A Duke To Steal Her Heart Read online

  Diana opened the door to her room to find a solid wall of wild flowers that stretched to cover one entire side of the hallway. They had been fastened together somehow and stacked to the ceiling with their petals facing outward. Footmen rushed back and forth, completing the far corner. The butler oversaw the operation, making sure everything looked just right. It was a rainbow of color and life. He bowed when he noticed her there.

  “Good morning, Mr. Humphries,” said Diana.

  “My apologies. We tried to be quiet so as not to disturb you.”

  “You did not disturb me. I only heard the smallest shuffle, and came out to see what was going on.”

  “His Grace wished for you to wake up to a more decorative view. He wanted you to know how much he appreciates your presence at Sanhope Hall. I planned to have this completed by the time you emerged, but it took longer than expected to make perfect.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for. This is the most amazing display I have ever seen. I can not even begin to imagine how it was constructed, and couldn’t ask for a more wonderful gift.”

  “His Grace will be pleased that everything is to your liking.”

  ***

  The duke and duchess sat at either end of a large table in the dining room. Several courses had been prepared for dinner. Footmen stood silently at the back of the room, motionless until the smallest need arose. Rothford smiled as he took a bite of lamb chop.

  “You seem very pleased tonight,” said Diana.

  “I am delighted that you are happy.”

  “How could I not be? Everyone loves flowers.”

  “And you enjoy them more than most, judging by the decor at our wedding. I thought you might be tired of roses, so I had every other kind sent up.”

  “It was a very thoughtful surprise. I am amazed Mr. Humphries could get so many on short notice.”

  “He can perform miracles when pushed to,” said Rothford. “I believe he has been blessed by a gift for magic.”

  “He certainly is a wonderful butler.”

  “The world is full of fine butlers. This is something more. The man has worked for my family for longer than I have been alive. My father once told me he was left on the doorstep as a young boy.”

  “That makes him more unfortunate than magical.”

  “Is it unfortunate for a child to be left at the home of a duke who would take him in?”

  “It can not be considered a stroke of enviable luck to be abandoned at all,” said Diana.

  “Sometimes luck is wherever you may find it. There is no point in looking for fault in the details.”

  “Perhaps you find the supernatural because that is what you are searching for.”

  “And why not look for wonderful things? Even if you have to try harder to see them, why would that not be worth doing?”

  “Because there is reality to deal with.”

  “Oh, I have no use for that,” said Rothford.

  “It is there regardless of whether it suits you.”

  “And why does it suit you to shun love? That is there as well.”

  “I can not shun what I have never felt.”

  “Sometimes we must try to feel it. Like magic and luck, sometimes it is there, just beneath the surface, waiting to be excavated carefully.”

  “I would not know how to attempt such an excavation,” said Diana.

  “Perhaps I might be of assistance with that. I could stop by your room after dinner to help you arrange more flowers inside.”

  “It is your home, Your Grace. You may do as you wish.”

  His fork clanked as he dropped it on the plate. “You are the only woman in the world who has ever made me dislike the sound of being addressed in that manner.”

  “I do not mean to do anything of the sort.”

  “You are quite good at it anyway... duchess.” The word was sharp on his tongue. He wanted to use her name. It was a more familiar way to treat each other.

  “What do you want from me? I have offered you everything you are entitled to.”

  “I want you to stop saying things like that. I have no interest in being with someone who does not wish to be with me just as much.”

  “I can not help the way I feel. The flowers were exquisite. The most wonderful creation I have ever seen, in fact. But that does not solve everything for me in an instant.”

  “What will?”

  Diana looked down at her plate. “Nothing.”

  There was no real answer. No solution. Her heart had to decide for itself. If she couldn’t be true to anything else, it had to be her own heart. What good was anyone if they were unable to do something as important as that?

  Chapter 4

  The days at Sanhope Hall passed slowly for Diana. It seemed impossible to settle in, even after her maid arrived and helped to decorate the new bedroom with things from home.

  “Some sentimental touches are all it will take.” Unity stood back to look at what had already been accomplished. “This room will feel like your own when I’m through.”

  Diana’s golden hand mirror was on the dresser. An open fan lay next to it, made of ivory with an ornate drawing of Venus and Cupid on its leaves. She enjoyed pondering the mysteries of love while staring at it. Love had always been a mystery to her.

  “I am afraid I might never be comfortable here,” said the duchess. “No matter how much we change the details to resemble what was. It is not an easy thing to be thrust into marriage with a man you hardly know.”

  “It is what everyone faces.”

  “But that does not make it any easier for someone to do. Things being the way they are does not help the situation. How am I supposed to feel about a stranger?”

  “Your wall of flowers is very nice. He must care for you a great deal. Is that not the most important thing?”

  “I need to care as well.”

  ***

  Diana sat alone in the drawing room. There wasn’t much she felt like doing except for playing the pianoforte which had always been her favorite way to pass the time. But all the instruments in the music room were still covered with sheets. She thought of drawing the landscape with pastels and even got so far as to open her paintbox, but quickly lost the will for the endeavor. It normally took some energy and a hint of drive for her to get moving. There had been a lack of both since she arrived at Sanhope.

  Mr. Humphries brought in a large tray of sweets.

  “What is this?” said Diana.

  “The finest assortment of chocolate that the chef knows how to prepare. His Grace made it clear that this was to be his best creation.”

  “The staff should not have to go through such trouble for me.”

  “It is no trouble. It is a privilege to serve in any way that is required.”

  “All these grand gestures are a lot of extra work and there is such a small number of servants here. I do not wish to cause problems.”

  The old butler’s kind smile never faltered. “These are all wonderful, but the conserve of chocolate is the most exquisite I have sampled anywhere.”

  He placed the tray down on a table in front of her before leaving the room.

  Diana stared at them for a time then reached out for one. It was a soft, chewy morsel that was sweet joy in her mouth. The chef there had remarkable skill. She ate several more before getting up and walking to the window. It was such a big place, and lonely at times. She had no desire to draw its landscape anymore.

  ***

  Rothford rode his horse through the wooded areas of the estate. He enjoyed getting away from Sanhope Hall when he could. It had fallen so far from the glorious manor it was when his grandfather had been the duke. Things had gotten out of hand since then. He inherited land but not enough money to run it. The amount that the property brought in wasn’t sufficient to remedy years of neglect. His father’s great talent was spending fortunes. The man enjoyed nothing more.

  But Rothford didn’t marry Diana just for the money. That was a horrible concept to him. To accept pa
yment for love, or to trade his life for the reconstruction of his family home, would make him no better than any common woman of the town. It wasn’t pleasant to even think about. He married her because she struck him as someone special. Someone who might care for him to no end if he could only get past that cynical side. A woman with no belief in love. That was the tricky part of it all. But there had to be a way.

  When he got back to Sanhope, the duchess was in the great hall, admiring paintings that lined the walls there.

  “Do you enjoy works of art?” said Rothford.

  “Very much. I can only dream of achieving such mastery when I paint.”

  “You are quite good.”

  “At drawing simple things like landscapes. But when you try to capture people and recreate their expressions. When you try to communicate the entirety of their being in one, still scene. That is where real skill comes into play.”

  “Do you look too deeply into everything?”

  “Like love, Your Grace?”

  His brow furrowed. “That would be another example, yes.”

  “The world is complicated. I can only adapt to it.”

  “Not everything has to be. There is chocolate. Nothing complicates that. Did you enjoy them?”

  “Very much so. But I could not possibly eat all those, even in a month.”

  “You must. Didn’t Mr. Humphries tell you I instructed the chef to produce his best work?”

  “He mentioned that,” said Diana.

  “An accomplished chef puts a dash of happiness into the delicacies he creates. If they are not properly enjoyed, and that happiness goes unappreciated, there is the danger that all the remaining mirth inside him might forever slip away. You risk causing irreparable damage to the man if you do not finish every bite. He may never laugh again.”

  “Do you even believe this?”

  “I believe chocolates please everyone. And it is my desire that you are well pleased.”

  “Why do you care about my pleasure so much? We have both gotten what was arranged. Is that not enough?”

  “Should it be?” said Rothford. “You are my wife. Am I not supposed to care if you are content?”

  “I do not know. Many people care for their own needs. It is your right to do that.”

  “That doesn’t mean I can not care about yours as well.”

  Rothford looked masterful in his tan, buckskin pants and black tailcoat. The riding crop was still tucked underneath his arm. He seemed like a man who could command anyone he liked, but was so gentle with her.

  “Do you care about my needs or only your desire for me?” said Diana.

  “I would not have married a woman who I am not fond of physically. I make no apologies for wanting you in that way. Do you not wish to be desired?”

  “I enjoy it very much.”

  “As much as chocolate?”

  She smiled. “That depends on whether you would risk your ability to laugh to have me, as chefs apparently do to make their confections.”

  “My body, my soul, the laughter inside me. I would risk my everything.”

  “For all that, I hope I would enjoy experiencing desire more than eating sweets. It would be a wonderful thing to be filled with untamed passion.”

  “Then why aren’t you?”

  “Such emotion can not be rushed. If I could turn my feelings on for you, I would. Either way, it is my duty to please you.”

  “You must only please yourself in this relationship,” said Rothford. “That is the way to true happiness.”

  “Is it really? You do not look very happy with the situation, my husband.”

  “Do not concern yourself with that. You are worth the wait.”

  “More than any other woman?”

  “I did not marry any other, did I?”

  Chapter 5

  Diana stood outside in the garden, wondering where the servants could have found all those flowers they stacked in her hall. There weren’t any near the manor. Plants and flowers on the property were just more wilted remnants of former grandeur. The lawn was overgrown as if the surrounding wilderness encroached on it. Several large patches of grass lay dead. There were only vague hints of proper landscaping that had been abandoned long ago.

  Boots crunched through the dry shrubbery behind her.

  “There you are,” said Rothford.

  “I am admiring the view.”

  He chuckled. “You would be the first one to do that out here in ages. There is nothing left to see.”

  “Potential is always a pleasure to look at. Though we really must hire a grounds keeper to rejuvenate what has been laid out.”

  “We will. I expect this entire estate to return to what it once was. You deserve far more than potential. It used to be magnificent.”

  “I can imagine,” said Diana.

  “Perhaps you will not have to use your imagination so much today. As luck would have it, I was looking for you to request that you accompany me on a walk. I wanted to show you a part of the property you have not been to before. Somewhere that is exactly as it has always been.”

  “Is that good?”

  “It is wonderful.”

  “How long is the walk?”

  “It is as far away as anywhere worth going usually is,” said Rothford. “The trip is longer than is comfortable but shorter than is painful. Our destination takes exactly the right amount of effort to view.”

  “I have never considered effort to be of benefit to a stroll.”

  “Things that come too easily are rarely appreciated.”

  Diana rolled her eyes.

  ***

  They sauntered through the forest together. The duchess held onto his arm to steady herself. When she stumbled on a loose rock and gripped tighter to keep herself up, she could feel his bicep flex through the tailcoat. The duke was an athletic man who made her blush because of the thoughts she was having.

  “What do you want to show me?” said Diana.

  “Don’t you like surprises?”

  “I enjoy knowing where I am going more.”

  “We are headed to a special place. It has been enchanted by fairies for centuries now.”

  She stopped walking and let go of him. “They do not exist.”

  “How would you know?”

  “I have never seen one.”

  “Do you believe in nothing you can not see?”

  “Seeing anything goes a long way toward trusting in its existence.”

  “Do you believe in the wind?” said Rothford.

  “Feeling it against you counts. It is a sense.”

  “You can sometimes feel them brush against you as a shiver or a tingle down your spine.”

  “I could surely see anything passing so closely.”

  “Only if they allow you to view them.”

  Diana raised one eyebrow. “Now they are invisible?”

  “I thought everyone knew that. We could be surrounded as we speak.”

  “And how would you know all this? Are you well versed in fairy lore?”

  “I am well versed in everything fanciful. It is a fanciful life.”

  “Apparently.”

  She was at a loss for words as they continued walking, weaving through the trees until they came upon the edge of a large lake.

  “What now?” said Diana. “Do we jump in and swim to another world?”

  “Do not be ridiculous. Swimming into another world is tiring. And also does a murderous job of wear and tear on finer garments. It is much easier to take the boat.”

  He gestured to a rowboat with the back half of it pushed onto the shore and its bow in the water. A man in a shroud was standing beside it.

  Diana sighed. “There would be a hooded figure involved.”

  “Shall we step on and be ferried across?”

  “Ferried to fairies? That is absurd.”

  “The best times are frequently had due to an absurd notion. Besides, it is the only way to get there.”

  As they approached the boat, Dia
na bent down to peer underneath the hood of the shrouded man.

  “Is that you under there, Mr. Humphries?” she said.

  The man did not react to her. She could tell that it wasn’t the butler, even through deep shadows cast over his face.

  “The boatman will say nothing,” said Rothford. “He never does. His only purpose is to take us back and forth.”

  “I am just glad you did not force poor Mr. Humphries into this. A man of his age should not be rowing anything.”

  “The boatman has no other calling in life, as far as I know. If he were also a butler, how would anyone get across reliably?”

  “You have the gall to use logic now?”

  Rothford smiled as he held the craft steady enough for her to climb aboard. They sat close together in the front. The shrouded man shoved them off into the lake, jumping in and taking a seat behind them as it floated. He rowed, and they bobbed up and down with the motion of the water. Diana never looked back. Something about him made her uneasy, even though she suspected it must be one of the footmen, who had been given orders to keep silent. She wondered if she would ever get used to her husband’s talent for weaving fanciful tales and putting on a show. She had never met anyone like him before.

  A thick mist hovered over the surface of the water. It was difficult to see where they were headed through it. A sudden gust of wind ruffled the lace trimmings on the collar of her dress and nearly blew her bonnet off.

  “It seems that even the elements are in league with your stories,” said Diana. “The weather has suddenly become mysterious.”

  “Mystical places must be protected from view.”

  “It is I who need protection from these Canterbury tales.”

  He laughed. “What if everything I have ever told you is the truth? Imagine what a fine world that would be.”

  As they drifted toward the middle of the lake, a small island took shape through the veil. Details appeared slowly as they moved closer, but things were not clear until they were right on top of it. The boatman jumped out into shallow water and guided the craft onto the shore.

  Rothford disembarked, then helped her balance on the wet soil. It sloped upward, into thick woods at the top. A path had already been cut through the brush.