Page 44 of The Duke of Desire
Chapter Ten
Ivy sat in one of the chairs by the fireplace as Barkley finished dressing Lady Dunn’s hair for dinner. She’d enjoyed today’s excursion to the workhouse immensely and could scarcely wait to visit tomorrow morning. They’d briefly met the children during their tour, and Ivy looked forward to getting to know them better.
“I was most impressed with The Duke today,” Lady Dunn said. “His charitable heart speaks well of him.”
Ivy wondered if he truly had a charitable heart or if he was merely trying to impress her. She hated to doubt him, but that was her nature. In her experience, people—particularly their motives—couldn’t be trusted.
“He’s still a philanderer.” She kept reminding herself of this fact. It was the only thing keeping her from pursuing a liaison, which she was certain he wanted, with him.
Except now she knew the reason for his behavior, and while she still couldn’t support it, she supposed she understood its purpose. She wondered how he kept his emotions apart from what he did. But then, in her experience, it seemed emotions played no part of it for his sex.
“It’s odd,” Lady Dunn said. “I’ve spoken to him a few times during the party—more than I ever have before—and I have a difficulty reconciling the pleasant, charming man with the Duke of Desire. The other men of my acquaintance who share a similar reputation are, to a man, somewhat base. They carry a sordid air about them. The Duke does not.”
Ivy agreed with that assessment. It was what gave her pause. If he followed through with bringing the schoolmistress from London, she would have to accept that he was a decent gentleman. More than decent, surely. Kind. Considerate. Alluring…
A rap on the door startled Ivy from her thoughts. Thank goodness, for they were heading into a direction she didn’t want. Yesterday’s walk had been harrowing enough. Add West’s behavior from today, and Ivy would be begging for his attention.
She’d vowed never to beg another man for anything again.Ever.
Barkley finished with Lady Dunn’s hair and went to answer the door. She returned quickly and said it was Mrs. Forth-Hodges.
Lady Dunn rose from the dressing table. “Invite her in.” The viscountess moved to the other chair near the fireplace.
Mrs. Forth-Hodges came toward them, quite agitated. Her face was flushed, and she gripped her hands together so tightly that her flesh was white. She looked as if she’d aged a few years since that afternoon.
Ivy vacated her chair, anticipating that Mrs. Forth-Hodges would need it.
Lady Dunn gave Ivy an appreciative glance. “Good evening, Mrs. Forth Hodges. Please, come and sit.”
Emmaline’s mother walked to the chair and dropped rather listlessly to the edge, barely perching herself on the cushion. She turned her head to look at Ivy. “I was hoping to speak with you, Miss Breckenridge. You and Emmaline seemed to have formed a friendship.”
Ivy crossed to stand next to Lady Dunn’s chair so that Mrs. Forth-Hodges didn’t have to crane her neck. “Yes.”
Mrs. Forth-Hodges wrung her hands together. “She seems to be missing.” A tear leaked from her eye, and she brushed it away. “I haven’t seen her since the excursion this afternoon. Have you?”
Ivy thought back. They’d walked to the workhouse together, but then Ivy had become so immersed with Mr. Lunden that she hadn’t noticed where Ivy had gone. Nor did she recall Emmaline being at lunch. “I haven’t. Did she return to Greensward after the workhouse visit?”
Mrs. Forth-Hodges shook her head. “No. I came back to rest, but she asked if she could continue. I assumed there were plenty of chaperones. I told Lady Wendover that she was staying in the village, but the countess somehow lost track of her.” She looked to Lady Dunn. “Did you see her?”
The viscountess pressed her lips together for a moment. “I’m trying to recall, but I must say that I don’t remember seeing her at the pub.” She shook her head and looked up at Ivy. “Do you, dear?”
Ivy felt horrible. Her friend had somehow gone missing, and she hadn’t even noticed. “I don’t.”
Another tear escaped Mrs. Forth-Hodges’s eye. “I see. Well, I thought it was worth asking you. I wondered if… That is, I’d hoped she’d maybe told you something or left you a note about her intentions.”
Of course. They suspected she’d eloped with Townsend. Why hadn’t Ivy thought of that immediately? Because to her, running off with a man was the height of foolishness.
Ivy wished she could ease Mrs. Forth-Hodges’s concern, but she couldn’t. Even worse, she was almost certain the woman’s suspicions were accurate. “She didn’t tell me anything, only that she was disappointed that you denied Townsend’s suit. I tried to encourage her to be patient.”
Mrs. Forth-Hodges summoned a smile. “Thank you. What a good friend you are.”
Not as good as Ivy would hope. She should’ve noticed that Emmaline had gone. How had she managed to sneak away, if that was, in fact, what she’d done.
Mrs. Forth-Hodges stood. “I won’t trouble you further.”
“It’s no trouble,” Lady Dunn said. “We shall pray for Miss Forth-Hodges’s safe return.”
Ivy began to grow alarmed. What if Townsend wasn’t the man Emmaline thought? What if he was more in the vein of Peter? Not that Peter had asked Ivy to run away with him. But then he hadn’t had to. Ivy had fallen right into his trap without leaving Pickering.
