Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Oh, Mr Rogers, what a delightfully humorous story.”
The man before Nora, Michael Rogers, grinned, positively preening over her compliment, cleared his throat, and sat up straighter.
“I am glad to hear that you find it entertaining, somewhat. I worry that I might bore you with the tales of my travels.” He confessed sheepishly.
“Nonsense,” Nora shook her head. “I am honored that you would choose to share the stories of your exciting and treasured moments. I could not think of a better way to spend my afternoon. I have always wanted to travel myself. My brother – Cecil – is currently on a grand tour of his own, and I will admit… I envy him more than I miss him.”
Michael smiled gently and leaned closer towards her,
“I do hope you get to fulfil your wish. You will never realize just how small the world is until you leave your home. There is nowhere near as safe or as comfortable as one’s home, but the true excitement of life lies in the great unknown that surrounds this country.
Beyond the borders, that is where a life worth living lies.
And… to me, spending time with you has been the best activity I could have dedicated an afternoon to. ”
Flustered, Nora tried to hide her smile, but almost immediately, her mind felt obligated to remind her that his sweetness fell short of the duke’s effect.
Quickly, she shook her head and subtly shifted closer, determined to keep that man out of her head. She was fortunate that her father was too busy that morning to supervise her closely, opting to stay in his study a few doors down, while Nora received suitors in the drawing room.
So far, two men had shown up bearing flowers and gifts, and she was well on her way to putting Tobias Crane behind her.
If only she could do the same with the duke.
“You flatter me, Mr Roger,” she smiled in a sultry manner. “But I fear I have not been as interesting as one would like their host to be.”
“That is quite false. You have graciously given me your time and listened to me ramble on about my travels and sights, all the while asking questions and offering riveting contributions. As I said before, I could not think of a better way to spend my time –”
The door opened suddenly, and Nora jumped, irate as she whirled around to scold the servant for interrupting. But the words died on her tongue as the duke of Ironwell walked in, regarding Nora and her suitor for a moment.
“Excuse me, Your Grace?” she seethed, glaring at him. “What do you think you are doing? You cannot just walk in here as though this is your house!”
Godric did not respond. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t staring at her, but rather at Mr Rogers, because after a few seconds of the chill silence, the man scooted away from her, leaving a respectable distance between them.
That seemed to satisfy the duke, and he said, “I apologize for my late arrival. I am here now, you may continue.”
And then he walked over to the other side of the room and settled down in a chair, his gaze fixed on them.
“L-Late arrival? You were not invited!” Nora sputtered.
“And that was why I was late,” Godric replied easily, with the same casual tone he used all the time.
“You do not even need to be here –”
“That is not true, Miss Nora. One might say that my presence is quite crucial for your intentions for the day, in fact. We have had this conversation far too many times. Do you not tire of it? Would you like us to introduce your suitor to the nature of this conversation as well?” the duke questioned, calling out for whoever had knocked at the door while he had been speaking to enter.
A maid came in with a silver platter, carrying a pot of fresh tea that she served to the duke, bowing as he dismissed her, intending to make the tea himself.
She watched him put a cup together, his demeanor calm and collected, unlike the man who had pulled her flush against him and licked into her –
Nora cleared her throat and shifted her gaze back to the one man who mattered in that moment, determined to surpass the duke’s ploy to get under her skin.
“Forgive the interruption, Mr Rogers. His Grace has a rather… interesting sense of humor, along with a protective streak he picked up from my brother like a vice.” Nora said with an innocent smile.
“I do not mind,” Michael assured with a friendly nod.
“There is nothing you could do, even if you found any faults with my actions. I am here to stay.” Godric stated, his tone light as though he were giving his thoughts about the day’s weather.
Nora’s cheeks filled with heat as she turned back to Michael with an incredulous look, only to find her suitor looking somewhat nervous. She gave the duke one last withering look before turning to her guest, ready to evoke her charm.
“Tell me more about your trip to Greece. That sounds like such a lovely place. What was it like?” Nora asked, her voice light and interested.
Michael prepared another possibly long tale that would mostly be about the scenery and how much he wished he had been able to capture its beauty on a canvas with paint.
As he launched into his regrets over letting his father convince him to abandon his interest in art, Nora felt her attention sway in the duke’s direction.
She could hear the light ‘clink’ as his teaspoon hit the rim of his teacup after he stirred his tea, and from the corner of her eye, she could see his perfect form observing her calmly. And it infuriated her to no end.
His eyes bore none of those flames they had had carried that night as he had approached her like a predator stalking its prey. Gone was the tense heat that pulsed within them. All that was left was Nora’s confusion and disbelief over what had transpired.
And yet here he was, acting as though nothing at all had transpired between them. He looked at her without any hint of emotion to betray that anything had taken place between them, whereas she could feel herself coming apart at the seams.
“The people are simply some of the most hospitable I’ve ever met,” Michael said with a fond smile. “Their kindness moved me to tears a few times –”
“Are you certain it was their kindness? Not her technique?”
Nora’s head snapped in the duke’s direction, glaring at him for interjecting.
“What does that mean?” she questioned, irritated to find him staring down at his tea as though it were the most fascinating thing in the room.
He glanced up at her, then slid his gaze sideways to Michael, who had fallen silent since the duke’s interjection.
“I’m just curious. Your stories have been fanciful and glamorous at best, but they lack any true substance.
Your experiences seem rather… bland, almost like they are simply things visitors should expect to witness or do, simply because it is a likely scenario.
So, either you spend a lot of time curating such actions, or you have been doing something else during those trips, and you are formulating such basic stories to regale ladies who are unfortunate enough to cross paths with you.
The latter is likely, because they are least likely to ask any questions, but I know enough from my own travels that Greece is not known for its waterfalls.
Yet, you have mentioned it seven times, which tells me you spent a lot of time doing something you cannot discuss so easily with Miss Nora, and you wish to use a different detail to fill the void.
” Godric explained, all the while making himself another cup of tea.
Nora snorted, turning to Michael to apologize for the duke’s rude behavior, but when she turned to face him, she noticed he had turned pale, with a grim expression.
“Mr Rogers?” she called out in concern.
“Now, will you tell her or shall I?” the duke asked, his voice cooly cutting through the tense air in the room.
Nora ignored him, looking to Michael to demand that the duke make himself a nuisance elsewhere. But he stood up suddenly, keeping his eyes low as he stuttered,
“My apologies, M-Miss Nora. I seem to have forgotten a rather important engagement that cannot be postponed. I must take my leave now.”
Nora laughed incredulously. “Surely you jest. You said that you had nothing else –”
“I forgot. I must leave now.” Michael stated quickly, bowing slightly. “Forgive my abrupt departure.”
Before Nora could understand what was happening, Mr Rogers turned around and left the room quickly. Nora gaped at his sudden departure, confused by what had just happened.
She turned to the duke, knowing that his presence and words had something to do with Mr Rogers fleeing suddenly, but she did not want to give him the chance to rile her up even more. With a deep, steadying breath, she called out for the steward stationed outside the door.
Once he had come in, she instructed, “You may send in the next visitor.”
The steward nodded and stepped back, allowing the next suitor to walk into the drawing room.
“Good morning, Miss Nora. You look as radiant as the morning sun,” Lord Carter, Baron of Bodell, bowed with a smile, before he held out a bouquet of flowers to her.
“Good morning, Lord Carter. How lovely of you to visit and bring such a beautiful gift,” Nora greeted with a curtsey, collecting the flowers from him.
He spared a glance in the direction of the duke, but seemed otherwise unperturbed by Godric’s presence.
The conversation flowed smoothly between them, and Nora felt herself relax, assuming that perhaps the duke knew he could not ruin every attempt of hers to find a good match.
But it seemed as though she was yet to understand that the duke had a mission he was determined to fulfil.
Because barely fifteen minutes after Nora and the baron had settled down, the duke interrupted Nora’s tale of her summers with her sister’s family.
“Lord Carter, tell me something – do you still keep your collection?”
The baron turned to the duke sharply. “Who on earth told you about that?”