Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nora adjusted her grip on the basket in her hand before she knocked at her brother’s door.
It was only hours ago that she had discussed with her friends over tea to get the duke to show some form of emotion, and she had already put the bet into motion. What a wonderful stroke of luck it was that by the time she returned home, her kitchen staff had prepared a fresh batch of baked goods.
Cecil was always weak to warm blueberry muffins and apple pie, and he would always beg her to bring around a fresh batch whenever the kitchen staff made some. She did not know what the duke might like, but providing him with several options seemed like a good idea.
And so, she put together a basket full of the tastiest goods she could fit inside and set down the path she knew by hand. In her heart, she vowed to do whatever it took to get some sort of expression from him.
Mr. Frederic opened the door, his face just as bemused as it had been a few days ago when she had knocked.
“Miss Nora,” he greeted with a smile.
“Mr. Frederic,” she nodded with a smile of her own.
“Might I enquire if this is to become a regular habit moving forward?”
“Why, yes. I expect it will be.”
“Very well then. Here to see the duke?”
“Yes, I am. Is he in?”
The butler nodded, standing aside. “In the drawing room downstairs. He spends an awful lot of time there. He says he prefers the lighting there. Refuses to use the study we had prepared for him ahead of time and does most of his work in that room.”
“Strange. But he is a rather odd man, so who could truly know what thoughts lie within that head of his.” Nora shrugged as she began to make her way down the hall. “Thank you, Mr. Frederic.”
“Anytime, Miss Nora.”
At the door to the drawing room, Nora inhaled deeply, urging herself not to relent. She had set out this afternoon with an objective, and she intended to fulfil it to the best of her abilities.
She brought her hand up and knocked swiftly, waiting for his response.
“Enter,” he called in a gruff plain voice she had unknowingly grown familiar with, and she turned the knob and pushed the door open.
“Miss Nora?” he raised his head, his voice holding the barest inflection of surprise. “Did you need something from your brother’s rooms?”
Nora shook her head and carried her laden basket to him.
“Not at all. I came to see you, actually.”
“Me?” he questioned, his brows coming together slightly, putting together a face Nora was not sure she could refer to as a frown. “Why?”
Nora restrained herself from rolling her eyes at his empty tone, holding up her basket.
“I’ve come to thank you. Regardless of my initial… reluctance to receive your assistance, it was truly a godsend that you were there that night. I cannot imagine what would have happened if you had not turned up when you did. Thank you very much, Your Grace.”
He waved a hand dismissively.
“It was barely anything. And in any case, it is my duty to protect you. Had I known such a treat existed, I would have handled it before he made his way to you.”
His words were ominous, and they sent a shiver down Nora’s spine at the thought of what they might mean. But instead of worrying about that, she stepped closer to the desk he was seated at.
“As a token of my gratitude, I have brought you fresh pastries, baked by my family’s cook. They are simply exquisite. Easily some of the best I have ever had.” She said, lifting her basket and placing it on the table.
His eyes dropped to the obstacle she had placed before his document and then back up to her as he stated dryly,
“I see. You did not have to do so. As I said, it really was no –”
“Did I mention that our cook studied in France for ten years? His dream was to open a pastry shop of his own after he had learned long enough under his teacher. But just as his final year of tutelage was nearly completed, his mother passed away. He had to use the money he had saved up for her funeral arrangement, rather than opening his shop. He was devastated and alone afterwards, and he did not know what to do, so he came to London looking for work. And somehow, he found himself at our door just as our former cook had been fired. Is that not a wonderful tale?”
The duke’s lips parted, and his left eye twitched. Then he pursed his lips for a moment, and then he told her,
“If you say so. Is there anything else you needed?”
Perhaps he was not the kind to get sentimental about the life story of a stranger he had never crossed paths with and could not fathom an ounce of concern about.
“I just… I thought we could have some of these together with some tea. I miss my brother dearly, and it often gets quite lonely without him at home. Please?” Nora stuttered, hoping he would not throw her out regardless.
There was a long moment of silence before he sighed and said,
“Ask for a pot of tea, then.”
Nora clapped her hands and ran to the door to flag down a servant.
A few minutes later, she found herself facing the duke once more as tea was served to them, a platter of the baked goods she had brought along taking up the center of the table.
“That is… quite a spread,” he observed, stirring honey into his tea.
Nora felt bashful for some reason and cleared her throat.
“I was not sure which you would like, so I simply put together a selection, in hopes that something might suit your tastes.”
The duke looked down at the platter and said,
“You should not have bothered. I do not particularly care for sweets.”
She felt her spirit deflate. “Oh. But… they’re not all – I did not think –”
“Clearly,” he sighed, reaching for a blueberry muffin. “But your efforts are to be commended. Next time, make inquiries before you carry out needless actions.”
It was strange. She could not tell if he was trying to be comforting or insulting, so she settled on the latter because she knew he did not care in the slightest about her feelings.
“I see. I will do that next time, then. I apologize for being a tad… thoughtless.” She paused, deciding to provoke sadness out of him through this medium.
“I have to admit, I have been rather confused since my engagement ended. I have tried to keep my spirits up and look forward in a bid to move past it, but it has been quite difficult.”
When he said nothing, she went on, “You see, I met Tobias at a flower shop. Cecil and I take flowers to our mother’s grave every month, and that day, he was too busy to accompany me.
I said I could handle such a menial task on my own, but that day, I had decided to get her two bouquets.
She loved white lilies, but I wanted something else that would brighten up her grave.
And when I got there, he was also buying flowers for a relative – living.
He saw me in a fit of indecision and suggested I pick some hydrangeas after I explained who the flowers were for.
He then told me I could pick a new kind of flower every time I wished to add an extra bouquet, because it would please my mother to receive random gifts like that.
It was one of the sweetest, kindest things anyone had ever said to me.
“I never thought I would see him again, but I met him the following month at the flower shop. This time, I was with Cecil, and Tobias expressed his interest to court me to my brother. He was… always such a gentleman. He seemed loving and thoughtful, ever mindful of me and my feelings. I thought I was in love, and when he proposed, I was overjoyed. I expected I would have been married at the end of the last season. Then I found out about his unfaithfulness, and I had to end things. It was… the hardest thing I’ve had to do. ”
Nora added a sniffle at the end of her story, hoping to seem pitiful. But when she looked up at his face, he remained unmoved, except for the frown that was more pronounced than the earlier one. It was not much, but it was a start.
She sat up straighter and leaned forward, determined to push him further into feeling sad.
“I-It reminds me of another story that devastated me! My goodness, it happened so long ago, I can scarcely remember all the details, but I am sure it will come to me as I tell you. You see… when I was a girl, there was a-a stray cat! Or was it a dog? Oh, I believe it was a puppy. A poor little thing. I’d seen it roaming around the grounds of our estate a few times, and I had begged my father to let me keep it as a pet.
He would always tell me that he would much rather put me out on the streets to live with the mutt than let it into his home.
Anyway, I used to feed it scraps of food whenever I could.
My father caught me and tried to punish me by denying me dinner, but it did not matter.
I was determined to help the sad little creature.
One afternoon, my sister and I were taking a walk, and we spotted a group of boys clamoring around something.
When we drew closer, they saw my sister and ran away, and we were able to see the poor creature.
They had been throwing stones at the little thing.
I was so devastated, I wept for days. Truly a sad, sad thing to have witnessed at the tender age of…
thirteen. Or nine. Whichever makes it sadder. ”
Nora inhaled deeply, hoping that she had managed to strike him in the heart this time. And to her credit, he was now wearing a different expression from the one he had earlier. Except that now, he was looking at her as though she had lost her mind.
“Did the dog die?” he enquired after a beat of silence.
“I – did he? I don’t think so.” She stated weakly.
“I see. You have been through quite a handful of sad events. My condolences.”
Nora’s frustration reached a fever pitch, and she had to clutch her tea cups with both hands to keep herself from flinging an éclair at his face.
“None of them are quite as sad as my current predicament, seeing as I am stuck spending my season with a block of ice. Unfeeling, emotionless, and cold.” She exclaimed in annoyance.