The Heart of a Duke (2 page)

Alison’s eyes went wide for an
instant, but then they narrowed on Nadya. Nadya kept her face
impassive. Eventually, the girl bit her bottom lip and glanced
away.

Lady Eleanore patted the pillow
beside her. “Come sit, Val. This should be fun.”

Aldora pushed her spectacles up on
her nose and hurried over as well. Once Nadya had amazed them by
intuiting each ones’ name, she smiled smugly at
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. Now
her grandmother should have no trouble from the
doubters.

In turn, the young girls handed
their coins to Nadya’s grandmother. She dropped them in a
drawstring purse, pulled the cord tight, then tucked it into her
lap. After taking several deep breaths to clear her mind of
distractions,
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grasped the sides of the bowl and
stared into the still water. Dark hair streaked with gray fell
forward like a curtain closing everything out except her and her
visions. At least this was the reason
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ă
had
always given for wearing her hair down and a veil. Image was
everything when it came to making people believe.

Just as the girls began to grow
restless, Nadya’s grandmother glanced at Lady Eleanore. “You will
live a long life and be blessed with many offspring and the love of
a good man.”

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always said the same thing to
everyone. She altered the details so it wasn’t too obvious, but
every reading had some variation of health, love, and lots of
babies in the future. When Nadya had asked her about this one
time,
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ă
explained that people wanted to
believe good things were in store for them and sometimes believing
was all the magic one needed to make it come true. Nadya thought it
was nonsense, but she never contradicted her
grandmother.

As
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ă
predicted how wonderful the girls’ lives were going to be
some day, they smiled. Of course their lives were going to be
wonderful. The girls would marry wealthy men, never want for
anything, and grow fat with a babe in their bellies. Wasn’t that
what all
gorgios
girls dreamed of?

Nadya wished her own future could
be half as easy, but she’d been with her grandmother since she was
a tot and knew
ugliness these girls would
never see. She would live her grandmother’s life, sitting on a
pillow, staring into a glass bowl, and
spouting the obvious to make a few coins. Yet, she wouldn’t
trade places with any of them. She had freedom they never knew
existed.

As the girls helped each other
stand, t
hey chattered about their good
fortunes, and laughed together as they left the tent. Nadya
wandered outside again.

Luca’s act was finished and the crowd had
dispersed. He was sprawled on a crate, his hair and shirt wet from
dumping a bucket of water over his head as he always did at the end
of a show. The translucent material clung to his chest and arms,
and a water droplet slid from his slender nose.

Her heart beat a rhythm to rival
the tribal drums. She should go speak with him before
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called her back inside. Taking a deep breath for
courage, she started in his direction, but skidded to a stop. The
girls, who were huddled at the edge of the fairway, nudged
Lady Eleanore.

“
Go on, then,” Vallie
said.

They giggled as Lady Eleanore ran up to Luca.
Nadya couldn’t hear what she said to him—suddenly the privileged
one’s confidence faded and she linked her hands behind her back,
refusing to meet Luca’s amused gaze—but Luca’s dazzling smile was
like a red hot poker through Nadya’s heart. He gently chucked Lady
Eleanore’s chin, and she beamed at him in return. Nadya felt sick
to her stomach again.

When Lady Eleanore ran back to her friends,
they all giggled and moved down the fairway as one. Luca laughed as
he climbed to his feet and turned to gather his props for the next
performance.

Nadya unclasped her necklace and
hurried after the girls. The gold heart pendant was a gift from her
mother, an inexpensive trinket with no value.
But it’s from Mama.
She brushed
aside her misgivings. She would always have her memories, as hazy
as they were.

The girls were part way down the
spillway. “Wait! Lady Eleanore, wait!”

They stopped and turned to look at
her.

Reaching them, she held out the
pendant. “There is more. My grandmother forgot to tell you about
your necklace.”

The young one’s eyes shimmered in
the twilight. “It’s beautiful.”

“
Yes, it is,” Lady Eleanore said.
“But it isn’t mine.”

Nadya’s brows lifted. “Aye, but it
could be yours.” She looked at each girl gathered around her. “Or
yours, or yours, or yours, or even yours, Charlotte.”

They leaned closer. She had their
attention. She lowered her voice as if to share a secret for their
ears only. “Whoever wears this necklace shall win the heart of a
duke.”

Every debutante dreamed of
marrying a duke, but there were so few, the prophecy would never
come true.
Then
they
would
know what it was like to feel desperation, longing for
something out of their reaches. Just like she longed for
Luca.

Lady Eleanore burst out laughing
and her friends joined in. “I guess it
is
my necklace. My betrothed is a
duke.”

Nadya snatched her hand back when
the girl reached for the pendant. Anger swirled in her chest,
making it tight. Of course the beautiful girl would be betrothed to
a duke, and yet she wanted what should be Nadya’s.

“
Aren’t you going to give me the
necklace?” Lady Eleanore asked.

Nadya’s jaw clamped tight. “Seven
shillings.” She would be damned if she gave away her mother’s
necklace for nothing.

Lady Eleanore bit her bottom lip.
“I only have two left. Please tell your grandmother thank you, but
I cannot afford the necklace.”

“But Elle, you
must
have it,” Vallie said. “You can
have my left over shillings.” She dug into her reticule and pulled
out two coins.

Aldora fumbled with her reticule
as well. “You may have mine, too.”

“
And mine.” Charlotte thrust her
coin toward Lady Eleanore.

Alison was the only reluctant one.
It had become clear to Nadya the girl didn’t believe in magic. She
was the smartest of the lot. Still, she handed over her shilling,
bringing the total to seven.

Lady Eleanore smiled at her
friends. “I will purchase the necklace, but it will belong to all
of us. When I no longer need it, I’ll pass it along.”

Vallie nodded. “Yes, everyone
should have a chance to wear it.”

They made a pact, swearing their
loyalty to each other. Nadya felt more alone and adrift than ever.
Tears burned her throat as she handed the necklace to Lady Eleanore
in exchange for seven shillings.

Two older women approached with
soured looks on their faces. “There you are. We have been searching
everywhere for you girls. Did we not tell you to stay
close?”

The woman’s scolding had no effect
on the girls.

“
We are sorry, Miss Smyth.” Lady
Eleanore linked arms with her friends and they headed down the
spillway.

Nadya’s shoulders slumped as she
walked back to her grandmother’s tent.

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glanced up with a kind smile when
Nadya came inside. “That was a very nice thing you did just
now.”

She shook her head, tears seeping
from her eyes.

Her grandmother came to gather her
in her arms. “Yes, my precious girl. You used your gift to help
others.”

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always said Nadya had the gift for
scrying, and that it would grow stronger some day. She couldn’t
bear to tell her grandmother she didn’t have the gift. She didn’t
even believe in it.

Her actions had been born of
jealousy and bitterness, not kindness. Still, her grandmother’s
arms felt so safe and warm, and being a disappointment killed her
inside.

Olivia Kelly

Chapter One

May 1810

London, England

While it was sweet of Lady
Eleanore Barnaby's dear friends to insist she wear the gypsy
pendant until she married Andrew Vickers, Duke of Langley,
just in case
, Elle
didn't need it to capture a duke. She had snared her betrothed
whilst gumming a teething biscuit in her nursery, or rather her
father, the Marquess of St. Aidans, had snared him for
her.

Everyone said what a lovely duke he was.
Young, handsome, and wealthy. And while she did not love him, and
he did not love her, her mother had assured her love was not
necessary to make a good match.

Perhaps Elle could be content with the
knowledge other young ladies coveted her position. After all, she
would live in Langley Castle and she liked the idea of cuddling her
fat babies and having a collection of hunting dogs
underfoot.

But the gypsy girl hadn’t said the pendant
would insure marriage to a duke. She had promised it would secure
his heart, and with only a month until her wedding, she wasn’t even
sure if Langley recalled her name most days.

Elle's fingers clenched around the fine gold
chain, drawing her dear friend Valera’s attention to the
piece.

She smiled widely. "How does it
look?"

"Lovely." Her closest friend's soft voice was
decisive, though Elle had her doubts about the truth of her
statement.

The pendant was old and rubbed smooth in spots
from years of wear. Hardly the sort of jewelry Elle would normally
wear, but a pact was a pact. It had been years since she and her
four friends had sneaked away from their chaperones to have their
fortunes told, and came away with a locket and a stronger bond of
friendship.

Pasting on a bright smile, she tucked her arm
through Valera's and the pair began to slowly make their way from
the conservatory back to the Hastings House ballroom, where the
rest of London's elite danced and socialized the night
away.

"Only a months now until you marry Langley.
How are the wedding plans progressing?"

"Oh, smashing." Elle waved her hand, as if
dismissing any implication that the wedding was a burden upon her.
It was not, in any way. In fact, most of it had been planned down
to the minute months ago by the soon-to-be-dowager-duchess and
Elle's mother.

At times she did wish they had bothered to ask
her opinion on matters, but she didn't much care whether they chose
roses or lilies. Langley’s lack of interest in her was the bigger
conundrum, and no one dared to ask her opinion on how she felt
about marrying a man who forgot she existed.

"There is very little to do other than say our
vows," she said. "And of course, the final fittings for the
gown."

"
Such
a beautiful creation." Valera
sighed, as they entered the ballroom, slipping back into the noisy
crowd of revelers unnoticed. "I cannot believe your father did not
lose his temper over what you spent at the milliner's."

"The idea he will never have to settle my
accounts again after next month makes paying for my trousseau a
less bitter draught to swallow." Elle's laugh tinkled, a hint of
acidity sharpening it, and she lifted one shoulder in a careless
shrug to cover the slip.

Although she loved her friends, and knew they
loved her in return, Elle could not confide in them the growing
dissatisfaction that had slowly crept up on her over the last few
years. Watching her neighbors and friends marrying, one by one, had
set her to thinking about having Langley as a husband.

As a girl, she had thought marrying a duke was
everything she could ever ask for, but the idea of an arranged
marriage had begun to pall. Perhaps if there were more between them
than cool civility—mild interest at least—she could be satisfied
with their union. It was as though he still saw her as that pesky
little girl who used to follow him and his cousin around, begging
to be included in their play.