Page 69 of The Artisan and the Duke
Boris nodded, and they were finally able to make their way back out to where the horses were waiting. Once they were mounted, they made good time across London and swiftly out the other side.
Boris had insisted that they ride instead of using a carriage as the roads up to the old estate were sometimes not the best this time of the year.
As the country grew lusher and the houses sparse, Gregory began to wonder if perhaps he had been wise to come out with Boris on his own. Fredrick and their mother had both been against the idea, but here Gregory was, and there was no use second guessing it now. He followed along with Boris as they rode in silence.
“The ride takes a few hours, so we will need to stop and eat while the horses rest,” Boris said with a smile.
As much as Gregory wanted to remind his cousin that he was not here to enjoy himself through a leisurely ride, his cousin had a point about resting the horses. It would do little good to get there only to have run the horses too ragged to return.
The day, despite Gregory’s foul mood, was a pleasant mixture of clouds, sun, and a breeze that felt just cool enough to take the harshness out of the warm summer day.
***
Jules sat out on the stone terrace with an assortment of fruits and cured meats on the table in front of her. She was starving, so between bits of her tale, she took large bites of all the delicious offerings. Lady St Claire and Fredrick watched her patiently. “I swear that I set out with David with the sole purpose of finding Fredrick, only I was so tired that I fell asleep in the saddle,” Jules said as she frowned.
“I hold no grudge against you, Your Grace,” Fredrick assured Jules. “I think it was boldly foolish of you to even attempt to find me, but that’s exactly what I expect of my brother’s bride. You are both far braver than is healthy for you.”
Jules paused as she picked a cherry out of a dish. “Where did you say that His Grace has gone?”
“He has gone with his cousin Boris to see if they can track down Uncle Lawrence,” Fredrick said with a shrug. “He should be back by tomorrow at the latest. It is quite a ride out to the estate where they think he might be, after all.”
Lady St Claire pursed her lips and added, “I told him not to go with that Boris. His mother was always too fond of Lawrence for my taste. Even with her having no real relation to the man, she found that she had to take him on as some sort of pitiable creature she had rescued from the cold.”
“Well, she always was a bit of an odd duck,” Fredrick said quietly. “She just stays up at Glenwood and never really leaves. I never held that against her, actually kind of envied that.”
Lady St Claire said with a sigh, “Being a hermit is not something to aspire to, Fredrick.”
“Neither is being at every gala, Mother,” Fredrick said with equal certainty. “Speaking of that, are you not joining society this week?”
Lady St Claire fanned herself with a silk fan she held in one of her hands. “Fredrick, you know very well that this late in the season all the get-togethers are more for the courting pairs than any of the rest of us. I have little interest in seeing who has been matched up this year,” Lady St Claire said and then added, “and I should think you would have better manners than to even suggest I might want to socialize while all of this is going on.”
“I do apologize, Mother,” Fredrick said with a frown. He tapped his fingers on the table and added, “Isn’t Cousin Boris courting this year? Could have sworn that Gregory had told me he was when he gave me Boris’ message of goodwill earlier in the year.”
Lady St Claire inclined her head and said, “He was courting one of the daughters of the Marquis of Dorchire. I have not seen him out at many of the events this year, though. Perhaps she soured to him or him to her. It does happen.”
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but is it that the two of you somehow suspect that Boris is not to be trusted?” Jules had listened as long as she could without learning anything, and her mind was supplying her with all the horrible things that could be happening to Gregory at the hands of the man.
Fredrick shrugged and said lightly, “We do not know what extent Boris is involved, but it was Gregory’s decision to go with him. I trust my brother’s judgement in most things, and I am forced to do so now.”
“We could go after him,” Jules suggested.
Lady St Claire looked scandalized. She said urgently, “You’ve only just gotten in from your ordeal. Would you so soon set off on another?”
“If my husband is in trouble then yes,” Jules said firmly. She placed down the piece of fruit she had been nibbling on while listening to Fredrick and Lady St Claire talk.
Jules shook her head. “What would you have me do? Sit here and work on my needlepoint? Now that I know that Gregory was working tirelessly to find me, I could not in good conscience think of leaving him on his own. I am surprised that you would have me do so,” Jules said to Lady St Claire.
The older woman looked down at the table and said quietly, “I would have to do what I had not the courage to do. I should have gone looking for my husband the moment that Lawrence returned without him. I was petrified to leave the boys. I let the men handle it.”
“I understand why you did what you did,” Jules assured the woman. “I do not think I would have left my children alone with a man that I suspected had harmed my husband. You did the right thing, and you could not have helped your husband.”
Fredrick said quietly, “She’s right, Mother. You held this family together a long time after Father’s death by your will alone.”
One of the chambermaids came scurrying out the sliding doors and said while holding her hands up clasped together to plead forgiveness, “Pardon the interruption, Sir St Claire, but there is a man at the door asking to see you.”
“A man?” Fredrick asked in puzzlement. Fredrick took his leave of Lady St Claire and the Duchess with a dip of his head before he followed the maid back through the kitchens and towards the main entrance hall.
The maid whispered, “He would not give me a name, Sir. He just kept saying that he would not leave until he saw you.”
