Library

Chapter 16

CHAPTER16

“Mother, this is Susanna.” Anthony took Susanna’s hand and led her into the dining room, ready to meet his mother. Honoria stood from her place at the table, flattening out the non-existent creases in her gown before curtsying to Susanna.

Anyone unfamiliar with Honoria might have thought it a cordial or even friendly greeting as she smiled and said how pleased she was to meet Susanna, but Anthony knew his mother better than that. He saw the way her eyes subtly looked over Susanna, no doubt taking in the wildness of her hair and the gown that was perhaps not as refined as Honoria would have liked. Anthony found himself holding onto Susanna’s hand for a beat longer than he should have done as if he could protect her from that look.

“I have heard so much about you since my arrival this morning,” Honoria said, her tone rather polite and formal. “I would be glad to know you better myself.” She gestured at the table as if it was her responsibility to welcome Susanna to a seat.

“Thank you.” Susanna walked around the table with Anthony following her all the way. Susanna was clearly nervous. She may have been trying to hide it, but Anthony could see it in the way she kept clasping and releasing her hands, the fingers fidgeting together.

He pulled out her chair and helped her to sit. As he did so, he subtly brushed her arm. It was an intimate touch, one his mother couldn’t see, but one that he prayed would bring some comfort to Susanna. It seemed to do just that, for her fidgeting stopped, and she looked up to him as he released the chair, sharing a smile with him.

“Anthony.” Honoria’s voice was sharp.

“Yes, mother?”

In reply, she merely pointed at the head of the table, clearly showing where his place was, and that he was taking too long to get there. Anthony sighed before taking that seat, finding his posture was somewhat rigid in the chair.

When Honoria began to adjust the cutlery around her plate, ensuring everything was just right, Anthony began to fear this was a bad idea, especially when she reached to adjust the position of his own glass at the table.

That morning, when Honoria had arrived and demanded to know that the rumors of Anthony keeping company with Susanna were fake, Anthony couldn’t deny them. Seeking to improve his mother’s opinion of Susanna, he had suggested this luncheon.

Maybe this was a poor idea.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the room, one where Susanna stared mostly at her plate, probably figuring out what cutlery to use first, and Honoria stared at Susanna as if trying to figure her out.

“How was your journey, Your Grace?” Susanna inquired, summoning the courage to speak as the butler stepped forward to serve their tea.

“It was fine.” Honoria’s brief reply was hardly encouraging. It made Anthony grip his teacup a little too tightly. Susanna looked to him, clearly silently pleading for his help in the conversation.

“It was an unexpected visit,” he tried to explain to Susanna.

“Yes. I read your names in the scandal sheet.” Honoria’s words were coupled with her raising her chin, looking down on Susanna openly. When Susanna picked up her fork, it was the wrong one, and it made Honoria frown all the more.

Anthony didn’t bother to correct Susanna, even when his mother looked at him, clearly thinking he should have done so. Deciding this was not the luncheon he wanted, Anthony turned a little, determined to ignore his mother if she was to behave like this and talk to Susanna alone.

“Lady Curtis, how does your garden fare at the moment?” His question prompted her to smile at once, and her shoulders softened.

“Very well, thank you. The roses are coming into full bloom now. Oh, the peonies too. They are quite perfect. I have some trouble with aphids at the moment, but I’m sure I can find a way to –”

“Your gardener should be able to take care of that.” Honoria’s rather firm words made Anthony grimace. He hastily offered one of the plates to Susanna, trying to distract her.

“Ham, Lady Curtis?” he asked.

“Thank you.” She took the ham but seemed happy to answer his mother regardless. “I am fond of gardening myself, Your Grace.”

“Oh…” Honoria looked as if she had been punched in the gut. Hastily, Anthony picked up a plate of cheeses too.

“Cheese?” He proffered it toward Susanna, who smiled a little, clearly sensing his desperate attempts at distraction. “You should take a closer look at the gardens here some time. I’m sure you could improve them.” The smile that spread across Susanna’s face was quickly dented when Honoria spoke again.

“It is not a young lady’s place to comment on how a garden is made, Anthony.”

“It is what Lady Curtis enjoys, Mother.”

Honoria snapped her gaze toward Susanna, so focused on that task that the ham fell off her own fork, and she didn’t appear to notice.

“Do you not have a gardener of your own?”

“I do, but I would not wish him to have all the fun alone,” Susanna said in jest, but her light laugh died when Honoria didn’t join in.

“How odd.” Honoria’s words were hardly subtle. She glared at Susanna a little longer before lifting her teacup and taking a slow sip. Anthony shifted in his chair, hating the way this was going, until he earned a glare from his mother. “Don’t shift, dear. A duke should not shift so.”

I know. You have told me many times.

Anthony felt Susanna’s gaze upon him on this occasion, yet he could not return that look. He busied himself with his food as an awkward silence descended once again.

How is this supposed to be my future?

The question kept running madly through his mind, followed quickly by another.

If I ask Susanna to marry me, will this be every meeting we have with my mother?

* * *

“She hates me,” Susanna murmured as she walked toward the carriage. Anthony was beside her. Since lunch, he hadn’t left her side, and he now walked her to the carriage with his hand pressed firmly in her own. Peggy walked ahead, climbing into the carriage quickly. Susanna rather suspected her friend was trying to give them privacy.

“She does not hate you,” Anthony said, his voice firm and quiet.

“Anthony.” Susanna stopped walking, turning to face him. “Were you and I sitting at the same table just now?”

Anthony grimaced and looked back to the house. The somewhat formal expression he had been wearing since she had arrived cracked. For the first time that day, he was the Anthony that she knew, expressive, his face revealing his emotions, and his fingers entwining with her own.

“I am sorry,” Anthony whispered. He turned his back on the house and faced Susanna completely. She half wondered if his mother was there, standing in one of the windows, watching the two of them, and if Anthony was blocking her view. “My mother’s insistence on perfection is bad enough for me to bear. I never thought she would expect the same of others too.”

Susanna nodded slowly, looking down at herself. The lunch had been unbearable. The Dowager Duchess had hardly made a secret of what she thought of Susanna, especially when the Dowager had seen Susanna laughing freely and picking up the wrong fork. Susanna felt condemned by the Duchess’ stare alone.

“She expected someone else, Anthony. That was the problem.”

“I do not care what she thinks.” Anthony’s voice was surprisingly firm, urging Susanna to snap her gaze back up toward him.

“You don’t?” Susanna asked, her voice but a whisper.

“No. I may be able to practically feel her glaring into my back right now, but I do not care.” He stepped toward Susanna, lowering his voice even more. “Come back tonight.”

“Tonight!?” Susanna spluttered before clearing her throat and lowering her voice, looking around herself to make sure no one had heard her.

“As you came last night, come again tonight, please,” Anthony pleaded with her.

“Your mother is here. Surely, she is staying the night?”

“This house is vast,” Anthony pointed out with something of a mischievous smile. “She retires early and sleeps on the far east wing. Come tonight, and come to my studio window. There, I will let you in.”

“Anthony, I…” Susanna’s eyes flicked past him. This time, she caught sight of the Dowager Duchess. She was standing in a window, looking out just as Susanna feared. Those blue eyes didn’t seem to blink, not once, as she glared at the two of them together. “I do not know. What if she sees me?”

“She will not.”

Susanna’s mind went back to the shadow in the garden and the tobacco she had found. It was just possible that whoever had been there that night would be there again tonight, watching her.

“I can send a footman to ride with you to ensure you’re safe,” Anthony suggested hurriedly.

“That is kind. I have my own that can accompany me.”

“Then you will come?” Anthony asked with clear hope in his voice. “Please?”

“You really wish me to, do you not?” Susanna focused on Anthony alone. The way his fingers were entwined with her own spoke volumes. He seemed reluctant to let her go.

“I do,” he breathed out the words. “If I could have had my way, I wouldn’t have let you leave this morning,” he added with a playful smile. Susanna giggled at his words. She would have happily stayed if it was something that had been permitted.

“Then, yes, I will come.”

“Thank you.” Anthony lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back. It didn’t matter that Susanna’s gloves separated his skin from hers. It still gave her that thrill.

After what we shared, how can such a simple touch still excite me?

Yet it did. Anthony held her gaze as he gave her that kiss to the back of her hand, not once blinking. When he lowered her hand again, he took her toward the carriage, and helped her inside.

“Until tonight,” he whispered to her, his lips near her ear as she stepped up.

“Until then.” They squeezed hands one last time before they parted.

* * *

Susanna didn’t set off as early as she could have done. Agnes was caught up in a card game with Juliana and Marie, making it easy for Susanna to say she wished to retire early for the night, yet she still stood by the doorway, hesitating.

Beside her, Peggy offered her pelisse, and on her other side was the young footman who seemed to smile even more with every passing day he spent in Peggy’s presence.

“My Lady? Are you ready?” Peggy asked, offering the pelisse again.

Susanna slowly took the pelisse and wrapped it around her shoulders.

“Did either of you see anything last night?” Susanna asked, peering out of the window. “A figure perhaps? Near the trees.”

“A figure?” Peggy’s voice was panicked as she looked to the trees through the nearest window.

“No, My Lady.” The footman shook his head. “Should we report it to someone?”

“No, that is not necessary.” Susanna shook her head. She was certain there was no one there now. She had stood in this position by the windows for some time, looking out warily in case that shadow re-emerged, but it never did. “Perhaps it was someone watching the place, wondering if they could steal something.”

“I can ask the staff to keep a closer eye, My Lady?” The footman offered.

“Perhaps that is wise.” Susanna nodded and stepped toward the door.

“Would you like to stay home tonight, My Lady?” Peggy asked, never once taking her eyes off the trees nearby.

“No. I would still like to go.” Susanna said, wrapping the pelisse tighter around her shoulders. Certain the shadow was not there, she grew more confident.

I want to see Anthony tonight. I miss him already!

With this in mind, she hastened for the door with the footman close behind her. They said goodbye to Peggy together, and Susanna smiled as she watched Peggy and the footman clasping hands, warmly, before they parted.

Once Susanna was on her horse, she led the way with the footman following behind her. Darkness had fallen so thickly with the clouds drawn tightly across the moon that it was not easy to see the streets. Occasionally Susanna would look behind her, wondering if that shadow would emerge again, but she could not see enough to be certain.

The closer she got to Anthony’s house, the more her fears subsided, for she was near Anthony, and that excitement returned.

When they entered the Duke’s estate, they slowed the horses down to a gentle trot. Beneath Susanna, the mare snorted, softly.

“Shh, now.” Susanna patted the mare’s neck, urging the horse to be quiet.

This was perhaps the greatest mischief Susanna had ever done. Not only was she sneaking back into Anthony’s house, but she was doing so knowing that his mother was in that house. Even if she did retire early for the night, she had to be careful not to be seen.

As they approached the house, Susanna’s eyes darted to the windows. They were growing larger the nearer she got, and she could see some candlelight peppered throughout those windows. In the west wing of the house, there was some light upstairs. Yet, that light seemed to seep through closed curtains suggesting after all that Anthony had been right about his mother retiring early.

Susanna circled the house, heading toward Anthony’s studio. When she reached the far end of the drive, she slowly got down from the saddle and passed the reins into the footman’s hands. He promised to take the mare to the nearby stable and left her.

Susanna hurried through the garden. Stepping through roses bushes and between yew shrubs, she hastened to the window of Anthony’s studio. Even at this distance, she could see the studio was filled with candles. Anthony had not drawn the curtains, leaving the light to spill across the garden.

When Susanna reached the window, she paused for a second, watching Anthony.

He was painting a new canvas, yet it was one she had not seen him work on before. It was of a woman, sitting in a garden, tending to flowers. As he painted in the wild brown hair, she began to realize just who it was.

It is me.

Susanna smiled at the sight, finding excitement build within her.

This is not just about attraction and thrill, is it? Perhaps I mean as much to him as he does to me?

Susanna knocked on the window, and Anthony turned to look at her. Hurrying to put down his paintbrush, he moved to the window and slid it open, giving her the space to climb in.

“You’re here,” he breathed out the words as if in relief.

Comments

0 Comments
Best Newest

Contents
Settings
  • T
  • T
  • T
  • T
Font

Welcome to FullEpub

Create or log into your account to access terrific novels and protect your data

Don’t Have an account?
Click above to create an account.

lf you continue, you are agreeing to the
Terms Of Use and Privacy Policy.