Page 3 of Elixir of a Duchess' Passion
“What is it?” Daisy asked, looking more than a little suspicious. Melissa rolled her eyes at her friend. Anyone would believe she thought that she was trying to poison her.
“It is a tea. It consists of raspberry leaf, evening primrose, and a few other such thingssaid to aid in fertility,” Melissa explained, offering her friend a reassuring smile. “All you need do is drink a couple a day.”
An astonished look passed over Daisy’s face, and she admired the herbs in the vial more closely. “And you’re sure it will work?”
Melissa gritted her teeth. Dropping back into her seat, she readjusted her gown and got herself properly situated before responding,“I cannot say for certain that it will work. It is an aid, not a cure. But I can say that I have seen success in other women.”
“Oh, wonderful!” Daisy exclaimed, clearly pleased with the answer. She pulled open the drawstrings of her purse and stashed the vial inside before reaching for her teacup and saucer again.
Melissa half expected for her to drain her drink and make her excuses, having got what she had come for, just as many of her other clients did. But instead, Daisy asked, “Have you heard the news?”
Melissa scowled. “Daisy, you know I do not often get news out here.”
“Well, you ought to have got this news,” Daisy said, looking quite excited at whatever she had to tell her. Before Melissa could say a word, she added, “You are to have a new neighbour! They say he could arrive as early as tomorrow.”
“The old Vexton place?” Melissa asked. It was the only estate right next to her own, that she was certain was not occupied. Immediately, Daisy nodded.
“They say he is a very wealthy, very handsome, and very eligible bachelor,” Daisy announced, her brown brows wiggling as though she were trying to imply something.
“I am certain he is,” Melissa said nonchalantly. “Most of the men talked about among thetonare.”
She picked up her cup and saucer and took a sip, holding both in her hand in an attempt to relax against this new line of conversation. She could already tell exactly where her friend was going with it.
“Do you not think you have been alone long enough?” Daisy asked, and the words caused Melissa to cringe.
With a deep sigh, Melissa shook her head. “I am in no rush to find myself attached once more. Besides, what need have I of a man when as you have said yourself, I have everything that a woman could possibly want or need here.”
She leaned down to rub Flit behind his ears as he sat leaning against her armchair, still panting as though the day’s warmth was troubling him.
“As much as Flit is a very handsome boy and a sweet companion,” Daisy said, speaking as though she wanted to be certain the black and white spaniel knew she was talking about him, “do you not feel a need for a little more… human companionship?”
“I have Betty and Winston and Mrs Marks and all the other servants,” Melissa pointed out, and her friend’s only response was to cock her head to one side with a deep scowl, looking as though Melissa had all but proven her point. Through gritted teeth, Melissa added, “I do not feel the need for any more companionship.”
Though she spoke firmly, there was a small niggle in her stomach that told her she wasn’t entirely telling the truth. Sometimes she missed the evenings she had once spent in the study reading while her husband went about his business at his desk, neither of them talking but quite content in each other’s company. Sometimes she even missed the little disagreements they had once shared. But no matter how many of his medical books she looked in, there was no way to bring him back, and she was in no rush to replace him as many other women might have felt to do in her situation.
“I am content to be alone,” Melissa reassured when her friend still looked entirely unconvinced. “If the right man were to come along, then perhaps I might consider it, but I shall not go in search of him.”
Again, she was lying slightly, though the thought of allowing herself to open her heart again to a man scared the living daylights out of her. She remembered all too strongly the grief and betrayal she had felt when she had sat at her husband’s deathbed only to learn that he had known months before that she would be sitting there. She had been unable to curse at him and call him all the names under the sun out of respect for her dying husband but looking back upon it now, she wished that she had. Maybe then he might have known how much he had truly hurt her.
Though she still felt him near her now, reflected in all her good works from her research into medical studies and putting that research into action wherever she could. Though he was dead and buried, he was still very much a large part of her life, and in that way, she was thankful to him. He had given her a purpose other than being a fine and noble lady. And she would not tarnish his good memory by searching out an incompetent suitor just for what people might think.
“How will you ever stumble upon him if you never leave your estate?” Daisy protested, her scowl deepening. Melissa grunted a little angrily. This was not a new conversation. It was one they had shared many times over and one that she did not entirely wish to continue over again. “This Lord Spurnrose is said to be quite the charmer.”
“Daisy, how is it that you always manage to come by such gossip?” she demanded, attempting to change the subject. At that, her friend wiggled her brow.
“You know very well how I come by my information.”
Melissa’s insides twisted. She was well aware how easily news spread all over the country, seeping out from London like a poison. She had often found herself the subject of such gossip, especially now that she had no husband or father to ‘protect’ her. Yet, society did not know that she did not care what they thought of her. So long as she helped those who truly needed her, Melissa would continue to do as she pleased while she had blood in her veins and the means to do so.
“I would hope that you were not one of the women spreading it,” Melissa said sternly, giving her friend a scolding expression.
“Me? Never!”
Together the women laughed, and Melissa was relieved to see she had managed to dissuade the conversation of Lord Spurnrose, at least for a while.
By the time she and Daisy had gone over all the other small subjects of conversation that Daisy usually brought up, gossip she’d heard at the dressmakers, the concerns over the weather, and who was to be married so far this year, Melissa was more than ready to stop listening.
And as soon as she had said her farewells to her friend, having Winston show her out, Melissa turned to Betty and said with a deep sigh of relief, “Please, will you fetch my bonnet and basket? I wish to go out foraging and get some fresh air.”
