Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was not like Jackie to think about an encounter the following day, yet that was precisely what she was doing.

Had she not been thinking about the gentleman that she was in a courtship with, she would have scolded herself. But that was not her situation; the duke was courting her, and so she had every right to think about him, did she not?

“Jackie?” Elizabeth interrupted her thoughts. “You have hardly touched your tea. Is everything alright?”

Jackie blinked, and became aware of where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. She was in the parlor with her sister and the Dowager Duchess, and she was sure that she had been lost in thought for so long that her tea would be cold, and the bread of her sandwiches would be going stale. The dowager reached for her teacup, offering to get her another, but Jackie pulled it back quickly.

“Do not trouble yourself,” she assured her. “I prefer my tea on the cooler side anyway.”

She did not, of course, but she did not wish to be a burden, and besides that she could not stand wasting good food and drink.

“If you are sure, Dear,” the dowager replied, somewhat in disbelief. “Now, as you were saying, Elizabeth?”

“Yes, Lord Greene. Oh, isn’t he wonderful? Why, at dinner last night he was telling me all about his mother’s ring. It is an heirloom, he says, and has been in his family for five generations. Can you believe it?”

“We have a similar ring, though it has not been passed down for as long as yours. Perhaps if my son came down to dinner, he could have such conversations himself.”

“Will he be joining us soon?” Jackie asked absent-mindedly. “It is strange not having the head of the household present.”

“That depends entirely on His Grace,” the dowager sighed. “And it is a shame, for he makes excellent company.”

“He certainly does.”

Jackie knew what she had said the moment she said it.

“I did not know that you had been spending time with the duke,” Elizabeth said, an eyebrow raised.

Fortunately, at that moment, the butler entered with a lady that Jackie did not recognize. It was strange to see an unexpected visitor, but it meant that Elizabeth had something to think about other than where her older sister had been.

She might not have recognized the young lady, but the dowager duchess certainly did, even if her face registered a good deal of shock, followed by happiness, followed by outright confusion.

“Lady Ophelia,” she said in an odd tone. “What a… surprise.”

“Your Grace,” she beamed, curtsying deeply. “It is a pleasure to see you again. I know it is improper of me to arrive unannounced, but I simply had to come and see you while I was in town! I have missed you greatly.”

She was extremely beautiful, Jackie noted, and slowly she began to piece everything together. She had heard whispers of a Lady Ophelia, who had left the duke that she was engaged to after she deemed him unworthy. It was a great source of gossip during her first season, some chastising her for being so set on good looks, others agreeing that the most beautiful girl in London should marry only the most handsome man, nothing less.

It was no secret that, even when she did not know either party, she was angry on behalf of the duke. Elizabeth had agreed with her, though to a lesser extent. Now that she was standing before her, though, Jackie could hardly contain her annoyance; to throw someone aside after knowing them for so long because of something out of their control was inexcusable, as far as she was concerned.

“Oh! Where are my manners?” The dowager duchess said quickly. “Lady Ophelia, may I introduce you to Lady Jacqueline and Lady Elizabeth?”

The two sisters curtsied in turn, neither speaking to Lady Ophelia.

“Lady Jacqueline is to marry my son,” she continued excitedly, and Jackie did not feel that it was the right time to correct her wording.

She knew that she had made the right decision when she saw Lady Ophelia’s face, one of shock, though she quickly composed herself.

“He is a wonderful man,” Lady Ophelia nodded. “You are quite fortunate to have him.”

“I am, indeed,” Jackie smiled, reveling in the young lady’s apparent discomfort.

“You know, he always was very adoring,” Lady Ophelia continued with a smirk. “Why, when we were courting, he sent me flowers every day, always accompanied by a love letter. We would promenade together, and he would practically follow me around like he was my puppy.”

Jackie thought about the flowers she had been receiving every day since her arrival. It was a normal thing to receive during a courtship, but knowing that he had done it all before did take some of the shine away from it she had to admit.

What was worse, however, was the way she spoke of the duke as if he were no more than a dog—her dog. He was a person, and more to the point, if she thought he was so utterly wonderful, why did she reject him? Her mind began to race in a way that it never had before, wondering if this was her coming back for him, to apologize and take him back all over again.

“Is he here?” Lady Ophelia continued.

“He is not,” the dowager duchess replied. “I am afraid that the duke has some rather pressing matters to attend to today, and is unavailable, but I shall tell him you came by.”

“I would have preferred to speak with him myself. That is an awful shame.”

“Indeed, but we sometimes cannot control what happens around us, can we?” The dowager duchess asked.

Jackie looked between the two ladies, quite certain that Lady Ophelia needed to have taken something from those words.

“Very well,” she sighed. “Although I would so love to walk in the gardens again. They were always magnificent. Lady Jacqueline, would you be so kind as to accompany me?”

Jackie looked to the dowager duchess, who did not seem to object to it, and it would have been impolite to say no, and so she gave a quick nod, and the two ladies left for the gardens.

“Oh, have you ever seen anything so beautiful in all your life?” Lady Ophelia sighed as they entered the garden. “I am quite adept in the language of flowers, and I can tell you exactly what the gardener wanted to say with his work.”

“Oh? And what might that have been?”

“You do not honestly want to hear about that,” Lady Ophelia laughed. “Come now, Lady Jacqueline, I am sure that you wish to know all about my time with the duke. I would not blame you for it, given that the two of you are to be married.”

Jackie wanted to tell Lady Ophelia that she did not wish to hear about the two of them, but she knew that that would only make her sound jealous. Was it better to allow her to talk? Jackie could not possibly know for sure, and so she thought it best to listen and not allow herself to be upset by anything she heard. Besides that, she was curious.

“If that is what you would rather discuss,” Jackie shrugged. “Though a talent such as knowing the language of flowers makes you far more interesting than being someone that was courted by a duke.”

“Engaged,” she corrected. “Why, the duke and I have known each other for years now. Our fathers were good friends, and the late duke was all too happy to arrange a marriage between us. I was everything that a good duchess should be, he told me, and that I was the perfect match for his son.”

“He must have been a good man.”

“The very best. I suppose you never had the chance to meet him, given that your family does not run in the same circles as mine. That is quite the shame. They’re a lovely family, though, are they not? I always considered this place my second home. The duke himself told me that it might as well be.”

“They are certainly welcoming, yes, especially his mother. She has already asked me to call her by her first name.”

“I would not feel too special about that, she does the same thing with everyone.”

Jackie wondered why she was trying to compete with a young lady that she had never met, that had long been removed from the duke’s life. Even if she had not been, it was not as though she had any say on who the duke did or did not speak to.

“I must admit,” Lady Ophelia continued, “coming back here has only further proven to me that letting him go all that time ago was the biggest mistake of my life. This is my home, my family.”

Jackie blinked. Was she trying to tell her that she had come to take him back? Was this her warning, her challenge, not to go near him?

“Yes, it is certainly a shame for you that you rejected him like that,” she replied, perhaps a little too curtly. “But then, I suppose we all do things we later regret, only to realize that it is too late to change how things are. I suppose I should be grateful to you, though, for he truly is such a kind man.”

“He is, the kindest that I have ever met in my entire life, so I am most fortunate to have known him all of this time.”

“Do the two of you still talk?”

Lady Ophelia faltered.

“No, not as often as I would prefer, but that will soon change, I hope. He always was my best friend, and I his. I would give anything for that to be the case once more.”

Jackie so desperately wanted the conversation to turn to something else– anything else, because she could feel herself growing more annoyed with every mention of Lady Ophelia’s past with the duke. She felt the jealousy rise within her, wishing that she could have been the one to know him all that time ago, and it made her unsteady on her feet.

She was not supposed to care for the duke that much, not yet at least. They had only just met—she hardly knew him at all. Yet she couldn’t bear the thought of another lady coming into the picture, least of all one that had hurt him.

She tried to tell herself that she disliked Lady Ophelia simply because of what she had done to the duke, and not because of any rivalry that she felt between them. She was an unkind girl, and that was what annoyed Jackie so greatly.

That was what she told herself, at least.

“Yes, well,” Jackie said carefully. “I suppose that is what happens when we act in a way in which we regret, but there is no coming back from that. What’s done is more often than not done.”

Suddenly, Lady Ophelia turned to her, eyes mischievous.

“Not when it comes to me, Lady Jacqueline. I always was one to get exactly what I wanted, and this will be no exception to that rule.”