Chapter 11
Eleven
Isabelle traveled through the halls as fast as she could, her skirts hiked up and her corsets far too tight for her liking. It felt impossible to breathe and the walls were closing in around her.
She ran faster as the sound of her own name echoed through the grand house behind her. Maids stepped out of her way as she ran to the glass doors that led to the sprawling garden.
Though the rain was still pouring down, she pushed the doors open and ran outside. Mud sloshed up her ankles, staining the hem of her dress. She was certain that the Dowager Duchess would admonish her for it, but that was a matter for another time.
“Isabelle, wait!” the soft voice called above the roar of the rain.
She didn’t slow. If anything, she only ran faster across the cobblestones that lined paths through the garden. She followed the winding spirals until she came out on the other side.
A lake sat in front of her, a little dock on the east side with a boat rocking beside it. She paused to take deep breaths, her hands on her hips as she tried to open her lungs as wide as possible. Her breath came in ragged inhales as she stared up at the gray clouds.
Thunder boomed in the distance, but she cared very little about it. Instead, she stood there allowing the rain to soak her to the bone before she walked down to the dock and sat on the edge. Her feet dangled just above the water as the falling rain created countless ripples on the surface.
“Did you not hear me calling for you?” Victoria asked as she sat beside Isabelle. “I know my brother is a brute, but surely you are not allowing what he has said to bother you.”
“Only a touch.” Isabelle gave her a small smile as she reached up and removed the pins from her hair.
“I should think that there is extraordinarily little to be done about your brother, but that is the first conversation I have truly enjoyed with a man since I arrived in England, and he was quick to ruin it. I cannot guess at what he means by doing this.”
“You appeared ready for Lord Milton to court you. Perhaps Felix took offense to that.”
Isabelle let out a sharp laugh, looking around at the lush greenery as the rain slowed. “Duke Windham no more cares for me than he cares for a mouse. I am nothing but an inconvenience who steals resources from him. He would just as soon see me gone as he would see me married.”
Victoria took off her gloves and tucked them into her pocket. “I think you underestimate my brother’s thoughts of you. I have known him a long time, and while he may not be the most pleasant person in the world, I do think he cares for you to some degree.”
“To the degree of which my father’s money will save his estate.” Isabelle sighed, some of the tension slipping from her shoulders. “I am not a fool, Victoria. I know what Duke Windham stands to gain if I am married.”
“And you do not wish to be married.” Victoria swung her legs. “Would it be so terrible to be married to such a man as Lord Milton?”
“I suspect not, but I have no interest in him. He may entertain me, but he lies to procure amusement and approval. I would rather have a man who spoke to me plainly that one who will do what he thinks he must to placate me.”
Victoria grabbed one of the reeds growing beside her and broke it from its stem, dragging the brown end through the water below. “Perhaps you and Felix could be married.”
Isabelle nearly fell in the water as she spun to look at her friend. “You cannot be serious. He is the last man on earth I would ever marry. While I can respect that the duke is your brother, he is abhorrent.”
“I take no offense, but you two are far more alike than either of you are willing to see. I would think that you would make a fine match if you were both willing to take a moment to set aside your stubborn natures.”
“His stubborn nature is only one of a great many things that deter me from your brother.”
Isabelle shuddered at the thought of spending an eternity with Duke Windham. He may have always been a kind man to his sisters, but he knew exactly how to get beneath her skin. He irritated her like no other, and his desire to marry her off only worked against him in winning her favor.
She refused to be married to the likes of him. She would rather marry Lord Townshend and spend the day being looked down upon than sacrifice her freedom to a man like Duke Windham.
“Victoria, go inside,” Duke Windham said, his voice coming from behind them as the dock vibrated with his heavy steps. “I must speak to Miss Alden alone.”
Victoria got to her feet. “Do not be too harsh, brother.”
“Go.”
Isabelle stood and turned to look at him, slipping the pins from her hair into her pocket.
His eyes flashed with anger and his hands were curled into fists at his side.
There was something about the way his wet hair clung to his head that made him only marginally more handsome than he was when he was dry.
However, his appealing appearance did not make up for his crotchety personality.
“You did not have to chase me down here, Duke Windham.”
“Enough!” His voice boomed but she held steady, not flinching as he approached her. “You have made a fool of yourself.”
“I fail to see how that matters. Lord Milton does not wish to marry. What would the need be in me making myself appear as a desirable candidate around him?” Isabelle spit the words out as she crossed her arms. “I was having a perfectly lovely conversation, but you had to stick your nose where it did not belong.”
“I am responsible for you. My nose shall belong wherever I deign to put it,” he said, his tone cold and his words steady as he stopped only a few inches from her. “You will go back in there and you will apologize for the show you have put on.”
“I will do no such thing. I excused myself and acted properly as I left. You cannot make demands against what I do out of the sight of others.”
“Must you always be so defiant?”
Isabelle scoffed. “Must you always be so demeaning?”
Heat radiated off his body in waves as he leaned closer to her. “You will stop receiving my disparaging attitude when you begin to act like a lady and not a petulant child.”
“I have not yet behaved like a child, but if you wish me to do so, then I would be more than happy to oblige you.” Isabelle stood straighter, glaring at him, her lips pressing together in a thin line.
“Shall I stomp my foot? Demand candy? Perhaps you would like to send me to my room without supper.”
“Your room sounds like where you should be right now, even if I have to toss you over my shoulder and take you there myself!”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
His eyes narrowed and he took another step forward, stealing the very air from her lungs. “I would dare.”
“Cad.” She brushed past him, heading for the house. “I shall be in the study. Lord Milton has given me free reign over his books, and I intend to use it while I am here.”
Isabelle stalked away from him, her body vibrating with anger. Her hands fell to her sides and the thought of turning back and throttling the duke appealed to her more than ever. He had insulted her, yet he was the one who was allowed to be offended?
According to him I am both a wild animal and not beautiful.
Though she wasn’t vain, she was aware of the heads that turned when she was at social events. Attracting men wasn’t unusual for her. Perhaps it was time that the duke learned what she was truly capable of.
If he wanted to find her a husband, then she would do a stellar job of reeling in the men, making the duke hopeful, and then sending the men away.
Game on, Duke Windham.
Isabelle laughed, brushing her hand against Lord Milton’s chest as they walked down to the lake she had been at the previous evening. “If you keep insisting that you are capable of fighting a bear, I shall find one for you before the day is out.”
Lord Milton gave her a roguish smile, but if it was designed to send her heart racing, he was sorely mistaken. Instead, she felt only a kinship with the man. There was no rush of emotion that came with infatuation.
He gestured to the picnic blanket spread on the dock. “I thought it would be nice to have lunch here, but if you wish to find me a bear, then perhaps we had better take the food and go.”
“I dare say the fruit and cheese would be good, but a chicken leg is rather difficult to eat while climbing trees and searching for bears.”
Felix sighed behind them. “She is merely jesting, Milton. She does not climb trees.”
She shot the Duke a withering look over her shoulder. “His Grace is unaware of what I do as he has not taken a moment to investigate my interests.”
Milton helped her sit on the blanket, waiting until she had tucked her legs to the side and spread out her skirts before sitting. He took a seat beside her and opened the basket that had been prepared that morning with all of Isabelle’s favorite foods.
He took the chicken legs and laid them out on a plate. “Do you climb trees often in America?”
“Not often.” Isabelle smiled as he revealed a bowl of fresh berries. She took a couple and popped them into her mouth. “I have little time for climbing when I spend most of it drawing and riding.”
“You ride?”
Out of the corner of her eye she observed Windham moving about. “Yes, though it is not sidesaddle like the women ride here. I think I would find that rather restrictive. After all, how are you supposed to complete jumps if your legs are stuck on one side.”
The sigh of exasperation came from behind her. “Young ladies do not spend their time jumping horses.”
Isabelle smirked, looking at Lord Milton as though Felix hadn’t commented. “And these blas—”
“Miss Alden!” Windham’s tone was sharp, cutting her off before she even had the chance to cuss. In that moment she would have liked to see the expression on his face if she had sworn. He would likely have imploded on the spot.
“As I was saying,” Isabelle continued, “women in American do not wear gloves very often. They are rather finnicky things that often get in the way.”
“If you do not like them, then pass them here. I shall keep them safe in my pocket until you return to the house and must once more pretend to be a proper young lady.” Lord Milton gave her a mischievous wink as she took off her gloves and handed them over.
Windham looked as if he was going to have a meltdown. He paced to one side of them, close enough to still hear their conversation but just far enough to give them an illusion of privacy. Isabelle fought the urge to look at him again as she turned her full attention to Lord Milton.
He picked some of the berries out of the bowl and tossed them in the air before catching them in his mouth. “Tell me more about your opinions.”
“Well, I think it would be rather ideal if women were permitted—”
“Windham, a moment,” another voice said, cutting into the conversation. Isabelle looked over her shoulder to see one of the servants approaching.
Lord Milton rose to his feet. “Excuse me a moment, Miss Alden.”
“Of course.”
He strode over to Windham and the servant, the three of them speaking in hushed tones.
While they whispered, Isabelle got to her own feet and walked to the edge of the dock.
She took off her shoes, already giddy with the idea of her stockinged feet in the water and how it would send Windham through the roof.
She set the shoes to the side before sitting down. As she dangled her legs down further than she had the night before, the cool water met her toes. With a sigh, she tipped her head back and looked at the fat white clouds drifting across the sky.
Dark gray clouds hovered ominously on the horizon.
Isabelle groaned and wished that the clouds would dissipate.
She was tired of being in a country where the rain was ever-present.
She thought that the weather would be nice, at least in the summer, but the sky seemed to believe that a continuous barrage of water would be better.
Isabelle looked over her shoulder as Lord Milton approached. She waved to him with a broad smile. “The water is lovely!”
Windham’s face turned a dark shade of red. “Miss Alden.”
“Your Grace,” she said, using the same stern tone that he had used on her. “You should also dip your toes into the water. Perhaps it might relax you.”
Lord Milton sat beside her, his face devoid of all amusement. “I would be in a far better mood if our driver was not ill.”
“I thought the carriage wheel was the issue this morning?” Isabelle asked, her eyebrows pulling together. “Now the poor driver has also become unwell?”
“Yes.” Lord Milton didn’t put his feet in the water, but some of the tension started to relax from his body. “Must you always be so outspoken?”
Isabelle shrugged, turned her face to meet Felix’s stare and grinned sardonically. “When it benefits me. I find that bluntness is a good way to weed out the suitors who only wish to marry me for my—”
“Miss Alden!” Felix scolded. For a moment, he thought about shoving her in the lake and ending the day. That would certainly cease the torment she was putting him through.