Page 1 of Elixir of a Duchess' Passion
Chapter 1
Lady Melissa Belmont, the Duchess of Twinton, sat happily in her drawing room as always, writing in her medical journal and enjoying the peace. The only thing disturbing her was the barking coming through the door opening onto the lawn where her springer spaniel frolicked and flitted about chasing the birds and bees and just about anything else he thought he could clamp his jaws around.
And occasionally she looked up to watch him, smiling as if she were smiling at her child, content and happy in her isolation in the Oxfordshire countryside. Scribbling and drawing away in her journal, she barely heard the brass knocker as it rang throughout the large house. Distantly, she heard the butler’s feet on the hardwood floor as he went to answer the door.
When he arrived with a knock on the drawing-room door, she knew that whoever had come to call was not simply a delivery boy or a messenger. Leaving her journal open on the desk to allow the ink to dry, she carefully placed a spare piece of paper over the top to hide it from whoever might have come to visit.
“Yes, Winston? Who is it?” she asked with a smile. The old butler was somewhat of a second father to her, a butler to her father before her, and she always had a smile for him.
“Lady Daisy Melbourne, the Countess of Fenchurch, My Lady,” Winston responded with a curt little bow, always adamant about calling her guests by their proper titles even when they were such close friends as Lady Daisy.
“Oh! Well, then you must show her through, Winston,” Melissa insisted, rising to her feet and gesturing the butler out of the room with a wave of her hand.
“Of course, My Lady.”
With that, he was gone, returning only a moment later with Daisy following quickly behind him. She looked just as she always did, her brown hair neatly placed atop her head and her hazel eyes sparkling, petite, prim, and proper, with a friendly smile.
“Good morning, Daisy. To what do I owe the pleasure?” Melissa asked, embracing her friend and kissing her on both cheeks.
“Oh, can a lady not simply wish to visit a friend?” Daisy asked as they drew apart.
“Of course,” Melissa responded, smirking back at her. “But we both know you never go anywhere without a motive.”
Daisy feigned shock for a moment, pressing the tips of her fingers to her open mouth as though trying to hide it. Then, she started to giggle and rolled her eyes. “You are right.”
“Then you must sit and tell me all about it,” Melissa insisted, gesturing her friend over to the nearest armchair before she took the one opposite. “Winston, please will you send Betty up with some tea?”
“Of course, My Lady.”
With that, they were left alone. And it caused Daisy to look quite relieved indeed. Whatever was bothering her, it was clear that she did not wish too many ears to hear.
“Whatever is the matter, Daisy?” Melissa asked, concern clawing at her stomach. It was not often that her friend looked so forlorn.
Before she could answer, Flit, the spaniel, came rushing into the drawing room as though he had finally realised they had a guest. And before Melissa could prevent him, he started to jump up with mucky paws all over Daisy’s fine peach gown.
“Oh, no! Flit, get down!” Melissa scolded, grabbing hold of the scruff of his neck and dragging him away while Daisy laughed and tried to shove him down. “Daisy, I am so sorry. You must pardon him!”
“Oh, come now, Mel, we both know he is only excited to see me,” Daisy said, brushing the dry mud from her skirts. “I wish my husband were so happy to see me when he gets home from London.”
The deep sigh that erupted from Daisy told Melissa that her reason for being there likely had everything to do with her husband, Lord Anthony Melbourne, the Earl of Fenchurch. Melissa gritted her teeth at the thought. The two had been so in love once, inseparable and giddy in each other’s company. They had been married only a short three years, and Melissa could see their happiness slowly declining as they grew further and further apart. It broke her heart for more reasons than one, causing her to miss her own dear departed husband, Doctor Thomas Belmont.
“You know, Mel, I envy you sometimes,” Daisy said, sighing deeply all over again before gesturing around the pastel-painted drawing room. “A duchess in your own right with everything you could ever desire, yet no man about the place to make you miserable.”
“Yes, it is wonderful having no husband and no father to tell me what to do,” Melissa said sarcastically, and the regret immediately lit up on Daisy’s face.
“Oh, Mel, you must forgive me,” Daisy pleaded, and this time the way she placed her hand over her mouth was quite clearly real shock. “I have spoken quite out of turn.”
Melissa shook her head and smiled at her friend, hoping to reassure her. “I am well aware my position is favourable to many, and it suits me quite well. Though I do envy you all your family sometimes.”
She thought for a moment of the mother she had lost in childbirth. Though she had never had the chance to meet her and never got to know her nature, she had the paintings to remind her that she looked just like her. She thought of her father, the Duke of Twinton, who had left her everything, even against the advice of his lawyers. He had spoiled her from the moment she was born until the day he died of what Melissa suspected was a broken heart. He had never quite recovered from her mother’s death, and she suspected his love for her was one of the very reasons he had accepted her wish to marry Doctor Melbourne, who had no title to speak of.
The good doctor himself did not bear thinking about too often, though he had made her exactly what she was today. She was not only a duchess but a healer, a woman of means who could help those in need without all of the stupidity that most doctors liked to push on their patients nowadays. And she had loved him dearly. He had been her best friend.
And it pained her to hear of Daisy’s trouble with her own dear husband, though she already suspected she knew the cause.
Daisy leaned across from her chair and gripped Melissa’s hand, squeezing gently as she assured her, “Youare as much family to me as anyone else.”
With a grateful smile, Melissa squeezed her friend’s hand in return. “And you are mine.”
