Seduced by the Brooding Duke Read online

  She began folding up her best dress to place in the bag when she heard a knock at the door.

  “Laura?” asked her mother, who was standing in the doorway watching her daughter. “Are you certain that this is the right decision?”

  “I don’t have a choice, Mother,” replied Laura with a strong, unwavering voice. “This must be done to avenge James’ death...and to stop ours.”

  “Laura, I’m begging you not to go,” Alice said, as she pulled her daughter into her arms. The tears welled up in her eyes.

  Laura returned her mother’s embrace. “I must go,” she whispered. “I promise I will return to you.”

  Her mother pulled away, tears falling down her cheeks. She took her apron and wiped them away before looking at her daughter and smiling. “I don’t know why you want to do this, Laura, but I don’t want to lose both my son and my daughter.” Her voice cracked.

  “You won’t, Mother, and I feel like I have to do it” replied Laura, placing her hand on Alice’s arm. “I have a plan, and I just know it will work. I am small and unintimidating. The Duke of Farnworth has nothing to fear from me. I won’t take any time at all before he is comfortable with me in his home. I will learn his schedule and get to know his habits. As soon as I know that he has fully accepted me as part of his household, it will be time to avenge James’ death.”

  Alice looked Laura in the eyes, and nodded, before lowering her head. “I’m sure you know what you are doing, Laura.”

  “I don’t, Mother,” Laura acknowledged. “But I will alter my plan to insure it is successful. I won’t rest until I know the man who murdered James pays for his terrible crime.”

  “I wish you would think about this, but I know your mind is set on it,” said Alice, as she walked out of Laura’s bedroom and closed the door behind her.

  Laura took a breath and once again looked at her earthly belongings which were laid out on the bed. She wasn’t sure how her parents were going to survive without her. Hopefully, she would only be at the Duke’s estate for a short time. Once she got the task done, she might stay for just a couple of days after, as to avoid suspicion, and then come back home.

  As she thought about the Duke, the events at the estate played through her mind. Though she believed that he was a bad man, she certainly had noticed his striking green eyes and the way his ginger hair seemed so bright in the rays of the sun.

  With most of her clothing folded and stored in the bag she intended to take with her, Laura then glanced at the large bundle sitting on the floor next to her bed. It appeared outside near the door to her home this morning, and it had Laura’s name on it. She brought it in and placed it in her room, but she didn’t have time to examine it until now.

  The bundle was cube-like in shape, and it looked like several objects bound together by a sizable cloth, and then tied with rough rope. It didn’t have any particular odor to it, nor did it seem dangerous in any way. Laura knelt next to the bundle, and she gently began to untie the rope, which held it all together.

  Laura pulled the rope away from the parcel, and then unwrapped the cloth that surrounded the contents. Inside she found several books and a brief letter. The letter, which was addressed to her, simply said “This will make your role as a governess believable.”

  Laura looked at the books, one by one, and found a book of poetry, a French grammar book, a writing primer, and a small book of arithmetic.

  For a brief moment, Laura began to panic, as surely Lady Emily was better educated than she was, but then she remembered; she had no intention of serving as a governess for the long term, and she surely had enough knowledge to pretend for a short time. Laura knew that oftentimes, a governess was alone in the evenings, which could be an opportunity for her to study from these books as to not rouse suspicion.

  Laura wrapped up all of the books into the cloth, and then used the same rope to tie up the parcel into a neat bundle. She sat the bundle on the floor of her bedroom, and then closed the bag containing her clothing. She would wear her smartest-looking dress tomorrow when she made her way to the estate and hope that it was enough to get past the steward, Mr. Grove. He surely would be interested in any new staff member, so Laura had to make sure she could play the part of the governess.

  She took one more look at her belongings, and then glanced around her bedroom. After tomorrow morning, she would be in a new place, a new bedroom, and creating a plan to not only save her family, but one that would likely change her life forever. She changed into her night dress, extinguished the candle which had brightened up her dark room, and fell into the bed for one final sleep until her normal life was all over.

  As she fell into sleep, she couldn’t help but think of the Duke.

  Chapter 6

  Alexander had woken to a dark, dreary day. It was much different than the previous one, and he could already tell, as he stared out the window, that there would certainly be a chill in the air.

  As he normally did, he sat at the table for breakfast and read through the correspondence that had been delivered by a footman. As usual, it was filled with letters, inquiries about his business, and even a wedding announcement from a friend he knew at university. The springtime was perfect for a wedding, of course, and he would have to make sure to schedule the time to attend.

  He glanced at the clock in the room, and gently lifted his teacup to signal that he was ready for one more cup before he left for his brewery office. Generally, he would only have one cup of tea before he began his work, but he thought it might be nice to meet Miss Elkins, should she arrive early, for her first day of work.

  His tea cup was immediately filled, and a new plate of toast had appeared at its side, even though he hadn’t indicated that he wanted another piece. The staff really cares for Emily and I. Hmm, where is Emily?

  “The young student hasn’t yet appeared this morning, has she?” Alexander asked the nearest footman.

  “No, Your Grace,” the footman replied.

  “She must be having some nerves about her first day with the new governess, then,” Alexander said out loud, but not to anyone in particular. Sometimes it was lonely living alone in a large house, especially when there were other people there, yet people who didn’t necessarily engage in conversation. Though he was nice to his staff, given his general brooding nature, he wouldn’t think of getting into a conversation with them about anything personal.

  Alexander sighed and took another sip of tea. He looked at the clock again, and then took another look out of the window. At this point, he was simply wasting time, so he decided that it was time that he took the walk to the brewery offices. He would meet Miss Elkins again later in the day, he was sure.

  He stood up and addressed the footman, “If Lady Emily doesn’t arrive soon, please have Sarah bring her down for breakfast. I want her to have a good start to her day.”

  “Yes, Your Grace,” the footman replied.

  Alexander placed his cloth napkin, which had been sitting on his lap during his meal, on the table, and walked out of the dining room. Another footman was waiting by the entry door as he walked in and pulled the door open so that Alexander could walk through.

  The rain was coming down slightly, so Alexander asked for a hat before he left. Though he typically wouldn’t wear a hat to the brewery since it was on his own property, he also didn’t want his hair to become messy due to the weather. It’s getting late, I really need to get to the brewery.

  Alexander stepped out into the rain, and the slight wind was cool against his skin. He deliberately looked down the road to see if he noticed anyone coming toward the large home, but the thoroughfare was uninhabited. He took a deep breath and began the short walk to the brewery, the rain falling around him as he walked.

  His walk was uneventful, and he was happy to open the door to the offices and get out of the rain. The odor of fermented malt and barley hit his nose immediately, and he felt a sense of calm wash over him. This was short-lived, however, as Bernard came bounding from his office
to the entryway.

  “I’m so happy to see you, Alexander,” Bernard said with a slight panic in his voice. “We have a slight problem…well, a big problem.”

  “What’s happening?” Alexander asked with concern.

  “The ale for the wedding order.” said Bernard. “It’s gone.”

  “What?” said Alexander. “What do you mean, gone?”

  “The barrels are gone. All of the barrels we had set aside,” said Bernard. “Unless you moved them? You came last night and moved them, right?”

  “No,” said Alexander with panic in his voice. “I did not move them. What could have happened? Did someone take them?”

  “I don’t know,” replied Bernard. “I can just tell you they are gone. When I arrived this morning, the door to the building was slightly ajar. When I walked in, I didn’t immediately notice that anything was amiss, but then I noticed that the barrels were no longer where I remembered them to be.” As he spoke, he wrung his hands nervously.

  “All right,” said Alexander, trying to remain calm. “We can deduce that someone has taken the barrels. Likely more than one person, since we know they are quite heavy when filled. The short-term solution is to immediately start making more ale. We will barely have time to do it before the wedding.”

  Bernard shook his head. “That is another problem we need to talk about.” He paused. “We are still very low on ingredients. We will not have enough to make our typical ale, which is what the order is for.”

  Alexander tried to hide his panic. Missing this order would be a disaster, and all other thoughts that had occupied his mind earlier in the morning were now very far away.

  “What can we do right at this moment, Bernard?” Alexander asked his business partner.

  “We can start boiling the water and add the ingredients we have,” replied Bernard. “It won’t make much, but we can get started.”

  “That is our best plan,” acknowledged Alexander. “As we do that, we can think of other ideas.”

  Alexander still had his hat and coat on, so the pulled them off as he walked toward his office. He heard a door close as he walked in, so he knew that Bernard had already headed down into the cellar where the kettles were ready for boiling. He placed his hat and coat on the rack standing near his desk, and then began to roll up his sleeves. He knew the brewery staff would be starting their work soon, and he wanted to make sure they were fully focused on the job at hand.

  He walked out of his office and opened the cellar door. It was then that he remembered the noises he heard in the cellar only two nights before. Was that related to the missing casks?

  As he walked down the stairs into the cellar, Alexander’s mind wandered. What if he had stopped a thief the first night, but then the same thief struck again the following night. With the other crimes happening in the area, such as the unsolved murder of the Irving boy, anything was possible.

  Alexander reached the dirt floor of the cellar, and he saw Bernard working quickly to fill the kettles they had available with water and various other ingredients. “Do you need a hand?” asked Alexander, walking toward his partner.

  “Yes, I do,” replied Bernard, as he struggled to fill the kettle with several liters of water. “Thank you.”

  Alexander helped to ease the weight of the water barrels, and helped Bernard fill the kettle. The fire underneath was beginning to get hotter, and he could feel the sweat dripping from his neck down his back.

  “Let’s get these batches started, and then we can try to come up with a plan for the rest of the inventory we need,” said Bernard in a strained voice.

  “I can’t help but think something, Bernard,” admitted Alexander. “I keep thinking that the noises I heard in the cellar the other night might have been a person and not a mouse.”

  He watched Bernard’s face change as he took in that information. “I haven’t seen any signs of trouble here, but I also didn’t see any evidence of mice when I came down here yesterday,” said Bernard.

  The worry settled into Alexander’s mind. He felt taken advantage of and angry. But he also had to focus and do all that he could to remedy this problem. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his arm, and helped Bernard lift the next kettle onto the fire to begin boiling.

  The walk toward the Duke of Farnworth’s estate was long. It wasn’t long in distance, but Laura was doing all she could to slow the amount of time it took to walk from her family’s farmhouse to the Duke’s large home. She was also carrying her bag of belongings and the bundle of books presumably left by the stranger.

  It wasn’t that she felt scared or nervous, nor was she doubting her decision to carry out the plan to both get her revenge and save her family. Laura simply knew that her life was going to change greatly, and she was holding on to every second of the life she was leaving behind for as long as possible.

  It was a gray day, and the weather matched Laura’s mood. But she had to put a smile on her face quickly, as she was meant to appear happy for her new position. She also wanted to quickly bring Lady Emily under her wing and make the young mistress like her. This would make it easier to get close enough to the Duke to eventually complete her lethal plot.

  She could see the large building before her, much larger than the cramped farmhouse she lived in with her parents. Even with James…gone…it was still a small dwelling for three people. The farm was actually quite successful, and her father was an excellent cultivator, but he had gambled away every bit of profit that came in.

  She looked up at the sky again as she approached the house and noticed that the late-morning sun was trying its best to peek through the clouds. A sunbeam made it through the mist, and she briefly felt the warmth as it hit her cheek. Perhaps this ray of sun was a good omen of things to come.

  Laura stepped up to the large door, unsure if she should knock or wait until someone noticed her presence. She didn’t have long to make a decision as a tall man pulled the door open and greeted her. “Good morning. May I help you?” he asked.

  “Yes, my name is Laura Ir…Elkins,” she said, remembering the false surname the mysterious man gave her. “I am the new governess. I am to speak with Mr. Grove.”

  “Yes,” said the man. “We have been expecting you Miss Elkins. My name is Robert Hardy, and I am the Duke of Farnworth’s butler.” He opened the door wide and motioned her inside.

  She walked into a large entry hall. It was like nothing she had ever seen before. The walls were ornately decorated and carved with beautiful designs. There were large, very detailed tapestries hanging from the impossibly high ceilings, and a coat of arms directly in the center of the far wall. She immediately felt intimidated, as she knew she didn’t belong in this type of luxury.

  Laura was brought back to reality by Mr. Hardy who said, “I will let Mr. Grove know that you have arrived.” She nodded at him, and then immediately allowed her eyes to take in the entry hall once again.

  She was shocked by the sound of a voice as she had been so engrossed in her surroundings. “Miss Elkins?” she saw a large man with a balding head standing before her. He was impeccably dressed, and nothing was out of place.

  Laura nodded. He said, “I am Mr. Grove. I am here to help you settle in.”

  “Thank you, Sir,” she said.

  “Mr. Grove is fine, Miss Elkins,” he said as he motioned for her to follow as he walked through the entry hall and into the main hall.

  If Laura thought the entry hall was extravagant, nothing would have prepared her for the main hall. There was a commanding staircase leading up to the second floor straight ahead of her. To her left, double doors were shut tight, but to her right, she could see the open doors of the dining room, and a young girl with bright ginger hair was sitting alone.

  That must be Lady Emily.

  She didn’t have a chance to see much more because Mr. Grove was now leading her up the stairs. She couldn’t believe the lush carpet under her feet as she took each step. It was, as she could imagine, what it would be like to w
alk on a cloud.

  There was way too much to see in this house, and Laura knew that she had to pay attention to the job at hand. She also had to remember how to get back to her sleeping quarters, as should couldn’t expect Mr. Grove to lead her everywhere.

  At the top of the stairs, there was a long hallway to both the left and the right, and in front of the stairs was a large, marble statue. It was pointing toward the left, and Laura was happy to see that as it would be easy for her to find her way without Mr. Grove leading the way. The pair walked in silence, passing several closed doors until they reached the end of the hallway.

  At this point, there was only one door left, and Mr. Grove reached out and turned the knob, opening the door. ‘The school room and your sleeping quarters, Miss Elkins.”

  Laura stepped inside and noted immediately that the room was much drabber than the rest of the house. There was a thin rug on the floor, and the walls ceiling were a neutral-gray color. A small table sat in the center of the room with three chairs pushed under it. A fireplace, which was not lit, was jutting out of the wall directly across from the door, and on the left wall, there was a piano and globe. A closed door was on the right.

  Mr. Grove broke the silence and said “Here is the schoolroom, Miss Elkins. I hope it is adequate for your needs. His Grace is a reasonable man and quite accommodating to his staff, so please feel free to share any concerns.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Laura replied, really not knowing if the room would really be adequate for a governess or not, and she was a bit surprised to hear that the Duke was a reasonable and accommodating man.

  “If you follow me through this door, I can show you to your sleeping quarters,” Mr. Grove continued. He opened the door and motioned for Laura to enter. She did and could see the entire room thanks to the light coming in through the expansive windows. Though it was certainly less decorative than the rest of the home, it was the most beautiful room that Laura ever had the pleasure of living in. In fact, this single room was almost as large as her entire home back at the farm.