Page 55 of Dancing with an Enigmatic Duke
Jasmine was swiftly about the task that Emmeline had set for her. When she finally came back into the room, Jasmine eyed Emmeline with worry. “Doctor Tate is a very nice fellow.”
“Honestly, I had a bad dream. It sounds very silly when I say it in the sunlight, but it did not seem that way last night.” Emmeline got up and followed Jasmine to her tub. “I am sure I will be my old self as soon as I have had a bath.”
Jasmine nodded. “You are probably right, Miss. Do you wish me to bring your breakfast up while you bathe?”
“That would be nice,” Emmeline said softly as she sank into the warm water. Jasmine had put some rose water into the bath. Emmeline could smell the faint scent of it and it lingered on her skin.
As soon as the maid was gone, Emmeline lay back in the tub and sank down as far as she could. It was not her ocean, but it would do for now. The dream already seemed to be losing its substance. It was just a ghostly tatter then, and soon the warm water would wash the rest of it away too.
Jasmine was back long before Emmeline had considered getting out of the tub. “Your breakfast, Miss.” Jasmine popped her head into the bathroom. “You look very relaxed. Are you feeling better?”
“Much,” Emmeline said with relief. “And I am starving.” She got out of the tub as Jasmine hurried to wrap a towel around her and dry her off. “I can do that, Jasmine.”
Jasmine’s head bobbed up and down. “I know, but I am worried that I will not be as good a lady’s maid as Miss Durant was. She is a lot to live up to.”
“Nonsense. I like the way you do things. You should do things the way that Jasmine would, not other people.” Emmeline finished drying off and slipped on the dressing robe that Jasmine offered her. “Now come, let us go sit down and eat.”
“As you wish, Miss.”
“See, you have already learned that I am stubborn. That is a very Jasmine thing to do.” Emmeline gave the young maid a bright smile.
Chapter 10
Emmeline sat in a rather undignified position on the floor beside her bed. How silly a position it was did not dawn on her sad mind until the door swung open after the briefest of knocks. A very startled Jasmine squeaked and clung to the towel she was bringing in.
“Oh, Miss! I didn’t know you were in here. Master Pentworth said you were out taking a walk.” Jasmine begged forgiveness with her hands as she set the towel down on the bed.
Emmeline shook her head. “There is no need for you to apologise. I should have been out, but I just let my mind get the better of me.”
“Is something the matter?” Jasmine sank down into the floor next to Emmeline.
Emmeline picked worriedly at her muslin dress that was canopied around her knees as she sat with them pulled to her chest. She had not sat like that since she was a child and she laughed at herself. “I am only being overly dramatic, I think.”
“I would think that you would be rather happy with your engagement party right around the corner.” Jasmine’s face held a soft look of confusion that Emmeline could well understand.
She lifted her shoulders and smiled at Jasmine, a little embarrassed. “I suppose I should be the happiest woman around these parts. I have everything that I wished for. And yet, here I am.”
“Nerves are to be expected,” Jasmine mused. “You mustn’t be too hard on yourself. You said that you aren’t used to all this society nonsense, but it’ll be over soon.”
Emmeline nodded slowly. She was certain that Lord Torrington had no need for drama at the party and it would go smoothly. Yet still she worried that the very ground would crumble beneath her and she would be left with nothing to stand on.
“Lord Torrington is due soon,” she whispered almost to herself.
Jasmine’s face brightened. “That’s a nice thing for you. It’ll be good to see your gentleman and it might calm those nerves.”
“Men are baffling.” Emmeline wrapped her arms around her knees. “It is hard to know what they want or what they think.”
“You seem to read your gentleman fine. You two are perfectly matched. I have seen you together enough to know that.”
The confidence on Jasmine’s face brought Emmeline’s doubts to the surface. “I fear I am making a mistake, Jasmine. One I cannot undo or control.”
“Have you changed your mind about marrying?” The look on the maid’s face was a mixture of confusion and horror.
“No. It is nothing like that.”
“Then has something happened between you and Lord Torrington?”
Emmeline took a deep breath. “No.”
