Chapter 21

Chapter 21

He had done it.

Philip had not expected to tell Jackie anything until the very last moment, not wishing to make her feel guilted into reciprocating, but he had to prove to her that he was serious. He could not bear how sad she looked when talk turned to Ophelia. He wished he had never met Ophelia to begin with if it meant Jackie would feel better.

Every word that he had said was the truth. He did adore her wholly, and when the visit was over, he would tell her that he truly did wish to marry her, if she would have him, of course. She was perfect, everything a wife and duchess should be, and the thought of having her around forever made him feel nothing short of ecstasy.

The fear of rejection, however, paralyzed him.

Fortunately, he did not have time to dwell on such terrible thoughts, for he had a dispute to settle. He had never had to do so before, and part of him wondered if that was the role of a duke, but nevertheless they had come to him, and so he thought it best to listen to them, at least.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” he greeted. “How can I be of assistance to the both of you?”

“Your Grace,” one began. “My family has been using our land for generations, and now this man has come to me stating that part of the property is his.”

“Because it is,” the other interrupted. “As there was an agreement between our great-grandfathers that the land could be borrowed, and it was never returned.”

“Purchased. He purchased it. It is therefore mine.”

Philip was unsure of precisely what to do, but he knew that his afternoon would be quite long indeed.

Eventually, after a long discussion that Philip did not wish to be a part of, the two gentlemen came to the agreement that no change needed to be made at all, for it would be mutually beneficial if the owner of the land received crops from the other. He wondered if he had been required for such a conclusion to be reached, but he was pleased that there had been one, nonetheless.

It was simply a shame that it had to interrupt his time with Jackie. He had to speak to his mother, and he found her sitting in a drawing room.

“Mother,” he said suddenly, appearing in the doorway. “Might we have a word?”

He needed to tell someone about what had happened between himself and Jackie, and he could not bring himself to speak to Lucien about it. His behavior has been strange, and he did not know how to feel about that. His mother, however, was all too happy to hear it all.

“You seem rather tired, Dearest,” she said gently, and he chuckled.

“It has been a long few hours with those two farmers.”

“At least it is settled now, and you did a wonderful job doing so.”

“I am certainly not used to handling such matters.”

“You will be in time. Now, what did you wish to talk about?”

“It is Lady Jacqueline. You must promise not to take it too far, but I have fallen for her, and I have told her as such.”

He should have made her promise first. Immediately, she began to cry, the smile on her face a mile wide.

“Oh, Philip, this is wonderful! I knew it was only a matter of time before the two of you confessed your feelings to one another.”

“She has not reciprocated.”

“What do you mean?” She asked, brow furrowed.

“She did not have time to,” he explained. “We were interrupted by those farmers, and so I had to leave.”

“Well, she shall tell you in time. I am sure of it, for I have seen how she looks at you. We all have; the two of you have not been as discreet as you might have thought.”

Philip wanted to believe that his mother was right, and that Jackie truly did feel the same as he did, but until she said it herself, he could not trust it too much.

“I hope that you are right, Mother. I truly did not expect to feel this way, not this quickly at least, but now I cannot believe that it has taken me so long to say something.”

“Then we must celebrate! I shall arrange everything, and make it a most grand affair. My son is in love!”

“No!” he gasped. “No, not as yet. We must wait until she has told me herself that she feels the same way. I shall not make you wait forever.”

In spite of his promise, she seemed quite disappointed.

“I am so happy for you, Dear,” she smiled. “But you have to trust it. I cannot be excited enough for the two of us.”

“Are you certain of that? You seem to be close enough to it.”

She laughed gently, placing a hand gently on his shoulder.

“I suppose you are right. Very well, we shall wait a little while longer, but you cannot blame me if I am so ecstatic that I give it away too soon!”

“We have a deal,” he promised, before the two of them left for dinner.

Lucien was already seated there.

“Oh!” Philip’s mother gasped. “Good evening. My son did not inform me of your attendance this evening.”

“If I were aware of it, I might have.”

“My apologies,” Lucien smiled. “It slipped my mind to tell you. I suppose I am here so often that I was confused with another time.”

“You certainly are here a lot,” Philip nodded.

“Not to worry,” his mother smiled, taking her seat. “Cook will be able to prepare something for you. It is as you say, you are here so often that she likely plans for your arrival in advance.”

Lucien was smirking at him. Philip did not understand what he was doing at all. He was not there for him, that much was clear when Jackie entered, and he changed his seat to the one beside her. Fortunately, Philip’s seat was at the head of the table, and Jackie had chosen a seat beside him, so Lucien could not block him out completely.

Not that easily, at least, but he had other ways.

“My, Lady Jacqueline,” Lucien said kindly to her. “You look wonderful this evening.”

“Thank you, My Lord,” she replied. “I must admit, I was unsure of the new gowns at first, but they have made me far happier. It’s strange, for it is only a dress, but it makes me happy.”

“You certainly seem happy this evening. Would it happen to have anything to do with anyone here?”

She flashed Philip a smile, and it was precisely what he needed.

“There might be a correlation,” she replied. “Though I must say, being here has made me quite content all around.”

“As you deserve to be. I would hate for a lady such as yourself to be unhappy.”

Philip blinked. Once again, his friend had come to visit and only taken any notice of Jackie. It did not make any sense to him; Lucien was supposed to be his friend, not Jackie’s. She did not seem to notice what Lucien was doing, and Philip wondered if that was simply because there was nothing to notice at all.

“Then it is a good thing that I have been very well kept here.”

“And it is my hope that you will find a gentleman to make that continue.”

Philip shot him a look. For all intents and purposes, as far as Lucien was concerned, Jackie had found a gentleman. The purpose of her visit to begin with was to meet Philip and marry him, even if that was not what had happened on her part. They were courting, and Lucien knew that, yet here he was acting as though she was not already spoken for.

Dinner continued with Lucien focusing all of his attention on Jackie, and by the time it ended Philip had reached his limit.

“Might you join me in the study for a brandy?” He asked Lucien, as everyone else left for the drawing room.

“Might it be best for us to join your guests?”

“We can do so afterward. I require a word.”

Lucien sighed and followed him, and when they reached the study Philip poured two glasses of brandy before sighing himself.

He did not want to have a conversation of this nature with a friend.

“I would prefer not to speak around this issue,” he began. “So I shall ask you outright. What is the purpose of you coming here to only speak to Lady Jacqueline?”

“That is not the purpose of my visits. I would have thought that my friend of many years would think better of me.”

“I want to, but it is difficult to do so when I cease to exist the moment you see her. You come here and speak with her more than is normal for an unmarried gentleman to a lady who is spoken for.”

“You can see it that way if you wish, but I am simply trying to learn more about the girl that you are showing an interest in. She and I ought to have a friendship of some kind if the two of you are going to continue your courtship, should we not?

“Not at the expense of ours, no.”

“Philip, the only thing coming between us right now is your jealousy. There is no need for you to be so insecure that you accuse me of acting unbecoming with a lady.”

“I am not accusing you of anything. I am simply asking you why you feel the need to act this way when she is around, because you have never done that before. You were not this interested in knowing Lady Ophelia, for example, and we were engaged.”

“That is because I did not like her, but I had to bite my tongue around her because you were so smitten.”

Philip was unsure of what to say to that. In the aftermath of all that had happened, he did notice that Lady Ophelia was not the kind lady that he had thought her to be, and so it was no surprise to him that others saw through her act.

“All I am asking,” he sighed. “Is that you do not forget that other people exist when you are around her.”

“I do not forget, and it is not my fault if she is the most interesting one in the room. You should be pleased that I am making such an effort to get to know her, not making me feel as though I am doing something that I am not. It is not fair, especially after everything that I have done for you.”

“Very well, I understand,” Philip conceded. “If your intentions are pure, then all I can say is that I am grateful for your efforts. Now, shall we join the others?”

“I shall have to decline the offer. I do not wish to say or do the wrong thing again, and have you be angry with me when I am only trying to be polite. I shall see you sometime soon.”

“Lucien, I apologize if you have taken offense—”

“If? You bring me here and accuse me of trying to steal a lady away from you, and you are unsure as to whether or not you have offended me? I do not have time for this, Philip. I will come and see you again when you have a better head on your shoulders.”

He left without another word, and Philip finished his glass before joining the others in the drawing room.

“Hello again,” Jackie smiled when he arrived. “Where has your friend gone?”

“He had to leave,” Philip explained, trying not to lie to her outright.

“Oh, I see. That is a shame; he is a good friend to you.”

Philip winced, knowing it was true.