Liz Tyner - Forbidden to the Duke

‘He cares for his mana .’

‘Simply another duty.’

They walked to the carriage. Bellona could feel eyes on her. She forced herself not to search the windows behind her to see if the duke watched her departure. But she knew he did.

She adjusted her bonnet and held the reticule so tightly she could not feel the cloth, but only the handle beneath. ‘Tomorrow, when I return, I wish you to stay at my side.’

* * *

‘What did you do to the duke?’

Bellona’s oldest sister, Melina, stood in the very centre of the room. She tapped her slipper against the rug.

‘I was nice to his mana ,’ Bellona said, adjusting the quiver at her waist. ‘I am going to practise.’

‘The duke is here, demanding to see Warrington.’

‘Truly?’ Bellona asked.

‘But War is in London. So the butler said Rolleston demands to see you.’

‘I am not at home.’

‘I told the butler to tell him we will speak with him. The duke is our neighbour and War’s parents and his parents were very close.’ She frowned. ‘Bellona. You just cannot tell a duke to go away, particularly this one.’

‘Warrington does not like him.’

‘They are quite fond of each other, in the way men are.’

‘I am quite fond of the duke in much the same way,’ Bellona said darkly.

‘You can’t be. You have to pretend to like him. We are ladies—as I must remind you as often as I remind Willa.’

‘He wishes for me to move to his estate.’

Her sister’s foot stilled. ‘You are—imagining that, surely?’

Bellona shook her head. ‘He thinks I can help the duchess. His Grace told me I would be her companion. I will visit her, but that is as much as I can do.’

Melina stepped near Bellona. ‘She will see no one. It is said she is dying. How ill do you think she is?’

‘I do not know. Bones covered in black clothes, with her face peering out. I would not think she would make it through a hard winter or a heavy wash day.’ She forced her next words. ‘Almost like Mana at the end.’

Melina’s hand fluttered to her cheek. ‘You must move in with her. It is the thing Mana would want.’

‘I do not even want to visit her every day,’ Bellona said, shuddering. ‘She doesn’t have the gentle ways of Mana.’

‘You must. Besides, to live at the duke’s house...’ Melina put a hand at her waist. ‘He might have friends visit. And you might meet them. You could learn a lot. The duchess is a true duchess. She could help you. You are not as wild as you pretend. Her Grace could teach you so much if you just watch and learn.’

‘I already know how to say I am not at home .’

‘Sister. A woman. Her husband gone. Her daughter and her oldest son gone, too, and you are asked to help her and you will not. Mana would weep.’

‘I will help her. I just do not want to live in the duke’s house.’ Bellona turned to leave the room, but her sister’s quiet voice stopped her.

‘You do not like living here, either,’ Melina said.

She couldn’t tell Melina what she felt about the duke. Stone and towering and dark eyes. She remembered standing at the edge of the cliffs and looking at the ground far beneath, and knowing if she swooned she would fall—feeling brave and scared at the same time. The duke made her want to step closer and yet, if she did, the ground might crumble away. He reminded her so much of the stones she’d seen jutting from the sea and the cliffs.

‘I wish to be here with the children. And you.’ Bellona pleaded with her sister. ‘I do not want to leave the little ones.’

‘You’ll never have your own babies if you do not learn how to mix with society. A footman will not do for you and you know that. The duchess could introduce you to someone suitable.’

‘I went to the soirée. The men smelled like flowers.’

‘Pretend you are a bee. You can sting them after you’re wed. Not before.’

‘I will not pretend to be anything other than what I am.’

‘You cannot go back to the way we lived. You must go forward and the duchess could help. She could ease your way into society in a way that I cannot. They hardly accept me.’

Bellona hit her own chest with her fingertip. ‘That is where we are different. I do not want to be in society. Bonnets pull my hair. Slippers pinch and corsets squeeze. The flowery world has nothing for me.’

‘A husband helps if you want children of your own—and it is best for the child to be born within a true marriage, one with love. You know that as well as I.’

‘Even children are not worth a husband. I have a niece and two nephews. They are my babies.’

‘You are hiding. From everything. From the past and the future. The duchess needs you. You know how long the nights can be after a death and we had each other. We had the three of us, you, me and Thessa. You are just like our pateras , our father.’ Melina crossed her arms.

‘That is an evil thing to say. I am surprised your tongue does not choke you for forcing those words past it.’

‘You are like Father. Of the three of us, you are the most like him,’ her sister continued, pacing the room. ‘Even Mana said so, just not where you could hear her.’

Bellona raised her voice. ‘I am not like him.’

‘When we angered him, he would go paint.’ Melina swaggered with her shoulders as she walked. ‘When he did not want to do something, he would paint.’ She stopped and mused. ‘Did you ever notice how paint brushes are shaped almost like little arrows?’

‘You’re wrong to speak so. I practise archery. I do not live for it.’

‘Even the way you stick out your chin. Just like him.’ She jutted out her jaw in an exaggerated pose.

‘You always say that when you have no better words to fight with.’

Melina returned her stance to normal. ‘I cannot believe my own sister has no kindness in her heart for a woman with no daughters or sisters.’

Bellona raised her chin. ‘I will tell the duke I will stay a short time with his mother. It will be better than listening to you. You are the one like Father, insisting on having your way.’

‘Only when I am right.’ She examined Bellona. ‘Please arrange your hair before you see the duke.’

‘Of course.’ Bellona patted both sides of her head, achieving nothing.

‘Much better.’ Melina paused. ‘I expected you to pull a strand loose.’

‘I thought of it.’ Bellona sighed. But the duke probably wouldn’t appreciate it.

Melina reached to Bellona and pushed her youngest sister’s hair up at the sides, moving the pins around. ‘There. Now you look as well as me.’

Bellona walked past her. ‘Now you see why I do not show my face in society.’

Melina’s chuckle followed Bellona from the room out into the hallway.

When Bellona reached the sitting room, the duke’s gaze swept over her. The rock stood, unyielding.

Even with a scowl on his face, she still wanted to look at him. The thought irritated her.

‘I will return to your house,’ she said curtly.

The flicker behind his eyes—the intake of breath. She would have imagined he’d just been hit, except his face softened much the same as Warrington’s did when her sister walked into the room. The duke inclined his head in acknowledgment. ‘It will mean a lot. To the duchess.’

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