The Lord and his Lady (Forbidden #2)

Chapter Seventeen

Dr. Luis had deemed the Duke to be improving the following day, with a smile so wide, Belinha was slightly afraid it was going to be glued like that forever.

The Duchess, too, floated around, humming songs that she didn't recognise under her breath. When Lord Beau and Lord Caldwell had been gathered and told this by the Duchess, she could almost see the pain being vacuumed out into a void no more. It was still there, clear as day for anyone to see, but it was lessened, their grim, suddenly aging faces bright with hope.

"Father will walk again?" asked Beau.

"He will soon enough," the Duchess responded with a firm nod. "I know he will."

His chin trembled. Belinha made sure not to stare, so that he wasn't caught in a vulnerable moment and made to feel worse. Lord Caldwell only inclined his head, ever so unchanged in appearance.

He dug out a small, round item connected to a chain from his breast pocket and flipped the gold lid. "It's almost time for that party. Are you and Miss Price to attend, mother?"

"Richard..."

"If so, and if I am to fit the role of confidant to Miss Price, I'm afraid I'm going to have to get dressed myself."

"I'll be there for a short while and then come back right after. We'll take an extra carriage." 

"May I come?" asked Lord Beau, perking up.

Lord Caldwell kissed his teeth. "I'm certain you told me you had matters to attend to with that friend of yours."

"I'd much rather be at that party to feast on all—" Lord Caldwell cleared his throat, "—the food, of course! I mean I've only ever heard Miss Prescott is a beautiful woman."

"Because that matters to you not?" He ruffled his younger brother's hair and inclined his head toward the ladies before making his way up the stairs.

Belinha observed the Duchess who watched him jog up the steps with her shoulders caved in. She knew that the Lord was putting up an act. Everyone but Lord Beau, most likely.

He was trying to stay strong for his family, as the oldest. Burdening the heaviest cross to bear on himself so Lord Beau nor his mother felt the worst of it.

***

The Duchess and Belinha rode in one carriage while Lord Caldwell rode in the other; when they were to come back, she would have to ride with Lord Caldwell because the Duchess would be leaving early.

A bundle of nerves tied up in the pit of Belinha's stomach, refusing to come undone. She tried to straighten her posture, and to tell herself that it was just like the other party—even though that was also a horrendous experience.

This time, she would not be alone. Lord Caldwell had proven himself to be a gentleman and a confidant she could trust. For a little while, she would use the Duchess as her shield, as well. With her beside her, no one would dare say anything.

It was afterward that she was afraid of.

The moment they walked in, her fears came to light. Stares and gasps as if they were the most scandalous family resounded in the crisp, but crowded air.

Warmth emanating from each tightly squeezed body made Belinha want to hunch over and vomit. She couldn't breathe properly in the midst of all this attention.

The Duchess squeezed her hand in between her elbow and closed her eyes, reassuringly.

It said to her clear as day: It's okay. I'm here.

That eased the knot there a little bit.

"It's the Duchess," someone whispered.

"So, she is her new lady-in-waiting! I thought that was just a silly old rumour."