My Once and Future Duke (The Wagers of Sin #1)(82)
He wondered why she thought a duchess couldn’t travel, but let it go. “Lady Lucinda, you have astonished and delighted me. Shall we get some ices, and you can tell me why Egypt is your heart’s desire?” Still blushing, she agreed, and he escorted her to a bench near Gunter’s and hailed a waiter who had just served several ladies in a carriage nearby. He ordered some lavender ices, at Lucinda’s eager request, and said a prayer of thanks that Gunter’s was one of the few places he could be seen with a lady and not be presumed to be courting her.
It turned out Lucinda had got her hands on some volumes of Description de L’Egypte, the observations and pictures created by Napoleon’s army in Egypt. She convinced her mother it was to improve her mastery of French and pored over every inch of them. Lucinda was entranced, especially by the Egyptian writing, which she described as artful little drawings.
“What do they mean?” Jack asked as they ate.
“No one knows! I wish I had been able to study Greek or Latin and have some chance at deciphering them.” Lucinda could hardly sit still, she was so animated. “But the country sounds so exotic, so foreign and so beautiful. It’s my dream to travel there, to see the monuments and the wide expanse of sand, barren of trees or other greenery. Can you imagine anything so magnificent here in England, where it rains so often?”
Since his week at Alwyn House with Sophie, Jack had been feeling much more fond of rain. “I cannot.”
She spooned the last of her ice and set down the dish. “I don’t think I shall be able to go until I am twenty--one. My mother will never let me leave before I’m of age. Her only thoughts are of hairstyles and fashion and how well I can embroider, and no one cares about any of that. But Egypt is like a new world, only very old, and so full of mystery and treasure. There is nothing in England like it.”
“Undoubtedly that is true.” Jack nodded to a hovering waiter, who rushed forward to take their empty dishes. “What shall you tell your mother?”
Lucinda scuffed her toe in the grass. “She would never approve of my traveling to Egypt.”
“Are you certain? It’s quite the thing, now that the war is over. Travel is much safer, as well. I daresay you could go, eventually, if you put your mind to it.”
“Do you really think so?”
He smiled. “I would never underestimate a woman with a plan.”
Lucinda brightened. “That’s so! She’s told me I don’t need to know much beyond keeping household accounts and planning menus, but I want to know so much more. It is so frustrating to feel ignorant. Perhaps I could travel with a scholar and help fund his explorations in exchange for lessons. Do you think anyone would agree to that?”
“The scholars I have known are always eager to find someone to fund their expeditions.” Jack knew Lucinda was heiress to a sizable fortune. She would certainly have the funds when she came of age.
“That’s it, then!” She beamed at him as they strolled back toward her home. “Thank you, Your Grace,” she added shyly. “I cannot tell you how vastly relieved I am. It’s been weighing on me for weeks what I should do, but now I feel so much more hopeful.”
Jack felt bloody pleased himself. Lucinda didn’t want to marry him, and she’d saved him from having to tell her that he didn’t want marry her, either. “I quite agree. Your mother won’t scold you, will she?”
Lucinda made a face. Her anxious air had vanished completely. “Of course she will. She scolds about everything. But I am determined, and since I’ve already given you my firm answer, there’s nothing she can say. I plan to study everything I can find on Egypt and leave her to fretting about fashion and gossip. I want to do something with my life.”
“I hope you do,” he told her honestly. “Will you write to me when you are a famous explorer in Egypt?”
She laughed. “Of course! I shall send you an artifact, too, if I discover any.”
“Very kind of you.” He winked and raised her hand for a kiss. She really was a charming girl, now that she’d got over her dread of having to marry him. “Until later, Lady Lucinda.”
She curtsied politely, but her smile was infectious. “Until later, Your Grace.”
He waited until she ran up the steps and back into the house, touching the brim of his hat when she waved once in farewell. Her mother would be unhappy—-as would his—-but Lucinda’s happiness was more important. He made a note to send her some lithographs and travel diaries from Egypt, and mounted his horse.
His happiness was also more important than his mother’s disappointment. It was time to choose a ring for Sophie.
Chapter 25
Sophie slept late and woke with a smile on her face.
Jack had stayed far later than usual. Dawn was breaking over the rooftops when she bid him farewell on her front step, this time careless of who saw him or her or the silly smile on her face as he walked down her quiet little street. It was almost too good to be true, she thought as she went back upstairs and crawled into her bed, still warm from his body. She’d taken an enormous risk, and could hardly believe that it had paid off beyond her wildest dreams. He wanted to marry her and could overlook her shabby past. For the first time in a dozen years, someone cared for her above all others.
She lingered over breakfast, and was writing to her friends with the happy news, prone to staring out the window with a smile on her face every now and then, when Colleen came in.