Chapter Fourteen

Violet looked around the ballroom and sighed heavily. After being at the masquerade ball where she had enjoyed dancing with various gentlemen, had delighted in the company of both ladies and gentlemen and where she had felt herself accepted by others, she was now back again amongst the ton and again, invisible.

“Recall what it is that I have told you to do,” her father stated, shaking one finger at her as she dropped her gaze to the floor. “You will find the Duke of Lancaster and you will make certain that he is aware of your attentions. Do you understand?”

Violet swallowed tightly and thought to stay silent, only for her father to step closer. “Yes, father.” She had no other choice but to say something, to consent to what it was that he had asked her.

“Good.” Lord Craighall scowled and then waved one hand towards her. “Now, I will leave you to go and to find your sister and her mother. Marianne is being eagerly pursued by more than a few gentlemen and it is important that she is given the greatest priority. That does not mean that I will not be watching you, however. Do not think that you can escape your responsibilities, Violet!”

“I understand, Father.”

He nodded and then turned away, leaving Violet to stand alone. Quite what she was going to do, Violet did not know, for she could not go towards the Duke and stand beside him and expect him to simply speak with her. But if she did not, then her father’s anger would fall on her and she did not know what would happen thereafter.

“Good evening. I do hope you could use my company this evening because I confess that I am quite lonely at the moment.”

“Lady Caroline?” Violet, who had been expecting Miss Chesterton to appear beside her at any moment, found herself caught with utter astonishment as Lady Caroline came to stand beside her, a small smile on her face. “Why... I do not understand. How could you be lonely?”

Lady Caroline smiled softly. “It is a strange sense of loneliness, I confess,” she said, her eyes searching Violet’s face. “There are so many gentlemen and ladies who are here this evening and so many who would be glad of my company. However, I find myself struggling to know which of them seek to be in my company because of my own self or because I am the sister now of a Duke.” Her smile wobbled a little. “It is just as my brother warned me of.”

Violet smiled gently. “I can understand there must be a great difficulty there though I am surprised that you want to come to talk to me.”

“Why should I not?” Lady Caroline asked, with a small shrug. “There is no anger between us, is there?”

A sudden swell of tears burned behind Violet’s eyes and she closed them tightly, a sense of joy sweeping through her. “You are very kind to be so open to speaking with me, Lady Caroline. I know I have caused a great deal of strife.”

“None of which you did willingly,” Lady Caroline stated, firmly. “I know that to be true and therefore, the only desire I have at the present moment is to rebuild the friendship we had begun a few years ago.”

“Then I am all the more grateful for your kindness,” Violet said, softly. “Though I am sorry that you are struggling at the present moment. That must be very difficult for you, particularly with the gentlemen.”

Lady Caroline laughed though there was a dampness in her eyes. “It is, though the gentlemen do not trouble me particularly.”

“No?”

A slight softness came into Lady Caroline’s expression. “There is one gentleman that I am considering, I must admit. Though I do not know whether or not I can have any sort of hope in that regard. At least I am fully aware that he is an excellent gentleman and does not think of me only because of my connection to the Duke!”

Violet looked back at Lady Caroline, silently wondering whether she ought to ask who this gentleman was. It did not take her more than a few minutes to realize that they were not closely enough acquainted as yet for her to do such a thing.

“You are not going to ask me, are you?” As though she had read her thoughts, Lady Caroline offered her a small smile. “That is good of you, though you do not need to worry too much about that. Even if you had asked me, I would not have told you though I would not have been at all upset at hearing the question.”

Violet offered her a small smile. “I did not want to ask you his name, though I do hope he is a gentleman worthy of you.”

“He is.” Lady Caroline let out a small, contented sigh though she looked away from Violet again. “I have known him for a long time and thus, think very well of him.”

Considering for a moment – though no gentleman immediately came to mind, Violet lifted a gentle eyebrow. “Might I ask if your brother is aware of this? It is not my place to ask it but –”

“Oh, I am not in the least bit concerned as to whether you ask or not!” Lady Caroline chuckled. “No, my brother is not aware of this, for I have no intention nor desire to speak of it to him.” Her smile faded. “We do not share any great intimacies, I am afraid. He does not speak of his thoughts and I do not speak of mine. However, I do think that he would be better to speak to me of his feelings rather than keeping all of it to himself.” She let out another sigh as Violet considered this, wondering if she was talking only about what had happened as regarded Violet’s engagement to the Duke or if there was something else which had taken place which she did not know of.

“Caroline?”

Her thoughts were interrupted as she turned to see none other than the Duke himself approaching them, though his eyebrows lifted sharply and he caught his breath as he realized who she was.

“Forgive me.”

In one moment, the Duke’s character altered completely, for his back stiffened, his shoulders pulled back and his jaw tightened as his gaze pulled directly away from her and returned instead to Lady Caroline.

“Yes, brother?” Lady Caroline smiled gently, then gestured to Violet. “Can you not see that I am speaking with Lady Violet at present?”

“Yes, I can see that,” the Duke replied, now clasping his hands behind his back. “I was wondering if there was a reason that you were hiding yourself away, however. It is not like you to be standing so far back from everyone.”

Violet dropped her gaze, fully aware that she was standing far back from every other person present but that the Duke had made no comment on her present situation. Evidently he was all too aware that she was well used to being something of a wallflower.

“I only wanted to speak with Lady Violet,” Lady Caroline replied with a smile. “Besides which, as you yourself told me only recently, I find that the company present can be a little difficult for me.”

“Difficult?” the Duke repeated, as Lady Caroline nodded. “In what way?”

“Ah, Lady Caroline, there you are!”

The moment Lord Hampton came to join them, Lady Caroline’s eyes lit up and she beamed in delight at the gentleman before her – a delight which did not go unnoticed by Violet.

“Lord Hampton, good evening!” Lady Caroline exclaimed, her smile a good deal brighter than before. “How pleasant to see you.”

“As it is to see you,” Lord Hampton replied, before greeting both Violet and the Duke of Lancaster. “Now, I must hope that you are dancing this evening, Lady Caroline? I should very much like to sign your dance card.”

Violet lowered her head and wondered if she ought to step back. There was clearly an interest between Lord Hampton and Lady Caroline and no doubt, this was the gentleman she had been talking about, but she herself had no need to be present at the moment.

“And you also, Lady Violet?”

Her head lifted quickly, seeing Lord Hampton’s smile. “I beg your pardon?”

“Your dance card, if you please?” He threw a glance to the Duke of Lancaster who had begun to frown. “I am sure that it would be very pleasant indeed to stand up with you.”

Violet flushed hot, though she took the dance card from her wrist and handed it to Lord Hampton without delay. “I thank you, Lord Hampton.”

“But of course! It would be very rude for me indeed to take only Lady Caroline’s dance card and not your own also, Lady Violet. I am sure that you will be very eager indeed to step out also, will you not?”

Violet smiled but said nothing, aware of how the gentleman’s gaze slid up towards the Duke and, after a moment, hearing the Duke of Lancaster sigh heavily. Her face burned all the hotter and she made to take the dance card again from Lord Hampton, planning to step away completely, only for the Duke of Lancaster to snatch it from Lord Hampton’s fingers.

“Very well,” he sighed, his face pulled into a scowl. “Though I am not particularly inclined towards dancing.”

“Oh, please do not feel at all obliged!” Violet said quickly, her face now feeling as hot as could be, though she resisted the urge to press her hands to her cheeks. “There is no need, really.”

The Duke did not so much as look at her. Instead, he dotted his name down and then handed her the dance card again, though he did not look at her as he did so.

Violet swallowed hard as she took in the Duke’s initials on her dance card. For whatever reason, he had taken her waltz, though Lord Hampton had chosen only the polonaise. Quite why he had taken the waltz, she did not know and certainly could not imagine but all the same, a breath of relief escaped her as she realized her father would have no reason to bark at her later that evening. He would see her dancing with the Duke and presumed that things had gone a good deal better than they truly had.

And I shall be in his arms again, she thought to herself, as the Duke nodded at something his sister had said. Already, I know just how wonderful that is going to feel.

The moment that thought came into her mind, Violet silently berated herself for it. She could not let herself think anything akin to that, not when she knew all too well that there could never be any sort of real connection between the Duke of Lancaster and herself. Even though her father was hopeful that she could rekindle something, Violet would do what she could to make it appear that she was doing so while privately being fully aware of just how little the Duke thought of her.

“Lady Violet?”

She looked up, glancing to her left and she saw Lady Caroline in deep conversation with Lord Hampton, which meant she was practically alone with the Duke of Lancaster. “Your Grace?”

“I – I have been thinking about what you said.” Clearing his throat gruffly, the Duke put his hands behind his back and lifted his chin so that he was not quite looking at her. “I am still a little disinclined to believe you, however. I do hope you understand that.”

Violet blinked, not certain what the Duke of Lancaster meant. “You are disinclined to believe – ”

“That you had no true desire to end our engagement,” he said, crisply, his eyes finally meeting hers. “You can understand my skepticism, I am sure. You never gave me a clear explanation as to why our engagement had to end and thus, I found myself considering all manner of ideas.”

Closing her eyes briefly, Violet accepted the stab of pain which ran through her heart. “I understand, Your Grace. But yet, if it means anything at all, I can assure you that I speak the truth.”

A flicker came into his eyes. “You did not want to end our engagement. You are telling me that is the truth?”

Violet nodded, an ache in her throat preventing her from speaking. How desperately she wanted him to believe her! She would do anything if only he could accept her words as true, though she was fully aware that her desperation would mean very little to him.

“Then why?” he asked, taking a small step closer to her, his eyes searching hers. “Why did you do something that you did not desire?”

The way he looked back into her eyes was so profound, so desperate in his search, Violet wanted to weep. “I had no choice,” she managed to say, a whisper replacing any sort of strength in her voice. “It tore my heart into a thousand pieces to write that letter but it was demanded of me.”

“Demanded of you?” The Duke frowned hard. “By whom?”

“My father.”

“Your father?” The frown grew all the heavier. “Why would he do such a thing? He had already given me his consent and appeared to be very eager indeed for our marriage. That does not make sense to me.”

“I know it does not,” Violet protested, weakly, “but that is the truth. You do not know of the tears I cried and the desperation with which I begged him to change his mind again but he did not relent. I even tried to leave my father’s townhouse to make my way to the church on my own, but I was prevented from doing so. My father stood guard over me and with various threats and promises, forced me to write that letter. And I did not understand his reasons even as I wrote it. It was only later on, in the months that followed, that he gave me his explanations.”

The Duke’s frown lifted just a little, his gaze steadier than she had ever seen it before. It tore through her heart, burning right into her chest as she sucked in air, her breathing becoming a little shallower.

“Tell me.”

She shook her head, though it was not to refuse him. “You will think him the most pitiful of gentlemen, for that is indeed what he is. The truth is, Your Grace, that he did not think that your fortune – at that time – was substantial enough.”

The Duke’s eyebrows shot towards his hairline.

“It was a dreadful reason, but he is determined still that my sister will find a gentleman with the greatest fortune and that shall be the gentleman she will tie herself to,” Violet finished, the words tumbling out of her now for fear that she would not get opportunity to say these things to him again. “You cannot know of my heartbreak, Your Grace, nor my regret. If I had been able to find a way to escape from my father’s demands, I would have taken it. I tried to escape from his demands, tried to run from his house but it was impossible. I am sorry for all the pain that it caused you, for the agonies which came to you because of it, but it was truly not my doing. I had no desire to write such a thing to you, but I had no other choice.”

For some moments, the Duke of Lancaster said absolutely nothing. Instead, he simply looked back into her face as though he were trying to ascertain, simply by looking, whether or not she spoke the truth. Tears came into Violet’s eyes as she fought to keep them back, refusing to let them fall. He did not need her tears, not now. Not when she had just told him everything.

“It is about fortune?” Eventually, as the Duke spoke, shock rippled across his expression, sending his eyes flaring wide as he rubbed one hand over his chin and looked away from her. “Fortune?” This time, the word was a little louder than before, anger tracing the edges of it. Violet nodded, daring to say nothing as she gazed at him, praying that he would believe her. “But for what end? Why should my fortune affect your father? I am aware that every parent is concerned for their child and their future but to worry that I would not be able to provide for you is nothing but foolishness!”

“I would quite agree and to this day, I still do not truly understand,” Violet admitted, quietly. “I do not know what it is that he wants from this. Every time I have tried to speak with him about it, he – ”

“I should take my leave.” The Duke not only interrupted her but, much to Violet’s surprise, inclined his head and then cleared his throat, that heavy frown back on his expression again. “Do excuse me, Lady Violet.”

She could say nothing, simply watching him as he turned on his heel and strode away from her, melting back in the crowd of guests as she watched him for as long as she could. She did not understand what it was that she had said, what it was which had affected him so severely, but it was clear that what she had told him had set a great burden on his shoulders.

“Are you quite all right, Lady Violet?”

The gentle voice of Lady Caroline had Violet turning towards her quickly, nodding and trying to smile even though she felt nothing but tears burning in her eyes. “Yes, of course. I am sorry that your brother took such a hasty departure.”

“Is there any reason for that?” Lady Caroline wanted to know, though her expression and her voice remained gentle. “Is there any reason that he has decided to make his way from us so quickly?”

Glancing to Lord Hampton, Violet decided that there was nothing for her to do but to tell the truth, even with Lord Hampton present. “I simply told him the truth about the ending of our engagement,” she said, quietly. “That is all. I do not know whether he believes it or whether what I have said has offended him so greatly, that he is now deeply upset with me.”

“It is good that you were able to speak to him about it, however,” Lady Caroline replied, reaching out to squeeze Violet’s hand. “Let that be a little weight off the burden that you carry.”

Violet nodded but could find nothing to say, her throat constricting and her breathing still quick and fast. She looked again for the Duke but he was lost in the crowd and Violet did not know whether he would ever again return to her side.