Louise Allen - Least Likely To Marry A Duke

‘No doubt you are proficient at other musical instruments. The harp, perhaps? Or you sing, I have no doubt.’ The question seemed automatic, as though he took it for granted that she was merely being coy.

‘No, I play no musical instruments, Your Grace, and my singing is of the kind better heard at a distance.’

Like bagpipes—ideally with several intervening glens.

‘You are too modest, I am sure, Miss Wingate.’ He was still frowning in the direction of the maze, she noted. And finding it impossible to believe that I do not have the full set of desirable ladylike attributes . The Duke’s opinion of her must be sinking lower with every discovery about her true nature. Excellent. I will seem so very ineligible that he will not even recognise Papa’s hopes of throwing us together.

‘I do not indulge in false modesty, Your Grace. I am aware of my strengths and abilities and quite clear about my weaknesses.’ That earned her a very penetrating look. Perhaps young ladies were not supposed to discuss weaknesses. Now that she thought of it, there was a possible double entendre there. Or was she sensitive about it because her worst weakness had most definitely not been the kind of thing one discussed in polite society? ‘Shall we walk to the maze and see whether your sisters and brother have discovered the way to its heart?’

‘Most certainly.’ He offered his arm again as she stood, the frown lines between his brows relaxing as they moved to a safer topic. ‘Is it a complex pattern?’

‘Very, Your Grace.’ It was quite trying, being so comprehensively disapproved of. How difficult for him, but, of course, he could not ignore the attention due to a bishop living in the neighbourhood. Verity found a bland smile from somewhere. ‘The summer house in the centre is very charming, but it rarely receives visitors, the maze is so devious.’ She did not look up at her tower as they passed it. She doubted very much if her friends had interrupted their work to come to the windows, but they might have been distracted by the children and she had no desire to explain her ‘reading circle’ to the Duke if he saw a collection of female faces looking down at him.

‘And here is the entrance. It is a very ancient maze, Tudor, my father believes, judging by the thick trunks of the yews in the hedges. I can hear the young people and it does not sound as though they have reached the centre yet.’

‘One can normally hear them all too clearly, Miss Wingate,’ the Duke said drily. But there was a hint of affection there, a touch of amusement in the deep voice, and Verity felt a sudden, unwilling, twinge of liking.

He does love them after all , she thought. Perhaps there is a warm heart under that starchy exterior, even if it is only for his badly behaved siblings.

‘Their mama believes in a very liberal approach to child-rearing, I understand?’

‘“Each child, if left to his or her own devices and not bound by the chains of convention and artificial disciplines, will unfurl as a perfect flower.” That is a direct quote, Miss Wingate. I have yet to discover what bloom Basil is destined to be. A bramble, perhaps. Or deadly nightshade.’

‘I am sure the theory is well meant,’ Verity ventured.

Of all the dangerous ideas! Children need security and boundaries and an education that will open their eyes to the delights of the world, as well as preparing them for its pains and duties.

‘Now that, Miss Wingate, is damning with faint praise.’ This time the amusement was plain to hear.

Goodness. The man has a sense of humour. How unexpected. And how admirable that he can smile about the task he has before him. ‘I agree that it is wrong to suppress joy in a child, or to warp their natural character. The knack, I suppose, is to allow the flowers to continue blooming, but to ensure they are fitted for the soil in which they must continue to grow,’ she suggested. ‘If I might stretch the horticultural simile somewhat.’

‘Exactly that, Miss Wingate. I have three sisters and three brothers. The girls must make good marriages and the boys must find occupation suited to their rank and talents. They cannot simply run wild their entire lives. We will get there, I am certain, but to be quite frank with you, it will be an uphill road.’

‘Basil, you beast! You said you could find the centre easily and now we are lost and you have no idea at all how to get out and we will starve in here and our bleached bones will be found in a hundred years!’ The shrill voice came from just behind the nearest stretch of yew hedge.

The Duke sighed. ‘It seems I have a long way to go yet.’

‘Lady Araminta,’ Verity called. ‘Stay where you are, keep talking and your brother and I will come and find you.’ She lowered her voice and smiled up at the Duke, suddenly at ease with him. ‘I assume Lady Araminta enjoys Gothic novels.’

‘Apparently, yes. I must speak to her governess about that. Bleached bones, indeed.’ Was it her imagination or was there the smallest hint of a smile on those severe lips?

And I really ought to stop finding excuses to study his mouth. Looks are not everything. Looks are no way to judge anyone. And he means to censor innocent, if fanciful, novels, just because she is a girl.

‘Here is the entrance.’ She led the Duke under the arch of yew and into the shadows of the maze. She knew the way to reach the centre, but where had Araminta got to?

‘It is very gloomy in here.’ The voice was still close. Araminta had clearly calmed down somewhat and now she was beginning to sound peevish.

Second left—it looks wider, it would have attracted her. Now right and right again and—

‘There you are, Lady Araminta. Now, follow me and we will soon be at the centre.’

The girl beamed at her. ‘Thank you! Will, do you know the key to the maze?’

‘No. I am relying upon Miss Wingate, otherwise I would be as lost as you are.’

‘I thought you knew everything.’ The wicked look she slanted her brother made Verity want to laugh. The girl had nice, natural manners and a sense of humour that was attractive.

‘All mazes are different,’ the Duke said. ‘I know that much about them.’

They had regained the entrance and now Verity could count in her head. First, then second, then third, then second, then fourth, then fifth...

‘Help!’ That was Althea. They saw her the moment she spoke, standing with her back to them. ‘Oh, there you are.’ She turned as her sister called her name and fell in behind them with a sigh of relief. ‘Basil, the little wretch, has found the centre. He has been mocking me for five minutes at least.’

‘He’ll be sorry,’ Araminta assured her.

And four, then five, then six.

‘Here we are.’ They stepped out into a sunlit circle with a tiny thatched building in its centre.

Basil was perched on a bench on the miniature veranda, swinging his legs. ‘What took you so long?’

His sisters regarded him with loathing. ‘How did you get here so fast?’ Althea demanded.

‘Look at his knees. He crawled through the bottom of the hedges,’ his twin said. ‘You beast, that’s cheating.’

‘I got here first, that’s what counts,’ Basil said with a smirk. ‘I used my intelligence.’

‘And you appear to have ruined a pair of perfectly good pantaloons in the process,’ the Duke said sharply. ‘Besides abandoning your sisters and failing to stand up when ladies appear. The cost of the trousers will be taken from your allowance. You may now apologise to Miss Wingate for your poor manners and will escort your sisters safely back out of the maze by the conventional paths.’