Chapter 2
Two
Rarely did Violet visit the orphanage two days in a row. Not because she did not want to, but because she simply did not have the time.
Her life was one of constant worry and stress, always trying to keep her head above water, and always looking to the future as she searched for a way out of the constraints that had ruined her life.
That was why she loved the orphanage so much. It was the one place where she was able to forget about her troubles and focus on the present. There, the children were who mattered, and she gave them all of her attention.
Also, it felt good to be able to help for once. Even if she could only do so much at the orphanage, it felt as if every little thing she did truly made a difference.
As luck had it, she had a spare day, so she found herself at the orphanage bright and early. She walked through the front doors, searching for Lucy, who she knew would be thrilled to see her, only to balk in surprise at what she found instead.
It was the duke! She had chosen to go to the orphanage two days in a row, and so, it seemed, had he. Unlike yesterday, however, when he simply walked the vast space and observed the children, today it looked as if he was taking an active interest in their lives.
“I am as shocked as you.” Miss Wilks said as she stood beside her.
“What is he doing here?”
She shrugged. “He says that he wants to help.”
“Help?” Violet snorted. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”
Miss Wilks eyed her with sadness. “I know that you have your doubts, Violet, and I know the reasons. But this is a good thing for the children.”
Violet grimaced with shame. “You are right, Miss Wilks. This is a good thing. And I promise that today I will do my best not to make things worse.”
Despite Miss Wilks’ assurances, and despite the appearance that the duke meant well, Violet still struggled to believe it. In fact, she did not want to.
Her reasons for such distrust were also justified, or so she believed.
As a young girl, Violet had lived in a happy home with a father who loved her and a younger sister whom she adored.
They were of the gentry, not from extreme wealth, but enough that they had never wanted for anything.
Sadly, her father was a kind man, the type who trusted without question, and it was that level of trust that led him and his family into poverty.
He simply could not say no, nor could he perceive when he was being lied to.
Time and again, people would come to him with requests for loans, or with promises of investments sure to make everyone rich.
And time and again, he believed them. He was always happy to open his purse, and never begrudged them when their promises failed.
He died when Violet was twenty and one. That had been three years ago, and upon his death, she had learned that her father’s fortunes had dwindled into obscurity, leaving her and her sister in a state of destitution.
Every day since then, Violet had done all that she could to save her and her sister from poverty.
She worked odd jobs. She sold off everything their family owned.
She even borrowed money, putting her and her sister in further debt!
Nothing ever worked, and every day, things took a turn for the worse.
None of this was the duke’s fault, but that mattered little. In Violet’s eyes, he was the same as all those men who had tricked her father, because all that he and others like him cared about was themselves.
“I am going to find Lucy,” she told Miss Wilks, purposefully walking in the opposite direction of where the duke sat with some children.
“I will find you if I need anything,” Miss Wilks said.
The morning was a long and awkward one, not to mention strange.
Violet spent it with Lucy, doing her best to keep them both away from the duke. If he wanted to help, that was wonderful, but Violet would not praise him as he likely wished.
However, as the morning stretched on, Violet noticed more and more often that the duke was watching her… No, not her. It was always Lucy whom he observed. No matter where they went or where they stood, his curious, sad eyes found them.
When Lucy excused herself to go to the washroom, Violet decided that she’d had enough. Ordinarily, she would help the little girl, but she took the excuse as a chance to confront the duke and warn him off whatever he was plotting.
He must be plotting something!
“What is it that you think you are doing here, Your Grace?” she demanded of him.
The duke stood over a circle of young boys, watching as they played cards amongst themselves. He did not join in, but he seemed truly interested in them, as if they were the center of all things.
“Excuse me?” The duke turned and frowned at her.
“I said, what is it that you think you are doing here, Your Grace?” She clasped her hands tightly before her.
He tilted his head, amusement passing behind his gray eyes. “I believe I am watching a card game, although I am a little confused by the rules.”
“No, not that,” she said sharply. “Here. Why are you here? And do not lie to me, Your Grace. I am not such a fool that you might think.”
“Ought I not to be here?” he asked, not at all put out by her rancor. “I have spent a lot of money on this orphanage. Should I not be allowed to see how it is spent?”
“So, that is your game. You are trying to decide if these children are worth the cost? And what happens if you decide they are not? No doubt you will go home to your large manor, you will pour yourself an expensive glass of brandy, and you will not think about them again.”
“Have I done something to offend you… it is Miss Beaumont, no?”
“Not yet.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “But I know gentlemen of your character well enough to know that it is only a matter of time.”
If Violet had not been feeling so irate, she might have stopped to question what she was doing.
The duke stood almost a foot taller than her. He was twice as wide. And while he did not appear angry, that did not mean he wasn’t intimidating. There was a power that emanated from him—the type common in men used to getting what they wanted. Such a power ought to have had her reeling backwards.
Funnily, it only made Violet angrier.
The duke, however, continued to appear both amused and curious. Then, he looked down at her legs, and he frowned. “You are alone.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your little friend, Lucy…” He swept his gaze around the warehouse. “Where has she gotten off to? You have been together all day. The two of you are usually attached at the hip.”
“And that is another thing.” She put her hands on her hips. “Why do you continue to look at her? I have seen you watching her all day. What do you want?”
The duke’s eyes turned sad again, and his gaze became distant. For a moment, it was as if he had forgotten where he was and who he was speaking to. “She… reminds me of someone…” A smile touched his lips, one that was just as sad as his eyes.
“She does?” Violet blinked. “Who?”
The duke shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. Then, he raised one eyebrow at her. “I thought you might be pleased to see me here. Miss Wilks certainly is. She knows, as well as I, that children such as these need security and safety. I can offer them that.”
“That is where you are wrong,” she huffed. “What they need is affection. Love and someone to care for them.”
“But how can they have that without the other?” he fired back.
Violet opened her mouth to argue… but no words came to pass. Frustratingly, the duke was right! It was all well and good to care for and love someone, but if you could not protect them and ensure that they were safe, then what was the point?
“Your Grace!” Miss Wilks hurried toward them. “I am free for that meeting now, if you are?” Miss Wilks came over to them, saw the look on Violet’s face, and widened her eyes.
Violet shrank back, suddenly embarrassed and guilty.
The duke studied Violet for a moment longer, with a smirk on his lips and something behind his eyes that she could not read. “I am, Miss Wilks. Let us be about it.”
He shook his head, turned, and followed Miss Wilks across the warehouse to her office.
Violet watched him go. She tried to glare. She tried to remind herself who he was and what he stood for. But the more she tried, the more she was forced to admit that nothing that the duke had said or done confirmed what she suspected of him.
Still, deep down, she knew that she was right. She had to be!
“It is worse than I feared,” Miss Wilks sighed with exasperation as she sat down at her desk. “So much worse.”
“Oh?” Rhys Langford, the Duke of Ashmere, raised a questioning eyebrow as he sat across from Miss Wilks. “How so?”
“You remember what we spoke of yesterday?” the elderly carer said, pouting as she let the sadness pour from her. “Concerning the future of this orphanage.”
“I do,” Rhys said. “And as I told you, if money is a problem…”
“As I mentioned… if only it were that simple,” Miss Wilks said, and then she sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“It is this entire place…” She gestured to the office and the warehouse in general.
“It is falling apart. I fear that no amount of money will fix it. And that is not to mention the lack of help available, our diminished resources…” She sniffed again. “I fear the worst is coming.”
Rhys sat forward. “And what is the worst, exactly?”
“Is it not obvious? That we will have to close the orphanage entirely.”
The words were expected, but that did not mean they hit Rhys with any less intensity.
He was a man who liked to show strength when he could, and who valued how others saw him, and what their opinions were.
He was always the responsible one, always the one who other people relied on, and he believed it imperative that he present himself with an air of calm.
Nevertheless, hearing Miss Wilks’ foretelling of doom saw him reel back, wincing with sadness, his shoulders slumping and his posture shrinking.
“Are you certain?” he asked her, his voice wavering.