The Devil is The Duke

Lady Athelstan watched Emeera all through the tea party in the Athelstan’s garden. The last they had met was at Baroness Rhodes’ lunch. There was something about the girl she did not want to admit but she admired. Many people longed to climb Sovoy’s social ladder but it was extremely difficult to scale it, yet this young girl had successfully done that.

After a while, Lady Athelstan’s mind drifted to Nancy who did not attend the tea party because she hated tea parties but more because Nancy had been seen kissing and touching Henry, her fiance. Emeera thought it was not such a mighty problem as it was an open secret that the men of Savoy were always taking certain liberties from women they were not yet married to. She soon found out she was quite mistaken.

Even though the whole Savoy knew these things happened, a proper lady was not supposed to be caught indulging in those worldly ways like she was a common prostitute. Lady Athelstan herself was supposed to be hiding her head in shame since Nancy’s actions put a taint on her directly as she was the mother. If it was another person’s daughter, Baroness Rhodes would be all over calling every member of the gentry and nobles to gossip about it. With an Athelstan, she wanted to gossip too but she knew she had to be careful or risk her friendship with the family.

Lady Athelstan looked at Emeera again and felt Baroness Rhodes was wrong. A respect she had never felt before for Emeera overwhelmed her. Emeera may be a social climber, but at least she was a smart one. The way she was going, Athelstan felt she might soon be a close friend of the queen. If only Nancy had a bit of Emeera’s ambitious fire.

Nancy had always had her whole life laid out for her yet she still went out of her way to destroy it. But a child of nobody was duchess and getting invited to meet the rich and famous. Athelstan’s power at the tea parties and lunches was quickly waning but with Duchess Emeera, her supposed ward at her side, she could retain her position in Savoy’s society. She needed Emeera to attend her next ball and with the Duke. The man rarely attended events so his presence would solidify the Athelstans as one of the highest noble families in Savoy.

Emeera said something to Viscountess Bentham and they both laughed. She was charming the women round to her side. Lady Athelstan in that split second realized Baroness Rhodes was wrong. Emeera was too clever to have seduced old married Lords, when what she wanted was marriage and a title. What use was an old married man like Lord Athelstan to her in her schemes?

She was too smart to risk her future by having affairs with the men of the town like a common whore. She had wanted marriage so their unmarried sons were supposed to be her first choice. The idea that Emeera ever fancied Lord Athelstan became so ridiculous that lady Athelstan laughed involuntarily. She needed to see the Baroness and fast to tell her her thoughts. The baroness had left the table to use the loo. The impatient Lady Athelstan rose and went in that direction to find her friend and gossip partner.

As Lady Athelstan got into the house, her lady maid told her her husband wanted to see her immediately in his study. She felt upset because the couple had earlier agreed not to pose as a distraction during their individual social functions but this was the first time her husband was interrupting her meeting with a call; she felt it had to be urgent for him to try. She went straight to the study and walked in. The scene before her shocked her to her bones. Baroness Rhodes and Lord Athelstan were kissing on the sofa in his study.

When they saw her, the baroness sprang up and tried to fasten her dress while Lord Athelstan beseeched his wife to protect the family name from the “small indiscretion”. “Think of Nancy,” he said. “She has already been besmirched. If this goes out, our daughters will suffer most.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Lady Athelstan stood there numb. She did know jealousy over her husband for so many years and this certainly was not jealousy. This was the worst feeling in the world – the feeling of betrayal. From her closest and most trusted people.

“I am so sorry,” the Baroness said.

“Get out of my house this minute. Or when I am done with you, you will never be able to attend another tea party ever again in your miserable life, baroness!” She hissed the word ‘Baroness’ like it was disgraceful. Baroness Rhodes was about to go out when lady Athelstan blocked the door. “You lied that Emeera has eyes for my husband, right?”

Baroness Rhodes did not speak a word because of shame. Lady Athelstan shook her head and let her pass. She realized the servants knew what was going on before she did and found a way to make her see for herself. The servants she did not treat well found a way to show her kindness. She was angrier at Rhodes than her husband. Men were silly and primal. But a sisterhood between two women was considered an unbreakable bond. She had believed baroness Rhodes was a sister but the maid has proved her wrong.

“You were not supposed to be here,” her husband said as his last clutch at a watery defence. She turned and left the study, grateful for Emeera who had sent her on that journey. She returned to the tea party to find the women gossiping about baroness Rhodes. Lady Athelstan was surprised at how quickly they talked about her once she was gone. Emeera sat apart from the group, watching the women but saying nothing. Lady Athelstan made a quiet resolve that Emeera was her newest friend in town. Shortly after, Emeera left and the rest of the group began to talk about the duke’s whirlwind romance wedding.

“That doesn’t look like romance to me. See how she looks-”

“Stop!!” Lady Athelstan thundered. “Let the duchess be.” Everyone was surprised. First, Rhodes left the tea. Now, this? When did lady Athelstan become one to abhor gossip? They wondered. But the woman had other plans.