"Send the Plain One, He'll Reject Her," They Laughed — But the Duke Could Not Take His Eyes Off Her
Chapter 4
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And at the head of the table sat the Dowager Duchess: small, sharp, 70 if she was a day, wearing diamonds like other women wear a frown. She was watching all of them.The next evening, the party went out onto the long stone terrace to see the sunset. Hester lingered at the edge near the great stone urns, where no one would trouble her.The gardeners had been at work that afternoon. They had moved one of the urns to repair the balustrade, and the low flight of steps down to the lawn now opened where the urn had stood.The Duke came along the terrace alone. The spaniel had been called away by a footman, and Hester saw in one cold instant that he was walking straight towards the open steps without the slightest idea they were there.She did not shout. Her grandfather had taught her that shouting only frightens."Three steps down and to your left, Your Grace," she said quietly. "The gardeners have moved the urn."The Duke stopped dead still. His hand found the balustrade. Then he turned his head slowly towards her voice—not quite at her face, just a little to the side of it, the way her grandfather used to."Who's there?" he said, very low."Nobody of consequence, Your Grace. Miss Larkin, Lady Marchbank's niece.""The cousin." A pause. "The one in brown."She was startled. "How did you know I was wearing brown?""I didn't," he said. "I heard your aunt say it to your cousin on the stairs. She said it would make Miss Arabella look like a summer morning." Something like grim amusement crossed his face. "I have very good hearing, Miss Larkin. It's become rather necessary."They stood in silence. Below them, the others were laughing on the lawn."You're the first person in this house," the Duke said at last, "who has told me where the steps are. Everyone else simply lets me walk.""Everyone else hasn't noticed, Your Grace," said Hester."And you have?" he said."My grandfather was blind for the last 20 years of his life," Hester said gently. "I was his eyes. One doesn't forget the signs."For a long moment, the Duke of Halsingham said nothing at all. When he spoke again, his voice was not proud. It was something much worse. It was afraid."Miss Larkin, I must ask you to tell no one. No one at all. Not your aunt, not my mother, no one."Hester looked at him—at this great, cold, untouchable man standing on his own terrace, gripping the stone because he could not see the ground."I'll tell no one," she said. "But you can't go down those steps alone. Give me your arm."And the Duke of Halsingham, who had not taken anyone's arm in three years, gave her his.By the end of the first week, every guest at Halsingham Park had noticed the same astonishing thing: the Duke could not take his eyes off Miss Larkin.