Page 9 of The Duke's Stubborn Wallflower
Even as she said the words, she couldn’t help but feel that her chances of never seeing the man again were vanishingly small.Well, I may see him, but just wait until he sees me with the man Lady Cotswalts has chosen. I’ll show him exactly what he’s missing!
Chapter Four
Curses and Cures
“Damn it!” Nigel cursed and sucked at the fresh blood on his finger.
He was in the study at Maxton House, his London abode, trying to research curses and cures.There must be something — how can we be in this modern age and have so little knowledge.
In the week since his rather disastrous adventure at Emberly castle, Nigel had thrown himself into studying curses and cures for common (and uncommon) ailments. From the very obscure to the great medical texts of the time, he had requested any and every book he could think of.
The book he had been reading was a tiresome one on the importance of humours, and Nigel, having read much on the subject, had decided to skim through the information. In hishaste and frustration, he had managed to slice the tip of his finger along the edges of one of the pages.
A knock at the door brought him back to the present.
“Enter.” Nigel called, still sucking on his finger and noticing the blood he had managed to get on the page.
“Your Grace, I heard a shout. Are you well?” A moment later the familiar, thin, severe face of Nigel’s steward appeared. “Do you require assistance?”
Mr. Amos was nearly 3 decades Nigel’s senior and had practically raised Nigel after his father had died. He looked at Nigel’s hand in concern.
“It is nothing, Mr. Amos. I was just frustrated, and I’m afraid I’ve managed to get blood on the page.” Nigel gestured to the book in front of him, trying to affect a demeanour of nonchalance. “Truly, it was just an overreaction.”
“I may be able to clean the blood from the page —” Mr. Amos began, but Nigel waved his hands in dismissal.
“You are welcome to try, but I do not think it is worth your bother.” Nigel sighed and slumped into his chair. “It talks of humours and balancing the spirits. Of finding a vicar to exorcize the curse. As if these have not already been tried.”
Mr. Amos nodded sympathetically. “Perhaps there might be better answers in some of the more recent medical journals.”
“Have you tried reading any of those?” Nigel sighed. “Mr. Amos, if one wanted to punish a man for his sins, he need look no further than the articles in a medical journal. They are all so dull.
“And when they are not dull, they are contradictory. One doctor claims he has found a panacea, the other calls him a fraud. One says that a tablespoon of cod liver oil will cure any imbalance of the humours, another says that the same thing willcausean imbalance of humours.”
Nigel threw a disgusted look at the pile of books before him. “I have spent days reading everything I can think of, anything that might help me, and so far, it has come to nought.”
“My cousin did speak of a most learned medium though I remember you had little luck with the last one that you saw.” Mr. Amos frowned.
“I fear there is little I can do to avoid my fate, Mr. Amos. I must focus on the task at hand. I must secure the Maxton legacy. I need an heir which means I need a wife.” Nigel absentmindedly twirled the glass of whiskey in his hand.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something like sadness pass across his steward’s face, but it was so fleeting, he wasn’t sure it was real. “To that end, Your Grace, I have prepared the list you asked for.”
“Excellent. Thank you, Mr. Amos.” Nigel took the list the man offered him and scanned his eyes down it.
“The women are all from respectable families, who would bring much honour to your line and —”
“Why is Olivia Rokesby on this list?” Nigel asked, narrowing his eyes at the entry.
The thought of Olivia reminded him of waking up in her bed. Her look of anger and confusion as she’d leapt up. Then her fury when he had tried to explain that nothing had happened between them and that nothing ever would.
If I had not felt like several bottles of wine masquerading in human form, I might have been better with my words.He did not regret making it clear that nothing could happen between them, not really, but he found that things between him and Olivia felt… unfinished.
It is because you have not apologised. You may not want to marry her, but you did not mean to hurt her feelings.He had drafted half a dozen letters and ended up throwing every single one of them in the fire. Every word he had written felt wrong.
He noticed that Mr. Amos was staring at him, and he gave himself a shake, forcing him to return to the matter at hand. “My apologies, dear Mr. Amos, but I am rather surprised that Lady Olivia is on this list.”
“You asked for a list of women of marrying age, specifically of childbearing age —” Mr. Amos carefully avoided Nigel’s eyes as he said this.
Nigel felt his cheeks redden. “Yes, but there are plenty of women who fit that description, so why have you chosen the sister of one of my dearest friends? You know what future awaits my wife.”
