Chapter Fifteen

"I am delighted to meet you." Edith smiled warmly at the lady before her, and then to her husband. "The Duke told me that you run an orphanage here?"

"Yes, that's right." The vicar's wife was a warm, comely lady who was continually looking to her husband as though she needed him to confirm all that she was saying. "We have our own three children but the need for the children here in this area was great and so, with the Duke's generosity, we have been able to start a small orphanage." A slight frown appeared. "Some years ago, a dreadful fever ran through the village and many children were left without parents. To be able to give them a home, an education and to love them as best we can is a great blessing."

"That is wonderful." Edith shared a look with the Duke, though his expression had once more returned to the seriousness she knew so well. "I would be delighted to meet the children and see the orphanage whenever you have opportunity."

The lady glanced to her husband who then smiled with the very same warmth that his wife exuded. "We could show you at this very moment, if you like? The children are at their lessons so it would be a good time to do so."

"Of course." The Duke put one hand to Edith's shoulder and pressed it gently, encouraging her. "If you should like to go with Mrs. Wilkins, I shall stay and speak with the vicar about some business matters." He looked to the vicar. "If that would suit you, of course."

The vicar nodded and soon, Edith found herself following after the vicar's wife, stepping out from their house and walking a short distance down a pebbled path to where another, larger house sat.

"This was once the vicarage," the lady explained as Edith nodded. "It was much too large for our family, however, and so, when we suggested to the Duke that a smaller home be built and we could then turn the vicarage into an orphanage, he was very contented with the idea. The land and the vicarage are owned by him, you see."

"I understand." Edith found her heart squeezing tight with a sudden, fresh astonishment over all that the Duke had given to this family and to the village as a whole. She would never have guessed that such a callous, cold-hearted gentleman would have ever done such a thing.

"The Duke of Fairglen is such an excellent gentleman," the lady continued, as they came to the orphanage. "He has all of the tenants' homes improved every year. Even if there are no repairs to be done on a home, he will have things improved so that the house is warmer for the coming winter. I know that he is generous with his funds and that the villagers know they can approach him, should there be any need for help. He is a very good man, I must say. God will bless him, I pray, as he has blessed others."

Edith could not quite take in what was being said about the Duke, finding herself overwhelmed with astonishment at the vicar's wife. Was this really who the Duke of Fairglen was? This was not the gentleman that she knew. Rather, that was a gentleman who was a stranger to her.

Unless this was who he was before the incident with his previously betrothed.

"Now, here we are at the nursery. This is for the very youngest children, though we only have two at the moment." Mrs. Wilkins opened the door and smiled warmly at the two little children playing with their nurse. "This is Caleb and Susanna. Susanna is soon to leave us, for her uncle and aunt are coming from Scotland to collect her, which is a wonderful thing. They have no children of their own and are eager to take their niece home with them." Mrs. Wilkins clasped her hands to her heart. "And they are also going to take Matthew and Frederick, two of the older boys here in the orphanage, as well as Elizabeth who is a little older than Susanna."

"They are taking all four?" Edith smiled and then bent down as Caleb came towards her, holding out a wooden block he had been playing with. "That is wonderful. They are good people?"

Mrs. Wilkins nodded. "Very good people. We are careful to make certain that any children who are taken in go to families who will care for them very well indeed. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins have not been able to have children and they expressed a deep longing to have a home filled with children. I think it will be wonderful for them all!"

"I am sure it shall be." Edith laughed as Caleb began to try to grasp one of her curls, thrilled when he let her pick him up and cuddle him close. Her heart filled with thoughts of Lilly and she let out a small sigh, hoping that the child was doing well. "I should be glad to come and help with the children at any time. My aunt and uncle sponsor an orphanage in London and I have spent many a time there."

"What a generous heart you must have, Miss Tidemore," came the reply. "You are welcome to come here any time you wish. We will be very glad to see you."

***

"I did not know that you had helped to build another vicarage for the vicar and his wife, so that the old vicarage could become the orphanage." Edith twisted her fingers together in her lap as she spoke to the Duke, finding herself a little tense now that she was alone with him. "That is most generous of you." She thought back to how the Duke had pressed that bag of coins into the little boy's hands and felt her heart softening all over again. "Such generosity must mean a great deal to those who need such aid."

The Duke glanced at her and then turned his head to the window as he answered, perhaps feeling the same tension as she. "I think it is important that I, in my role as the Duke of Fairglen, treat my tenants and those around the estate with fairness and consideration. I could not think of these children alone without a single relative to care for them so when the vicar and his wife came to speak to me about their idea, I thought it an excellent one." He looked to her again. "I have been given so much. It does not mean a great deal to me to give some of it away."

"I am very glad to know of that," Edith answered, quietly, finding her heart lifting as the Duke managed to give her what was one of the few smiles he had ever sent in her direction before. "It speaks of a kind heart."

The Duke's frown fell just as quickly as his smile faded. Edith did not know what it was she had said, what it was that the Duke found so irritating about her remark, but she chose not to say anything further. If he wished to share it with her, then, Edith reasoned, he would. Else, there was nothing further for her to say. The carriage continued on for some minutes in silence, though the Duke continued to look in her direction. Edith too remained quiet, looking out of the window rather than into the Duke's face though she was fully aware of the way he gazed at her. Quite what he was thinking, Edith could not say but she was not about to ask him!

"I do not think that I have a kind heart, Edith."

She started, her skin prickling in surprise as the Duke frowned, his expression growing dark as he let out a slow breath and shook his head. It was the first time he had ever said her name, had ever spoken with such intimacy and she was not quite certain how to take it. Her heart beat a little more quickly, her mouth going dry as the Duke's eyes became suddenly stormy, holding a vast sway of shadows and turning them a very dark blue indeed.

"I know, in fact, that I have no kindness within me."

"I do not think that can be true," Edith said, softly. "The orphanage itself is evidence that you do."

The Duke shook his head firmly. "That is a duty, Edith, not a kindness."

"Can it not be both?"

A long silence fell between them again though this time, Edith felt no tension. Instead, the Duke looked at her with a steadiness in his eyes, clearly thinking on what she had said. Then, with a sigh, he shrugged and smiled, albeit rather sadly.

"Mayhap. I personally do not think that it can be, given that I know my own heart, Miss Tidemore."

He was referring to her again by her formal title, Edith recognized, wondering if their moment of nearness and of intimacy had now gone from them. It had only been brief, a break in the clouds on an otherwise overcast day but dare she hope that another moment might come along soon? That such moments might be repeated with an ever increasing frequency until somehow, their relationship grew into something that she could find tolerable, if not, enjoyable? Something had changed between them, something which showed to her that the Duke was not as callous nor as cold as she believed him to be. There was a kindness to him, a heart which, perhaps under the hurt and the sorrow, still had a compassion and a softness to it. Edith felt herself growing a little more sympathetic for all that he had endured, realizing that the way he had spoken about himself had not been in the least bit generous. Did he truly think of himself as ungenerous? That his heart could not hold even the smallest bit of kindness?

"I am sorry for what my mother said to you."

Edith looked up at him, then smiled. "There is nothing that you need to apologise for, Your Grace. She was sharing her thoughts on my choice of behaviour, that is all."

"All the same, it was a little harsh," he told her, reaching out and, to Edith's astonishment, pressing her hand with his for only a moment. "And it was done in front of your friends and, thereafter, in front of me. I will speak to her about it. It will not happen again, I assure you."

Edith could not speak. The touch of his hand on hers had stolen her breath, shocked beyond measure that he would think to do such a thing in order to comfort her. Yet again, he was revealing another part of himself to her, a part which she had never even believed was present… and in that moment, Edith's heart opened up towards him and, to her utter astonishment, a little affection for the gentleman began to grow.