Page 52 of Taken By the Dangerous Duke

Talking With Aunt Bertha

Margaret sat with Aunt Bertha. It had been a while since the older lady had come to visit them, and it was nice for Margaret to have some family around. The question had been on the tip of her tongue all morning, and she had not been able to eat any of the breakfast pastries or pour herself any of her tea.

It was a question that she had been wanting to ask Aunt Bertha ever since she had found out that the woman was not as happy as she seemed. And, especially so now that Arthur was pulling away from her.

Perhaps he was not pulling away from her, but he was changing. He was holding back, and Margaret was sure it was because of the lack of a child. At some point soon, they were going to have to make a decision, and that decision would likely mean the duke having a child with another woman if he could not have one with her.

As always, her lady’s maid stood in the room, waiting to help out with any task.

“I should get going, my dear,” said Bertha, draining the last of her Earl Grey tea.

“Wait,” said Margaret, placing her hand on Bertha’s arm.

“Is everything all right?” asked Bertha. “You have seemed off this whole morning.”

“I don’t know what is happening with the duke and me, but I was hoping that you could help.”

“Of course, my dear. I will do whatever I can to help the two of you. Just say the word. What do you need?”

“I am not sure that I need anything, but there is something I want to ask you, and I feel that it is so personal that you will hate me forever after this.”

“Oh, I could never feel that way about you, my dear,” said Aunt Bertha. “Please, ask away.”

“Well, I see so much of Arthur in you, or you in Arthur. I don’t really know what I mean, but I feel him hiding his emotions the same way you do.”

“What?” blustered Bertha, pushing herself up from her chair. She turned away from Margaret, but Margaret knew that Bertha’s face was bright red.

“I don’t want to embarrass you or anything like that,” claimed Margaret. “But I don’t know where else to turn.”

“I want to help you,” said Bertha, still facing the other direction. “Perhaps we should plan some time when we can properly talk.”

“I know you are hurting,” said Margaret, pushing the issue. “I know you are not as happy as you present yourself.”

“Whatever do you mean, my dear?” asked Bertha with a laugh.

“I don’t want to force you to speak about this, but I fear that you are the only one who can help. I often wonder if Arthur deals with the world in the same way as you do—if this runs in the family, perhaps I can help him.”

“Help him?” asked Bertha. She turned to face Margaret and there were tears in her eyes. “I know you are not together for love, but has that changed?”

“No,” blurted Margaret. “I like the duke, and I care for him, and I only want him to be happy. I knew what I was getting myself into, and I will honor that. I just fear that he can’t be happy with someone because of what you went through, and that person does not have to be me, but he should be happy, should he not?”

Bertha stood and stared at Margaret. They looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Bertha finally spoke.

“You are right. My nephew should be happy. And you should be happy too, my dear. You should both be happy.”

“I see him acting as you do sometimes, Aunt Bertha. And, he told me that your marriage did not end well. When we first met, you told me that you had lost your husband, and I think you wanted me to believe that he had passed, but he left you, didn’t he?”

“The scoundrel did,” said Bertha.

“And it changed how you are,” said Margaret. “What if that has influenced the duke? What if he cannot be happy in life because he sees how unhappy you are?”

Bertha stared at Margaret for the longest time before she broke down in tears. Margaret went to her immediately and wrapped her arms around the woman, holding her tight. Victoria stood by the far wall, staring straight ahead and not reacting, just as any good maid should.

“I act this way so he does not see how it affected me. I had hoped that he would not see through the facade, but I sometimes believe that I do it for myself too. I want to convince myself that everything is fine, but that rogue destroyed me. He humiliated me, and I can never go back to how I was.”

“You can’t live like this just to try and please Arthur,” said Margaret.

“And, why not? You said yourself that you want him to be happy, even if you are not truly happy. How is what I am doing any different? You did not see how Arthur’s father changed when his wife died, but Arthur did, and I know it affected him deeply. How could I show my true feelings? I had hoped that I could remain positive, and he would snap out of whatever he had gotten himself into. His father was his hero, and everything is influenced by that man. That is why he is having a child, after all. Even though he does not believe in love anymore, he still wants to have a child.”

---