To Capture a Duke's Heart (21 page)

Then, rising swiftly to his feet, almost as if he was suddenly uncomfortable with the admission he’d just made, he held out his hand and said dispassionately, “Come, we should stretch our legs before the start of the next act.
”

The following week Gabriel and Penny made their second public appearance, attending a performance of Handel’s
Rodelind
a at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, where their presence had been greeted with much the same level of attention and whispered speculation as it had garnered upon their visit to the theatre.  Unlike their initial outing, however, there had been no marked unpleasantness between them as they’d journeyed to the opera house, nor upon any other occasion throughout the evening.  In fact, it had been a most enjoyable outing, for she had derived nearly as much pleasure from her first visit to the opera as she had from her attendance at the theatre.

Moreover, it was her considerable enjoyment of the operatic performance that had her heading in the direction of the library the following afternoon in search of a particular book, one she’d noted upon one of her previous visits, the volume recounting the combined works of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries’ most celebrated composers.   Entering into the room a few moments later, she cast her gaze intently upon the densely stocked shelves, struggling to recall the book’s general location.  So focused was she on her search, that she failed to note the person sitting upon one of the leather wingchairs near the room’s tall bank of multi-paned windows until a slight cough alerted her to his presence.

Spinning around, Penny was surprised to see Rafael sitting near the windows, holding a small, leather-bound book within his hands.  “Oh, I beg your pardon,” she stated apologetically.  “I didn’t realize the room was occupied.  I’ll come back later,” she continued, turning back toward the door.

“No, it’s fine,” Rafael said, holding up his hand in a staying motion.  “You needn’t go.”

Penny hesitated.  “I wouldn’t wish to disturb your reading.”

“This,” Rafael glanced nonchalantly at the open book in his hands and then purposefully shut the cover, “it’s nothing of significance.  Besides, I was growing bored with it anyhow.”  He set the book onto the table next to him and rose to his feet.  “You were scanning the shelves rather intently, it seemed,” he remarked, walking toward her.  “Were you searching for something in particular?”

“I was. A book I noticed in passing during one of my previous visits,” she replied, somewhat surprised by Rafael’s congenial attitude.  For while he had displayed no overt animosity toward her since her marriage to his brother, the light, easygoing rapport they’d shared in Scotland was certainly a thing of the past. “I was trying to recall where I’d seen it.” 

“The subject?”

“Composers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.”

“Ah,” Rafael replied with a nod.  “Your search prompted by your recent visit to the opera, I would imagine?”

She smiled hesitantly.  “Well, yes, actually.”

“I take it you enjoyed the experience then?” he queried.

“Indeed.  I enjoyed it immensely,” she affirmed. 

“Handel, was it?”

“Yes, Rodelinda.”

“I believe I attended one of his operas last year, though I cannot seem to recall the name off the top of my head,” he stated with a contemplative expression. “Regrettably,” he continued in a rueful tone, “I have never developed the same appreciation for the opera that so many others seem to share.”

“That’s certainly understandable, for while I personally enjoyed it I can appreciate the particularity of the art form not being to everyone’s taste,” she responded.  “Moreover, the world would assuredly be a far less interesting place if we all shared the exact same likes and dislikes.  Don’t you think?”

Rafael eyed her thoughtfully for a moment, and then replied with an amiable grin, “Actually, I couldn’t agree more.”

Penny smiled back, delighted to note the genuineness reflected in Rafael’s smile.  “Speaking of interests,” she said, eager to maintain the sudden affability between them, “I would imagine that one of
yours
was duly enhanced by the delivery made yesterday afternoon.”

At the mention of his new mount, Rafael’s expression grew animated, his eyes alighting with pleasure.  “Indeed it was,” he affirmed.  “I took Kahn out this very morning, in fact.”

“Riding through the park?”

He nodded.  “Michael and I were up at daybreak so that we could give the horses a solid workout afore the other riders crowded the track.”

“
Just
a workout?” Penny inquired with a meaningful look.

Rafael grinned.  “Well, I must confess that there may have been a
friendly
race or two thrown into the mix.”

As Penny had expected, Rafael was more than eager to expound upon his and Michael’s initial outing with their prized, new mounts, and to her absolute delight they conversed quite pleasantly for the next quarter hour.  It was progress. 

_____

Penny’s spirits were further buoyed when a soft knock sounded upon the door to her private sitting room later that same day.  “Come in,” she called, looking up from the letter she was penning to Eleanor.

The door swung open a moment later, revealing the presence of the young underfootman, Timothy.  “Excuse me, Your Grace.”

“Yes, Timothy?”

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but Mr. Thompkins has asked me to inform you that you have a visitor.”

“A visitor, for me?” she queried in disbelief, for she hadn’t had a single visitor since her arrival in London.

“Yes, Your Grace.  The Earl of Beckford has come to call,” Timothy apprised her. 

Penny blinked in surprise.  “My father?” 

Timothy nodded in the affirmative.  “Shall I have Mr. Thompkins inform him that you are at home?”

“Yes, yes of course,” she replied ardently.  “He’s been shown to the front parlor, I presume?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Excellent.  Please inform Mr. Thompkins that I will be down straightaway.”

Then, as Timothy hastened to do her bidding, Penny lifted the unfinished letter from the top of her small writing desk, slid it into the top drawer, checked her fingers for any wayward ink splotches and then rose quickly from her chair.
 

“Papa,” she exclaimed a short while later, smiling brightly as she greeted her father.  “I wasn’t expecting you in London for another week.”  Striding forward she took hold of his outstretched hands and leaned forward to place an affectionate kiss upon his cheek.

“Yes, I know.  But I thought you might enjoy spending some time with Charlie before the Season officially gets underway.”

“Of course,” she replied enthusiastically, “for I have missed the little scamp dreadfully.”

“As he’s missed you,” the earl assured her with a smile.  “Thus, it is my hope that our early arrival will afford the two of you some added time together before the Season begins and you become entrenched within the social whirl and have scarce little time on your hands between the inevitable and doubtless unremitting invitations requesting the honor of the new Duchess of Ainsworth’s presence at one Society function or another.”

Penny quirked her left brow sardonically.  “That is assuming, of course, that I am
accepted
into the
ton’s
eminent midst, for considering the scandal attached to my name I might just as easily be eschewed from their disparaging ranks,” she rejoined with a good-humored expression, despite her satirical tone.

The earl regarded her without the least show of concern as he released one of her hands and then led her to the nearby settee, stating confidently, “Fear not, my dear, for I have every confidence that not only will you be welcomed into their midst with open arms, but that you will have them extolling your virtues and clamoring for your favor in no time at all.”

Penny shrugged.  “Time will tell, I suppose.” 
And in less than a fortnight, at that.

“Indeed it will,” her father stated with a self-assured smile.

“Come,” Penny suggested then, “let’s take a stroll through the rear garden and you can catch me up on all that I’ve missed at home these past weeks.”

“That sounds like a splendid idea,” he said.  “And then later,
you
can tell
me
all about your first weeks in London.”

“Agreed,” she replied with a nod.

“Oh, I very nearly forgot,” her father said, as they made their way from the parlor to the rear of the house.  “As it happens, I have another surprise for you.”

“You do?”

“I think you’ll be quite pleased to learn that I brought a friend of yours along with us to London?”

Penny eyed him enquiringly.  “A friend?”

“A delightful fellow,” the earl replied, “though he can be a bit of a handful at times.”

Penny’s eyes went wide with anticipation.  “Apollo?”

Her father grinned.  “I think the poor boy has missed you nearly as much as the rest of us.”

“Oh, thank you Papa.  Thank you for bringing him to London,” Penny exclaimed happily, “for I have missed him too.”

“It was my pleasure, dearest.”

“Perhaps after our walk we can visit the stable and see about having a stall readied for him.”

The earl nodded agreeably.  “Whatever you wish, my dear.”

“Mayhap you and I can take Charlie riding tomorrow in the park.”

“An excellent idea,” he replied, as they continued on toward the back garden.

_____

Having accompanied her father to Beckford House after their stroll, Penny hastened to the third-floor nursery just minutes after their arrival, anxious to see her brother.  Then hesitating just outside the open doorway, she caught the eye of Charlie’s governess, and pressing a finger to her lips silently motioned the young woman from the room.

Sitting upon the floor with his back to the door, his prized collection of tiny lead soldiers surrounding him, Charlie had the figures, along with their accompanying accoutrements, arranged in assorted groupings upon the rug and positioned to reflect the various stages of the mock battle being waged around him.  And while she was loath to interrupt his play, she couldn’t resist drawing his attention after only a few short moments.  “Oh dear, I do hope that the unfortunate group of soldiers littered upon the field isn’t part of the British regiment,” she remarked in a fretful tone.

Charlie’s head shot up at the sound of her voice and he quickly scrambled to his knees and then onto his feet.  “Penny!” he exclaimed, his cherubic face brightening with unmistakable joy as he turned and caught sight of her standing in the doorway.

“Hello, Sweeting,” she greeted, bending down and holding her arms wide as he raced toward her, flinging himself into her embrace.  “Have you missed me?”

“Oh yes, ever so much,” he proclaimed as she lifted him up into her arms.

“I’ve missed you too, Poppet,” she assured him as she enfolded him in a tight, affectionate squeeze.

After a few seconds had passed, however, he began to wriggle determinedly within her arms.  “Penny, you’re squashing me,” he protested. 

Grinning, she released him and set him back onto his feet.  He
was
nearly five after all and had developed a recent aversion to overly-effusive displays of affection as growing boys were so often want to do.

“Have you come to stay?” Charlie asked, looking up at her expectantly.

“No, Poppet, not to stay, I’m afraid,” she told him, careful to maintain a positive tone and cheerful expression.  “As I wrote to you in my letters, I am married now and live in a house with my new husband, the Duke of Ainsworth.” 

Charlie frowned, nonetheless. 

“I’m here now, however,” she assured him in a calm and soothing voice, “and like today, I shall come and visit you as often as I can, I promise.”

“Will you come every day?”

“Well, perhaps not
every
day,” she replied, loath to make her brother a promise she might not be able to keep.  “But I shall come and see you at least twice a week and far more often than that if I am able.” 

He appeared to consider that for a moment.  “Will you take me to the park when you visit, the one across the street?”

“If that’s what you would like to do, then of course I shall.”

Once again he hesitated, eyeing her consideringly for a moment before responding.  “Alright then,” he said, bobbing his head agreeably.

“Alright then,” she echoed with a jaunty smile.  Then taking hold of his hand, she led him back into the nursery.  “In the meantime, however, why don’t you tell me all about the battle you were staging?” she suggested, motioning to the expanse of soldiers laid out upon the rug.

Charlie’s expression instantly brightened and just a few minutes later the two of them were seated upon the floor as he proceeded to describe, in enthusiastic detail, the assorted tableaus to his captivated audience of one.

_____