Chapter 14 #2
“I fear you are shaping up to be a hopeless student, Your Grace,” Nora sighed, her tone saccharine. “Perhaps it would be best for you to simply stay out of sight, like some horrific creature condemned to the walls of his tower.”
“Perhaps,” Godric nodded, lowering his eyes to meet hers. “But I fear that without me present, you would get yourself into worse trouble than you can imagine. And I simply cannot bear that possibility.”
He faced the hosts again and nodded at them. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”
Then he walked away, leaving Nora seething.
Swiftly, she followed him as he walked right into a gaggle of young women who were expressing their awe over his presence.
“I was hoping that you might attend more balls, Your Grace. It would be a delight to dance with you,” one young lady expressed shyly.
“Well, as flattering as that is –”
“He dances worse than a newborn deer,” Nora cut the duke off.
“You would expect that all the etiquette lessons he had been given would have granted him with some semblance of the skill, but he’s a rather disappointing dance partner.
I watched him step on my friend’s foot at a soiree a few days ago and I felt blessed to have avoided his invitation to dance. ”
The ladies stared at her in disbelief while Godric simply shrugged.
“It is rather ironic then, isn’t it, Miss Nora? Despite my apparent hopelessness, you have volunteered to assist me in improving to at least a decent capacity.”
Then he gave the ladies a look Nora could only describe as mix of solemn and earnest,
“She is truly a saint, when she’s not attempting to cause unimaginable chaos with her pianoforte playing. My tutoring can only do so much when one has questionable posture.”
“I have excellent posture,” Nora stated defensively.
“There is no same in admitting that you are not as well-versed in an area as you would like,” Godric told her, his tone placating.
“I am sure we all have many skills we would like to give ourselves some grace to improve on. Is that not what makes humanity so sacred? Giving ourselves the much-needed grace to grow and improve?”
Nora could not believe what she was hearing. He sounded so utterly ridiculous, so… unlike himself. A glance at the ladies told her that they were not even concerned with her presence, their gazes fixed on him.
“That was a very unique perspective, Your Grace. You have a very kind heart and an open mind.” Another lady stated.
“Yet his emotions are as stunted as a tree consistently cut down before it can hope to reach its full height. Do not expect him to show much more of that ‘humanity’ he spoke about.” Nora scoffed.
“Well, that is because the life I have lived has allowed me to understand how difficult and cruel this world is. I might not necessarily open myself to weaknesses, but I do have enough empathy to offer others some leeway.” Godric stated his voice calm in a way that was beginning to greatly infuriate Nora.
“Oh, how noble of you!” the first lady sighed dreamily.
Nora could feel her strength sapping away, but she refused to relent. She was certainly not going to give in so soon – not until she had managed to instill some quantity of irritation in him, at least.
A viscount and his wife walked by moments later and the viscount had expressed how wonderful it was to see him up and about after so many years of his reclusion.
“Hardly. I cannot think of a singular pointless act than his reemergence into society. He has done nothing beneficial for us or even those who are living less fortunate lives. All this prancing about like a prized show horse is rather ridiculous.” Nora stated with a smile.
The couple looked aghast but then the duke simply responded,
“Would you feel better about my presence if I were sneaking about at ungodly hours to provide resources to orphans and widows? I have a charity in place for such acts. I do not believe it is necessary to make such acts into a public display of good or a hidden risk just because I would like to fulfil my sense of heroism.”
No matter what Nora tried to do, he seemed like an immovable force in the face of her words. She interrupted him, made pointed cutting comments and was rather rude and disrespectful, giggling too loudly, her gaze daring him to get angry with her.
But Godric simply remained calm, consistently meeting her rudeness with bantering, his tone leveled and gaze almost bemused.
Nora could not tell what upset her more – his nonchalance in the face of her wrath or the fact that she had been trying to deliberately anger him and nothing worked, whereas he could ruin her day with his mere appearance.
Just as she had begun to contemplate giving up, a hand gently wrapped around her wrist, and she whirled around to face the gentleman she had approached earlier in the evening.
“My apologies, Miss. You slipped away rather suddenly earlier, and I did not get a chance to properly assess if you were all right.”
“Oh,” Nora blushed. “Thank you for your concern, kind sir –”
“Lord Gabriel Thompson, Baron of Gainsbury. It is nothing at all, Miss –”
“Nora Wightman, my Lord,” she curtsied politely.
“Miss Nora,” he smiled kindly. “A lovely name for a very lovely young woman. It is strange that we have not crossed paths previously. Are you not one for such gatherings?”
Nora laughed slightly, shaking her head.
“On the contrary, I have made it a duty to attend as many events as possible. Perhaps you and I were simply destined to never cross paths.”
“How cruel of fate to deny me the pleasure of laying my eyes on such a divine beauty,” he murmured, loud enough only for her ears and she could not help but blush.
“You are too kind, my Lord. Are you certain that you make your presence known at these events? You seem like the sort of man to linger quietly in a corner, pretending to be invisible.” Nora teased.
Gabriel scoffed, looking as though her words were an affront to his very nature. Then he leaned forward to whisper,
“How on earth did you know?”
Nora couldn’t help the giggle that bubbled out of her throat, the tension of the evening melting out from beneath her skin.
“What can I say, I have a sense about these sorts of things. Do not worry, Lord Gainsbury. I won’t tell anyone your secret.”
Gabriel rested a hand against his chest and sighed. “Thank goodness. I am fortunate to have made your acquaintance tonight. Not only are you lovely, but you are magnanimous as well. I must have done a heroic deed previously to have attained such grace.”
“I can see that you excel at flattery, my Lord. Does this mean I am likely to be disappointed later?”
“Hardly,” he shook his head. “I always try to be consistent in all my dealings. Be it for work or for pleasure. And right now, I can think of nothing better to do than to talk longer with you – if you would do me the honor.”
He was admittedly charming. There was an ease that Nora could feel that had emerged with their interaction, but something about it felt almost… wrong. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if only Godric had a similar demeanor as the man before her.
As the thought of Godric slipped into her mind, her eyes darted around the room as she began to wonder where he had gotten to. She’d half expected to find him surrounded by more admirers, but strangely, he was alone.
And his eyes were already fixed on her.
But unlike his usual watchful gaze, this one bore a dangerous edge, so dark and lethal it made her skin crawl with unease. Shivering, she refocused her attention on Gabriel who was telling her of his fondness for racing and horses, and she quickly expressed that her brother had taught her to ride.
“Excellent. It is quite a thrilling affair, is it not? To be sat on those powerful beasts as you guide them down a path, with the wind in your hair as they race forward. I cannot think of anything more exciting.” He said earnestly.
Nora risked another glance at Godric, noting that he looked even more irked than he had been moments ago and when she looked back at Gabriel, she realized that he must be the reason why the duke was angry.
Perhaps he was a rake and therefore the duke disapproved. Nora paused, then she smiled.
If that was the case, she would use this man’s attention to her advantage. She had a chance to attain her goal of making Godric angry.
“I agree, my Lord. Completely.” Nora nodded sagely.
Gabriel smiled, glancing at the dance floor where people were gathering as the string quartet began a new song.
“Would you… like to join me for a dance?”
Resisting the urge to pointedly look in Godric’s direction as her lip curled upward in a smile, Nora slipped her hand into the baron’s waiting open palm.
“I would love nothing more.”