Page 58 of The Duke of Ice
Nick hadn’t really thought of it, but of course he would. It was part of being a duke. When the Queen came to visit, you attended her. Violet would also go, given her status as a viscountess.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Nick said.
They exchanged a few more pleasantries before parting. Nick and Violet continued to the other end of the room.
As they passed a table, a portly gentleman well past middle age leaned forward, squinting at Nick. “I say, is that Nicholas Bateman?”
Nick recognized the man, an old friend of his uncle’s. “It is indeed. How are you, Mr. Eames?”
“I’m quite fair, quite fair.” His gaze strayed to Violet.
“May I present my friend Lady Pendleton?” Nick said.
She curtsied to the older man with the smile that never failed to make Nick’s heart trip.
Mr. Eames looked back to Nick with a deep chuckle. “I’m afraid I forgot you were a duke, Your Grace.” He inclined his head to Violet. “A pleasure, my lady. Would you care to sit and amuse an old man? I’ve one more cup of water to finish. Don’t want to short myself, not when it keeps me young. But then that is why our Queen is coming, isn’t it? These waters are magic, I say.” He took a long draught, apparently finishing his serving. He handed the empty cup to Nick. “Would you mind refilling it for me, Your Grace?”
No one would have dared ask a duke to do that, but Nick didn’t mind. On the contrary, he liked feeling useful, particularly to people he knew and liked. Eames had been a dear friend of his uncle’s. Nick felt suddenly contrite for not keeping in touch with the man.
“I wouldn’t mind at all.” He took himself off and went to have Eames’s cup refilled at the pump. While there, he obtained two more cups for Violet and himself. He looked over at her where she sat next to Eames, their heads bent together in conversation. She laughed at something the man said, and Nick could only imagine what story he was relating.
Balancing the three cups, he made his way back to the table. “Here we are.”
Eames took his mug. “Thank you, thank you. Now sit. I’m regaling the fair Lady Pendleton with stories of your youth, such as the time you and your brother sneaked into the Cross Bath.”
Nick groaned. “We got into so much trouble for that.” His uncle had banished Nick and Maurice to the stables for a week.
“Aye, but your uncle and I laughed about it.”
“That’s nice to know now,” Nick said wryly.
Eames looked at Violet as he lifted his cup. “Do you live here in Bath, Lady Pendleton?”
“I do, yes. It seemed a nice place to settle after my husband passed. I spent some time here in my youth and have many fond memories. Residing here kept them close in my mind.” Her gaze strayed to Nick, and she gave him a shy look.
She’d moved here to feel closer to him, to what they’d shared? He hated her for years, and apparently, she’d felt the opposite. But what could he have done differently? She’d married someone else.
Eames looked to Nick. “Your uncle’s estate is doing quite well. Mr. Prendergast has proved an excellent farmer.”
Nick had sold the farm after inheriting the dukedom. He hadn’t wanted anything that reminded him of all he’d lost. “I’m glad to hear it.”
“You should go and pay him a visit if you can,” Eames suggested. “I presume you’re here because of the Queen. I imagine it’s busy being a duke. So many demands and requirements.”
As Nick sipped from his cup, he noted Violet’s keen interest. She looked between him and Eames with the fascination of a thrilling shuttlecock match.
“It’s certainly not anything I anticipated having to learn.”
“Nor did your uncle. He was bloody shocked when his cousin and his heirs passed.”
Nick recalled the letter he and Maurice had received after that had happened. Uncle Gilbert had summoned Maurice home because he’d suddenly become heir apparent to a dukedom. But he’d never made it. They’d gone to battle at Badajoz a few days later, and Maurice had died.
“Then your poor brother…” Eames’s voice trailed off, and Nick was glad the man hadn’t completed that thought. This entire line of conversation was pushing him to a place he was trying to get away from.
Eames drank more of his water, then clacked his cup on the table. He turned to Violet. “How did you make His Grace’s acquaintance?”
Violet’s eyes darted to his, and he saw the question there. “We were recently in attendance at the same house party.”
It wasn’t an outright lie.
