Page 4 of Dancing with an Enigmatic Duke
After Jasmine left her at the dining room, Emmeline wandered the corridors of the manor house. It was of impressive size, even if the ancestral castle in Scotland dwarfed it. Still, it was comfortable. She admired the artwork and passed time peering into rooms to discover their function.
She even met a couple of other staff members who were surprised at her interest in them. Emmeline shook her head as she walked down a particularly lovely hallway adorned with tables topped with planters of a fragrant evergreen plant whose name she did not know. She wondered if her brother was too busy to interact with his staff much or if he merely chose not to.
The Harcourt she had met today was not the young man who had left to go to school. He was not the same boy who had hidden her dolls or chased her around the large tree down by the stream. No, he was a different person altogether, and Emmeline was unsure of how to approach him.
“Ah, there you are, Lady Callum. His Lordship sent me to let you know that dinner would be served soon,” a male voice said behind Emmeline.
She turned to see a man she assumed to be the butler by his dress. His greying hair was trimmed and neatly combed and he held his hands behind his back, his expression thoughtfully awaiting her reply. Emmeline nodded. “I must have lost track of time. I shall head to the dining room forthwith.”
“I can lead you back if you should need, My Lady?” He bowed to her and held his hand out showing her the way.
Emmeline gave him a curtsey and smiled. “Thank you. That would be wise. I would not want to get caught down an errant hallway and keep my brother waiting.”
While the man seemed pleasant enough, he did not talk on the way to the dining room, except to direct her on which way to go. Emmeline grew tired of trying to speak with him. He was much too professional to converse with her as his fellows had.
All she managed to get out of the butler was that his name was Gerald. Emmeline resigned herself to looking at the paintings on the wall as they walked. She was grateful when Gerald slowed and bowed to her.
“Here we are,” he said. He grabbed one of the double doors that led into the dining room and held it open for her.
Emmeline offered him a thankful dip of her head and passed through. “Thank you, Gerald.”
Just as swiftly as the man had appeared, Gerald was gone, and the door clicked closed behind her. Emmeline was left alone facing the large dining table that was now adorned with the first course of food. She immediately noticed that Harcourt was not the only person awaiting.
Harcourt rose as did a man Emmeline had never seen before. She gave him a curious look. He was tall, tall enough indeed that Emmeline felt almost small in comparison. His long dark hair was tied back with a ribbon.
Harcourt waved his hand toward the newcomer. “Forgive me for not warning you ahead of time, Sister, but we have a guest. This is my dear friend Lord Torrington. We went to school together.”
He gave her a smile that Emmeline supposed must have been quite heart-breaking if she were a woman easily swayed by such things. His dark brown eyes held joviality that made Emmeline smile back at him. “Not at all, dear brother. Meeting your friends gives me insight into the man you have become.” Emmeline’s eyes stayed on the duke. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Grace.”
“And I you,” Lord Torrington said with a dip of his head. “Although, I do not know that I can take credit, nor would I want to for helping your brother become the way he is.” He gave Emmeline a wink, to her amusement.
Harcourt cleared his throat and indicated that they should sit down. Emmeline hastened to her chair, which a servant held out for her. Once they were all seated and served, Harcourt asked, “Did you have a good rest?”
“Yes. I meant to tell you that I found Jasmine to be a most helpful lady’s maid. She was quite lovely.” Emmeline picked up a piece of potato on her fork and took an inquisitive bite. The spices were milder than the cook at home used, but it was still quite good.
Lord Torrington looked over at her, but Harcourt was already speaking. “She is a good worker. Speaking of lady’s maids, I wanted to let you know that I have arranged for you to have help in preparing for the season.”
Emmeline did not know what to say, so she merely dipped her head in acceptance of her brother’s words. The mention of the coming season had dampened her good mood, but she tried her best to fight off the sense of gloom that settled over her. After all, it would not do to embarrass her brother in front of his friend.
Lord Torrington eyed Emmeline curiously. “Your accent is Scottish, is it not?”
“Yes,” Emmeline said with a blush. “My mother was from Scotland originally, but I am sure that my brother has told you all of this.”
The duke nodded as he sipped his wine. “He has told me some, but after years in England I am afraid he has lost that lovely accent that you still have ownership of. I had begun to wonder if he had just made the ancestry up.”
“Hold off there,” Harcourt said. There was no real anger behind his words, and Emmeline smiled at the two friends over the top of her glass of wine. They seemed very fond of each other Emmeline decided, as the two men bickered.
Emmeline looked back down at her plate and the meal of beef roast in front of her. She tuned out the men’s ribbing of one another, as a good lady should. After all, it was not her place to be in such discussions, even if they chose to have them in front of her. It was one of the pieces of advice from her mother that Emmeline found easy to take to heart, as she had little interest in the jabs they sparred with.
“Lady Callum, do you not think your brother could use a port in the Indian Ocean?” Emmeline looked up at the mention of her name. Lord Torrington and her brother were eyeing her with interest.
Emmeline lifted her shoulders helplessly. “Does he?”
“Lord Torrington is insistent that I bring my cargo ships, at least some of them, into his arena so that I might transfer his spices at a more affordable rate,” Harcourt explained. His eyes left hers and went back to Lord Torrington, who looked completely at ease as he leaned back in his chair with a smile. “However, as I also explained to Nash, I have quite enough business in the Caribbean for the time being.”
“Nash?” Emmeline repeated.
Lord Torrington chuckled. “Forgive your brother his manners. He is referring to me.”
