Page 67 of Married to the Forbidden Duke
“Perhaps it will not be a bad one.”
He scowled. “Aye, and perhaps it won’t be a good one, either.” He waved a hand. “Leave it with me. I shall see what is to be done about it all.”
Satisfied he had done his duty by Alice and his own conscience, Frederick let the matter drop, and wondered what it was Alice was doing on this fine afternoon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
As it was, Alice had kept to her word and was currently riding in Hyde Park, enjoying the feel of the late spring sun on her face and Fortuna’s strong back under her legs. There was a lot to be said about the outdoors, particularly now she could enjoy it at her leisure.
Sometimes, bitter,angrythoughts still crept in. She’d learned compassion for Frederick, but that didn’t erase five years of grief and anger. But now, she felt guilty when she considered how much pain he, too, had been in. And days like these, she could accept it all as water under the bridge. He had given her so much. She could restore his reputation in return.
They could forge a life together.
A voice halted her in her thoughts. “Miss Ravenshire?”
Alice turned to see one of her oldest friends from her first Season. “Charlotte Clarence?”
“It is Charlotte Norburry now!” her friend laughed, a dimple popping on her cheek. She was a blonde, buxom lady to whom the passing five years had been nothing but good. “I married four years ago.”
“I am now Alice Blackwell,” Alice laughed too. “I, too, married, although rather more recently.”
“To theDuke of Langford?” Charlotte’s eyes shot wide. “Heavens, Alice.”
“It is not what you think…”
“You don’t know what I think.” Her old friend shook her head. “I haven’t seen you in a long time. Not since…” She paused.
Those early days after the accident were a blur, but she remembered Charlotte coming to visit her even when she screamed at her not to. Alice had wanted nothing more than to be left alone, but Charlotte had not given up on their friendship. Even after she moved into the country with her aunt and uncle, Charlotte had persisted, sending weekly letters.
At the time, Alice had been tired and frustrated, wanting no reminders of her old life. Now, she felt the guilt of that dismissal pressing in on her.
“I should apologize,” Alice began rather hesitantly. “For not taking the time to write back.”
Charlotte waved a cursory hand. “No need to apologize, dearest. You were suffering in your own way, and you needed time and space to find your way back out of it. But look at you now. A Duchess!” Alice expected Charlotte to reference who the Duke was to her—the man who had caused the accident that had changed her life—but she made no such reference.
“He is not the man I thought I would marry,” Alice admitted with a grimace. “But he is kind to me.”
“Every wife wants a kind husband!” Charlotte asserted. “My husband is a delight. I, too, did not think I would marry him, but it transpires I cannot always be right about what I want.” She giggled, a tinkling sound, but it faded into silence after a few moments. “I’m glad he’s kind to you.”
“He feels he has a lot to make up for.” Alice fidgeted atop her horse, and eventually gestured that they should begin walking again, keeping Fortuna at a very sedate pace beside Charlotte. “I would walk beside you, but I fear my leg would not allow it. While I am recovering very nicely thanks to His Grace, I am not there yet.”
“That you’ve come even this far is… remarkable.” Charlotte blinked several times. “As I recall, many doctors thought you would never walk again.”
Alice nodded somberly. “In many respects, I have been remarkably lucky,” she murmured and stopped, the truth of that statement hitting her all at once. She’d never once consideredherself to be lucky—in fact, she had been focused for so long on all the ways in which she had been deeplyunlucky.
But that wasn’t the whole story. She had been fortunate, too. So, so fortunate in so many ways.
Losing her parents had been a tragic accident; hurting her leg had been terrible. But for years, she had only seen that. She hadn’t appreciated that her survival had also been a gift. She’d kept her life when her parents hadn’t been too lucky. Yes, her leg had been damaged, but she still had the ability to walk, at least a little.
And more than that—she was now in a secure marriage with one of the highest-ranked peers of the realm. She was learning to walk again, without the necessity of her stick. Frederick had granted her the ability to ride. He had gifted her with a horse, with the means to ride her, and he supported her freedom.
How many other gentlemen would offer their wives such boons?
For so long, she had been searching for the negatives, when there were so many positives to be found. So many silver linings to the dark clouds that she’d thought made up her life.
How blind she had been. How foolish and short-sighted.
She was excessively fortunate for things to have played out the way they did. And she had the audacity to feel hard done by?
