Chapter Twenty-One
It had taken every bit of strength Duke had had to pull away when Eve had taken his hand. He would miss that simple touch. But reality had met him here on his very first night at Fairfield. He’d imagined that if he made his home here, he would have control over when and how often he saw his parents. He would be afforded some peace and a refuge from the Seymour family feud. But his parents had descended on Fairfield without invitation and without warning. The feud was erupting anew, and there was no preventing it. He might manage to claim some time away, but there would be no actual escape. Ever. And he could offer no actual peace to any lady who threw her lot in with his.
There was no point in permitting his and Eve’s connection to grow and deepen. It would be cruel, in fact, to do so.
“M. Fortier has climbed back out of the carriage,” Artemis said.
Everyone leaned closer to the windows, watching. Duke could only just make out the edge of the carriage. Moments later, the horses were set in motion, and the carriage pulled away, not toward the stables but back down the drive.
“Mme Dupuis was still inside,” Eve said. “Where do you suppose she’s going?”
“I haven’t the first idea,” Nia answered.
“Clearly, the Fortiers are not strangers to Lisette,” Artemis said as she stepped away from the window, her expression one of contemplation. The rest of the group wandered away from the windows as well.
“They are all French,” Daria said.
Duke was near enough to Eve to hear Nia whisper to her, “I think I’d best go lie down. I’m suddenly feeling awful.”
Eve looked at him, and he saw worry in those expressive eyes. He couldn’t not help, but he also didn’t want to see her hurt in the end. Somehow, he would find a way over the coming weeks to toe that line.
He set a hand under one of Nia’s elbows, with Eve wrapping her arm around Nia’s waist. All the Huntresses were watching. The Pack looked no less concerned.
“I simply need to lie down,” Nia said, “mostly owing to the horror of discovering that Toss is an unrepentant cheat at short answer.”
The bit of humor seemed to set everyone’s concerns at ease. Everyone except Eve.
It’s not your place to comfort her. She has difficulties enough without pulling her into yours.
As if to reinforce his self-chastisement, Grandmother’s voice reached them as they passed through the doors and into the corridor.
“Nowhere to be seen,” she grumbled far too loudly. “And from all I can discover, the newest arrival has not even been shown to her bedchamber. Penelope ought to know better than this.”
Grandmother, Father, and Mother were making their way toward the drawing room.
“Two friends of hers arrived,” Father said. “As always, her own enjoyment is all Penelope can think of.”
In the next instant, their eyes settled on Duke and the O’Doyle sisters. He wished he could depend on his family to be gracious.
“I thought all the young people were in the drawing room,” Mother said, eyeing the sisters with a hint of disapproval.
“They are, Mother.”
Before he could say more, Father spoke over him. “And you have abandoned your friends? That is not like you, Dubhán.”
“I am assisting the Misses O’Doyle.” He attempted to continue walking, but his family was making a very sufficient blockade.
“I can guess which of the sisters has imposed upon you,” Grandmother said. Clearly speaking to his parents but studying Eve with a disapproving air, she said, “The eldest Miss O’Doyle was nowhere to be seen while we were attempting to survive at that horrid inn. Dubhán worked ceaselessly. Miss Nia must have climbed the stairs dozens and dozens of times. But where was Miss O’Doyle?”
Small splotches of color splashed Eve’s cheeks, a blush of embarrassment, if Duke had ever seen one.
“I told you, Grandmother, that Miss O’Doyle worked very hard, simply not in a capacity that you saw.”
Grandmother was unappeased. “She never looked in on me, never offered me a good morning. She never even passed the door to the room I was in. I watched; I would have seen her.”
“May I please be permitted to continue helping my sister to our room?” Eve sounded dispirited. “She is not feeling well.”
“Little wonder, after working so hard and with so little help at that inn,” Father said.
Duke slipped his hand away from Nia’s elbow. “Best keep going,” he said to the sisters. “This might continue on for some time.”
They took the escape offered and moved around their confronters.
“Penelope really ought to be the one assisting her guests, Dubhán,” Mother said. “It shouldn’t fall to you.”
“When we find her,” Grandmother said firmly, “we will tell her. Come along, Silvia. We will sniff her out.”
When they walked away, Duke and Father alone stood in the corridor. The complaints and demands for appeasement would begin shortly. They always did.
But Lisette turned the corner and came into view, walking in their direction. Perhaps Duke had found an escape.
In French, knowing Father would feel quite proud of the education he had provided his son, Duke greeted her. “Welcome, Miss Beaulieu. The Huntresses and the Pack are most anxious to have you with us again.”
In her usual quiet and delicate way, Lisette answered in her native tongue as well. “Thank you, Mr. Seymour. I am eager to be with them as well.”
He motioned her toward the drawing room and, under the pretense of accompanying her, left his father behind.
The Huntresses rushed to the door the moment Lisette appeared there. If she’d harbored any doubts as to her importance to her friends, they would have instantly vanished. She was pulled into one embrace after another. There were even a few tears of joy.
“I am attempting not to be jealous,” Artemis said, “but the Fortiers being permitted to greet you first nearly undid my ability to be civil.”
“I did not know they would be here.” A hint of emotion touched Lisette’s words.
“Are they still here?” Scott asked.
Lisette looked over at him, wariness written all over her face. “They are.” Duke wasn’t sure any two syllables spoken in English had ever been so obviously French. “But, s’il vous pla?t , do not ask them questions about...” She didn’t seem to know how to finish her request without, apparently, giving away the very thing she did not wish to be brought up.
“I had only hoped to thank them,” Scott said. “Their kind generosity allowed Gillian and I to marry, and we don’t even know them.”
“They are the very best of people,” Lisette said.
“When I first met them,” Daria said, “they were kind and amiable. Once they knew I was a Huntress, they were inarguably excited to meet me. I never could sort out what difference that made.”
“I think they are pleased that I have friends.” Poor Lisette looked embarrassed. “They care a lot about me.”
“Because you are French?” Daria guessed.
Lisette smiled but not in a way that indicated she was laughing at her friend. “Because I am their niece.”
And with that simple declaration, a great many bits of information began to make sense. Lisette and the Fortiers were family. No matter that Duke’s family argued, they did, on some level, care what happened to each other. They’d all worried over Colm while he’d been at war. Duke had received letters from his aunt and uncle and grandmother whilst away at school.
The Huntresses pulled Lisette entirely among themselves, diving directly into the task of catching up on all that had happened to each of them. The Pack had always been close as well. The flat they’d shared at Cambridge had been filled with laughter and support and camaraderie. And no matter if he did secure a place with his aunt and uncle or had to spend his time in London at his parents’ London residence, he fully expected to enjoy those parts of the Season when this group of friends were all together.
Except Eve.
She was going to lose these precious moments with them.
And he had already lost her.