Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

D iana had quickly become attached to the village, and given the look on Samantha's face, it was quite easy to see why.

Everyone there smiled. It seemed like such a small thing to notice, but when all those in London rarely smiled save for the false ones in front of others, a real smile was something that was very welcome indeed.

"Your Grace!" a gentleman said brightly as they stepped out. "I must thank you personally for what you have done."

Diana noted the milk in his hands and knew at once who he was.

"It is a pleasure, Sir," she said politely. "The Duke and I are happy that you are able to provide for us, as I am sure that your workload shall be much greater now."

"With the deal that he and I made, I have enough to have a gentleman aid me, and so in totality, it shall be even easier than it was before. It has been a blessing, truly."

"Oh, Di," Samantha sighed wistfully when he left. "You truly are doing great work here."

"It is only a deal with a farmer." Diana smiled. "Although I do hope to do more with my time here. I was thinking of hosting a party of some kind, although I shall have to discuss it with the Duke."

"It sounds like a marvelous idea. Perhaps you might host it in winter? That way, you could almost treat it like Christmas. You could ghost it on Saint Thomas' Day!"

"What a splendid idea! Then again, it is not as though we have ever truly celebrated Christmas."

Their father had never made any sort of effort to have any form of festivities, but Diana had always given her sister a card, and Samantha had given her some biscuits that she would prepare in the kitchens when nobody was looking. It had been a pleasant enough day, but to truly celebrate it would be another thing entirely.

"You should come too," Diana said quickly, but she saw how her sister looked at her.

"Perhaps our half-brother shall be there," she sighed. "It would be better to spend it with him, otherwise he may spend it alone."

"I am sure that Father will find it in him to celebrate it this year, should he be there."

"A part of me hopes that he does not. I know that he only cares for the gentleman because he is to be the heir, but even so, it shall be too painful to watch. I do not wish to see our father cavort around with his son as if all of his troubles are over, as if his being there magically means that nothing bad has ever happened. I refuse to see it. I cannot."

"Then that is all the more reason for you to visit," Diana suggested, to which her sister nodded.

"Then we can discuss it with the Duke," Samantha said carefully. "I don't suppose he will object to it."

"Of course not. You are family, after all. Regardless of how the Duke and I are towards each other at the moment, you are every bit as much his sister as you are mine, he has said so himself."

Samantha seemed to sit straighter at that.

"I hope so, because I simply cannot see myself calling this other man my brother. It is not his fault, not at all, but I cannot do it. He is not real to me, not yet at least."

"I know how you feel, but we may well be surprised! He might be a good man, and we must give him the chance to show us that."

"Your Grace!" a bright voice came.

"Helen!" Diana smiled. "It is so good to see you."

This was in part because she liked Helen a lot, but also because Diana knew completely and utterly that Samantha would adore her. They were so similar that it was impossible for it to be otherwise.

"And this is my sister Samantha," she added, to which Samantha curtseyed. "She is visiting for a while."

"That is so lovely," Helen sighed. "It is lovely to meet you. Are you married?"

"Heavens, no." Samantha laughed. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Oh! Then what do you do with your time?"

"I like to learn all that I can without ever setting foot in any institute of education," she sighed. "As for yourself? Are you married?"

"No, although I would very much like to be. My mama says that my time will come, but I simply cannot wait! I shall be twenty soon, and then what will come of me? I shall be a spinster by then."

"Well, my sister did not marry until she was five and twenty, so who is to say that you will not make an advantageous match? It seems to not matter whether or not you are a debutante."

"I hope so. Do you truly not plan to marry?"

"No, and frankly, it is tiring having that always be the first question that people ask me."

"My apologies." Helen nodded. "In that case, might you prefer to tell me what it is that you are currently reading?"

"Now that I would be glad to discuss." Samantha smiled. "It is a book about plants, and their names and uses. I was never one to fully grasp botany, but this one is brilliant for simple explanations, and I hope that with time, I shall be able to understand the more complicated parts."

"I cannot say that I understand botany myself, but I do so love flowers. Might you know the language of them?"

"Of course! Every young lady should, as should every gentleman wishing to please one. That is part of the reason why I wished to learn more about plants, and then it all sort of continued."

"That sounds brilliant. May we all be so lucky that we might be able to learn."

"It is a gift, to be sure. I simply wish that I could attend university."

Diana laughed. "If you attended university, I would never see you again. You would simply finish one course and then begin another, repeating the cycle until you are old and gray."

"And I would be so incredibly content with that."

"I would be content with embroidering flowers," Helen pointed out. "Rather than baking bread with my mother every day."

"You know how to bake?" Samantha asked.

"Of course! My family owns the bakery. It is not exactly the sort of thing I like to do, but it keeps my family afloat, and I shall do anything to make that continue."

"I would so love to work."

"Believe me, you would not. It is hard."

"But at the end of the day, you can look around yourself and feel a sense of accomplishment. I, meanwhile, can only look at the pianoforte I have been playing or the socks that I have darned. I feel more like some exotic bird."

"Then perhaps we could trade places one day?" Helen joked. "Then we can both live the lives we have always dreamed of."

"Should it ever come to that point, I shall agree to that."

"Yes." Diana nodded. "Except for the fact that the ton would know something was amiss instantly."

"The ton ," Samantha pointed out, "has seen us perhaps thrice in total. They shall not notice a difference, and it is not as though Father would care."

Diana wanted to argue that he would, but she was not one to lie.

"In which case." Helen smiled. "I shall await your sudden invitation. It will be most joyful, I am sure."

Helen then curtseyed and said her goodbyes before continuing on her way. Diana wondered just how happy she truly was, and if she had taken her good fortunes for granted, even if she knew she had not been dealt the best hand in terms of her upbringing.

"Oh, how I envy her," Samantha said wistfully. "That is a lady who can make her own way, with or without a husband. Should I not find one, I would simply wither away."

"You are not a flower, Sister, although it is nice to know that you are learning about them."

"I am a flower, only beautiful for a short while, and dies off when picked. Should I be left to my own devices, I shall only grow and thrive, but that would not be me serving my purpose. Tell me, what is the difference between myself and that daisy over there?"

She pointed to the flower, and then walked to it and plucked it from the earth.

"For a start," Diana replied, laughing, "you are far taller. Not only that, but you cannot make a chain out of Samanthas. Daisies, on the other hand…"

Diana seated herself on the ground and began to pick the flowers, making a small hole in each stem and threading a second through. She continued until she had made one that was fairly long, and then closed it off. Nearby, there was a small girl playing near her parents, and so she walked towards her.

"Good afternoon, Your Grace!" she said brightly.

"Good afternoon," Diana replied. "This is for you."

She placed the chain on the little girl's head as if it were a crown, and the child jumped up and down, thanking her profusely, before racing to her mother and father, proclaiming that she was a princess.

"You truly are the perfect duchess," Samantha said quietly. "Far better than I would have been, at least."

"You would have been perfectly fine, although I must admit that I do not regret rescuing you from a marriage you wanted no part in."

"And what of yourself? Do you regret entering into it yourself?"

"I did what needed to be done."

"That was not my question. Our family was already as close to ruin as one could be, and so your refusing a proposal from a duke could not have done much further damage. You did not need to marry him, for my sake or otherwise, so I have to ask you whether or not you regret it."

Diana was unsure of how to answer.

There had been wonderful moments, of course, mostly her time in the village and enjoying her role as a duchess, but there had been times when she felt as though she were not ready, or even right for the role at all.

"Your silence suggests that you do," Samantha said quietly.

"Nothing is ever easy," Diana replied carefully, "but do I regret the choice I made to protect you? No, and I never will. But…"

"Yes?"

"Well, I will not lie to you. Sometimes I do find myself wishing that there was another way out. A way that would have saved our family without changing everything completely. I know that I shall see you often, but I will miss you endlessly, and whilst I am glad to be out of that house, I have had to leave you behind. I regret it, and I always will, and so if that is what you are asking me, then there is my answer."

Samantha was quiet for a moment. Diana wondered just how she was feeling.

"So the only reason you are glad to have done it is that you helped me. Is that what you are saying?"

"It was certainly important to me, yes. You know that I would give anything to make you happy."

"Anything?" Samantha pressed.

"Of course. What is this about?"

"It is nothing," she replied, shaking her head. "I only wished to ask you—never mind."

"Samantha, if something is amiss, you must tell me."

"It is nothing. I only wish to thank you for all that you have done for me. I know that I complain an awful lot, and it may seem as though I am ungrateful, but I assure you that I am not. I could not have gotten this far without you, and I hope you know that."

Diana knew that perfectly well, of course. Had she not taught Samantha everything she knew, the young lady would have never learned a thing. They had nobody else, and it was not as though their father could have, or even would have, done much to aid her. Their aunt had tried, but Samantha had only ever wanted Diana. That was how it had always been, and now Diana had abandoned her.

It did not matter that there was an open invitation for visits. Diana had taken her sister, who had loved her more than anything in the world, and left her behind while she ran away to be a duchess. She had not been fair, and she knew that, but she had done what she had thought best. Was that such a crime?

"You are brilliant, Sister," Diana promised. "You could be anything you set your mind to, go anywhere in the world, and I shall always love you just the same. If you do not wish to marry, then you need not concern yourself with my feelings on the matter. I will not think you ungrateful, rather I will find comfort in the knowledge that I taught you to be the person you truly are."

It was quite strange because although Samantha seemed to be comforted by that knowledge, she also seemed more troubled by it. Diana was unsure of why that was, and as she sat in silence throughout the carriage ride home, it only made things worse.

The Duke did not come to dinner that night, which did not surprise Diana. She did not wish to face him, she could not face him. Not after what he had done. Then, as she left for her bedchambers, Samantha embraced her much tighter than she had in the past.

"You will do well, Sister," Samantha promised. "I know that this all seems terribly impossible now, but you will find a way. I expect nothing less from you."

"It certainly seems difficult right now," Diana sighed into her sister's ribbons. "But you are right. We shall find a way through this, together as always, yes?"

Samantha seemed to mumble an agreement, but it did not seem completely sincere.

When Diana awoke that morning, neither the Duke nor her sister came to breakfast. It was an odd thing to happen—not the Duke's absence, that much was to be expected, but Samantha's. She was not the sort to not come to see her. She wondered if she had struggled to fall asleep the night before, and so went to her bedchambers.

She knocked, but there was no response, so she entered, hoping that she would not be chastised for it.

Samantha was not there. In her place, perched on her pillow, there was a letter, with Diana's name scribbled on it. Diana needed only a quick glance at the words before dropping it then and there and running out of the house.

She had to find Samantha, and fast.