miss Kelley?”
He was almost to the bed when he noticed that the shape was just pillows, and fear struck through his chest. “Miss Sherry,” Gregory bellowed for the chambermaid.
The young maid arrived in a fluster. “What is it, Your Grace?” Sherry asked, and then she saw the man holding up the covers with pillows stuffed under it. Sherry burst into tears. “Oh no, she really did run off,” Sherry cried.
Gregory felt the fear morph into anger that he had never quite felt before. He had never truly experienced anything akin to a betrayal from someone he cared about. No, he had held people at a distance much more effectively than even his brother had. This was not acceptable, Gregory’s mind screamed.
“Tell me everything that Miss Kelley has said to you over the last day,” Gregory said with a warning reverberation to his voice.
The chambermaid shrunk back. She had never seen The Duke so angry, and it frightened her. “Of course, Your Grace,” Sherry mumbled quickly.
***
The streets seemed freer to Jules as she tromped her way through the streets in her old clothes. She felt as if she could not breathe with the corsets and dresses that Lady St Claire had insisted on. Perhaps this was where Jules really belonged.
She ran her hand along the wood of the door to her old home. The building was stark and empty. Jules was sure it would not stay that way. Someone would come along to squat in the building and make it a home again.
There was hollowness in her heart as Jules’ thoughts went to her family. She wondered if she would ever see them again. The Duke had said she would, but then did she really trust the man?
Her thoughts echoed back, why should she not trust him? He had done what he had promised, had he not? Jules shook the thoughts away and turned around. She stilled. Down the street from where she stood was Duke St Claire. He was dressed in his expensive clothes and stood out starkly on the street.
Jules watched the man walk towards her and found herself incapable of fleeing. There had been every intention of going back once she got her head clear, but somehow the man had found her quicker than she had thought.
The Duke stopped a few feet from her. “It was foolish to run off as you did,” he said in a low voice.
Jules could hear the anger behind the words, and it stilled her heart. The higher rungs of society were not known for their patience and gentle temperament. “I was going to come back,” Jules said hastily as she wrung her hands. “I just needed to clear my head.”
The blond-haired Duke did not look moved. Finally, he said, “We should go. I left a horse with a boy just up the road.”
“I’m sorry that I put you through so much trouble,” Jules said as the nobleman turned and began walking away. She had to run to catch up with his long strides. “Please, do not take your anger at me out on my family, Your Grace, I beg you,” Jules pleaded as she hurried to keep pace with the man.
All at once, The Duke stopped and turned toward Jules, causing her to take a step backwards out of reflex. “Is that how little you think of me?” The man’s words held anger, and to Jules’ surprise, disgust.
“I,” Jules began but fell silent. What did she think of the man? Jules took a deep breath and said, “I think you are a very odd nobleman.”
The Duke looked at Jules in confusion then to her shock the man began to laugh. It was a deep rumbling laugh, and the sound of it made Jules smile. She watched him a bit confused herself as to what she had said that was so humorous to the man.
“You think that I am odd? The woman dressed as a man in broad daylight?” the Duke spoke through his laughter. He brought his arms out as if beckoning answers from the clouds themselves as he asked Jules, “What makes me such a peculiarity to you, Miss Kelley?”
Jules thought of several replies but simply said, “You are kind.”
“And nobles cannot broach such a state? Do you think that all we do is beat poor maids and children?” The Duke’s voice held amusement but also a bit of scorn that Jules could understand.
Jules looked down at her feet. Her dark hair fell forward from under her cap where she had neglected to pin it in her haste. “I think that we might both be a bit mistaken about each other, Your Grace. I am sorry for my rash decision.”
“You should not be,” the Duke said with a shrug. “If I were in your position, then I might very well have done the same. Despite what you might think about me, Miss Kelley, we have more in common than you think. I am rather hoping that we can help each other.”
***
Jules stood in front of the mirror and adjusted the blue dress. She frowned at her reflection. Despite the fact that the Duke had told her that he needed her to help him, he had not yet told her with what. And frankly, Jules had never been good at waiting.
Sherry smiled at Jules’ reflection. “It suits you very well,” she complimented.
“Perhaps, but I really don’t see why the corset is necessary,” Jules complained.
Sherry laughed softly and said, “Lady St Claire never goes without her corset. She thinks it is scandalous.”
