“You must put an end to these rumors and stories,” she said. “You must show the people of your dukedom that you are not what they say you are. You must put their minds at ease, or this may keep happening—people coming here, trying to rid this castle of its curse. If you show them that thereisno curse, and you are a duke they can rely upon, then you will not have to worry about broken windows or being blamed for the bad weather.”
Isaac put up his hand, shyly glancing at Adrian. “Mrs. Atkinson wouldn’t use the coal for herself if you came along and told her that she had to give it to us. She wouldn’t dare.”
“You could do that when we return the children to the orphanage, once the storm has died down again,” Valerie jumped in, an idea forming in glorious, vivid detail. “Indeed, we could go there and arrange a Christmas party forallthe children! That would assuredly go some way toward fixing the reputation of you and yourcursedcastle.”
From the workbench on the far side of the kitchens, Valerie heard Kate murmur fondly to the cook, “It would be almost like old times again.”
“Do you remember the dancing?” the cook replied with a bittersweet sigh. “And all the fine food I helped to prepare. I doubt I could even roast so many geese, these days; I’ve forgotten how.”
Adrian, on the other hand, had not spoken. He stood as still as the handsome statue he resembled, his expression just as stony.
If Valerie had made the suggestion when they were not so surrounded, perhaps he would have dismissed it curtly and that would have been the end of it. But she had spoken amidst quite the crowd; to refuse such a gesture now would have made him seem rather cruel indeed.
Prove that you are not a beast. Prove that you are not cursed with cruelty.She willed it in earnest silence as she waited for his reply.
Everyone else had gone quiet too, the air so thick with anticipation that the cook’s cleaver could not have sliced through it.
“The boys may stay until the storm passes,” he said at last. “They will return to the orphanage once it is safe to do so. I will send them with coal and a note. Now, if you will excuse me, I must check the windows.”
Collective disappointment popped the tension in the steamy kitchen. Kate hurried to bring the tray of cakes and sandwiches to the boys, no doubt to distract them. The cook wandered away from the pot of water she had been boiling, muttering about geese. Esther’s face fell, the girl turning her back so no one would see her dismay.
Meanwhile, Adrian walked out of the room; he had been diplomatic in his answer, in the vague way that wealthy gentlemen often were, but Valerie refused to accept it.
“Mrs. Mullens here will take good care of you,” she said to Isaac and David. “I shall not be long.”
With that, she rushed after Adrian.
CHAPTER TEN
Goodness, he is fast…
Those long, athletic, muscular legs of Adrian’s were double the stride of Valerie’s, forcing her into a partial run as she chased him down the adjoining hallway. He did not halt to hear what she had to say, though he must have known why she was in pursuit.
“Your Grace,” she gasped.
He turned left down a narrow passageway and as she veered to follow him, she hesitated on the threshold. She could still hear his footsteps echoing, but the passage was so very dark, illuminated by a couple of sooty lanterns that struggled to give out any light at all.
Has he trained himself to walk these hallways blind or something?She shuddered.I suppose he has had ten long years to do so.
“Your Grace! Wait!” With a steadying breath, she continued after him.
At the end of the passageway, where a solitary door stood mysteriously, cast in the anemic glow of two stubby candles, Adrian finally stopped and turned to face his pursuer.
“You cannot change my mind, Miss Wightman, so do not ask, do not beg, do not try to appeal to me,” he said crisply.
Breathless, Valerie halted a few steps away. “What if I were to call you a coward?”
“I would call it a low trick,” he replied. “One that will not work.”
“But… the townsfolk, they used to look forward to your parties all year,” she blurted out, forgetting that he was not the one who had told her about those events.
His eyes narrowed. “They were notmyparties. They ended for a reason.”
“The late Duchess loved to host parties and gatherings and festive soirées.”Kate’s words came back to Valerie too late, her mind trained upon one particular word that she had overlooked before—‘late.’ His mother was gone. The parties had, presumably, ended when her life did.
Oh, you oaf!She cringed inwardly, while a little voice in the back of her mind wondered if that was why he hated Christmas. Didit remind him too much of the mother he had lost, considering how much she had relished the festive season?
“Then, think of it selfishly,” Valerie urged, switching tactic. “If you truly want your peace and quiet here at Blackwall Castle, then surely it is to your benefit to be on good terms with the people of your dukedom? Sacrifice your solitude for just one day, and you can live the rest of the year completely undisturbed.”
