Page 15 of A Duke's Wicked Secret
“Well, I will agree to drop that, but what of my money? You owe me quite a large sum, and it is high time you handed it over to me, my young sir,” demanded Rupert.
“Sir, you will address me properly going forward, or this meeting will be at an end. Now as for this matter of a final deal with my father, I have thoroughly investigated it and find no proof whatsoever of any such deal taking place,” stated Theo.
“That is outrageous and absolutely nothing less than highway robbery! How can you claim such a thing? I gave you the evidence of this deal. What else do you need?” roared Rupert.
Theo refused to lower himself to the snake’s level by raising his voice, so he pointedly kept his voice low but increased the sternness of his tone as he spoke. “My solicitors and I have gone over your documents at length, and it has been made clear that they are not legitimate. That isnotmy father’s signature.”
“How can you claim such a thing? It also has his seal on it.”
“That is true, but you were the one entrusted with my father’s seal in his final days, so that proves nothing. If you continue to prolong this matter, I will take it to the authorities and have you charged with fraud. Test me at my word and see sir,” said Theo.
At this statement, Rupert seemed to back down and attempted to recover his emotions. After several deep and laboured breaths, he managed to continue, “In that case, the least you can do is to afford me my old position managing your estates again as I did for your father.”
Theo was shocked at the gall of this man.
“Mr Lancaster, I will only say this once: I will never have any further business dealings with you for as long as I live. You are the most vile and untrustworthy man I know. I am aware of the kind of dealings you took part of in France and will not shame my family name by association with you,” stated Theo.
“Well, I never …” remarked Rupert, but before he continued, Theo interrupted him.
“Good day, sir. James will see you out.” And with that, James, the butler, escorted him out of the house. Theo sighed with solemn relief that his conversation with Rupert was done, but he could not escape this nagging feeling that his troubles with the man were not over yet.
He poured himself a glass of brandy to calm his heated nerves and drank it down. As he sat the glass back on the tray, there was a knock on his study door. After Theo called for them to come in, the maid entered carrying a small note. After she delivered the note to Theo, she curtseyed and left him to read it in peace.
Theo was very curious to see what the contents of the note were. It was not marked on the outside and had no seal but just a black ribbon tied and secured with wax to ensure only the intended recipient opened it. After opening it, he saw just a short sentence penned stating:
Thank you. How did you know I lovesevenwildflowers?
For a moment, Theo was confused as to what this meant. He knew that it must have been penned by Penelope, but what was she trying to communicate to him through this? Then it suddenly dawned on him that this was the first thing Penelope had said to him when they were at the glen this morning, and she must be covertly trying to tell him to meet her there at seven that evening! That was in just twenty minutes, and it would take him ten to reach the glen.
“James!” called Theo.
“Yes, Your Grace?” answered James.
“Have General saddled at once.”
“Of course, sir,” responded James as he bowed.
Theo rushed to change into clothes suitable for riding and soon was outside and had mounted General with Penelope’s note in his pocket. On the way there, his mind was filled with thoughts of that morning at the glen, and he told himself he would show restraint this evening and not cross any boundaries as he had before with Penelope, no matter how much he dearly wanted to do so.
Finally, Theo arrived at the glen, but no one was in sight. He pulled his pocket watch by the chain out of his vest to verify that it was indeed just two minutes past seven in the evening. “Have I misunderstood the message? What else could it have meant?”thought Theo, his mind and heart racing. Just then, Penelope stepped into view from the shadow of the large sessile oak she had been standing by.
“Theo, thank you so much for coming and meeting me here so quickly! I have been so nervous all day since we were here this morning, and I rushed off so quickly this morning we did not have a chance to talk,” stated Penelope as she paced back and forth, twisting an oak leaf in her hands.
“Of course, I would never dream of not coming. Is anything wrong? Are you alright?”
“Yes, I am well. I just felt I needed to talk to you about this morning. I am so sorry. I do not know what got into me. I have never done anything like that ever before. I do not want you to have the wrong impression of what kind of woman I am!” pleaded Penelope.
“Penelope, no, you have nothing to apologise for. I am the one that was in the wrong. I came to your home this afternoon to ask your forgiveness for taking such liberties with you this morning!”
“Well, perhaps we should just agree that we were both at fault.” Penelope smiled.
“I suppose that is fair, though I would prefer to shoulder all the blame, but as I know you to be a strong-willed woman, I know that will be a useless road to venture down.” Theo chuckled. After this, both of them relaxed and took a deep breath.
“Well, since we are here, we really should enjoy the sight of the evening as the sun starts its final journey for the day,” suggested Theo as he sat down in the lush grass. After he sat himself, he removed his jacket and laid it next to him so that Penelope could sit without soiling her riding habit.
Penelope happily sat next to Theo, and he found himself at peace for the first time that day, and as he listened to the calming sounds of nature around them, he realised how happy he was to simply be there with Penelope.
“I truly do love this place. It is so pleasant and joyful here,” remarked Penelope.
