Ruining the Duke Page 5

  As he approached Lady Sarah’s bedchambers, he heard shuffling noises inside and smiled, as he knew it was Emma inside, tidying up. The duke was not certain where Lady Sarah was at the time, but it did not matter, as he would soon reveal the truth to his sister.

  He knocked on the door and was taken by utter surprise when Lady Sarah opened the door.

  “Brother, what a pleasant surprise.” Lady Sarah cocked her head. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?”

  Lady Sarah opened the door entirely and stepped aside, revealing her empty bedchamber.

  The duke briefly glanced around the room, feeling somewhat perplexed. “I simply came to see if you wished to join me for tea.”

  “I am afraid I cannot. I have chores which need to be completed.” Lady Sarah turned away.

  The duke watched as Lady Sarah packed away her slippers and closed the wardrobe doors. He was rendered speechless and still perplexed, and he wondered where Emma was.

  “Do not look so confused, dear brother. I am fully capable of handling the upkeep of my chamber,” Lady Sarah scoffed.

  “That surprises me,” the duke pointed out.

  “Spare me your opinion, as I am not in the mood to listen to your words,” Lady Sarah snipped.

  “What is the matter with you?” the duke asked.

  Lady Sarah whirled around and her brown eyes flashed angrily. “I could ask you that very same question, Colin!”

  “What do you speak of?”

  “I cannot believe you have the audacity to stand in front of me pretending you are not aware of what I mean? Pretending as if everything is all right,” Lady Sarah said and crossed her arms angrily. “I saw you! I saw you with Emma in the garden last night after midnight. You were strolling cozily together in the private garden, and I saw you kiss her.”

  “I did not—”

  “Please do not insult my intelligence, Colin. My eyes did not deceive me. I cannot believe you took her to the private garden. She is a maid!”

  “Where is Emma?” the duke asked.

  “I took care of her,” Lady Sarah said simply.

  “Sarah, I will not ask you again.”

  “She is exactly where she belongs. In that rut where she came from,” Lady Sarah declared.

  “I cannot believe you did such a thing. You have no authority to simply dismiss my employees without my consent, or my knowledge for that matter,” the duke said angrily.

  Lady Sarah glanced at him, bored, and shook her head. “And you have no place to kiss a maid. She is beneath you. She is beneath all of us and does not deserve the attention you give her.”

  The duke stepped forward and pointed his finger at her. “You know not what you speak of, sister! Emma may not have a wealthy family, or a title, but she is honest and kind, and she has more grace and a noble heart than you will ever have! I love her and I will not allow you to treat her the way you have been of late! She does not deserve it!”

  Lady Sarah’s eyes widened and she took a step towards the duke. “You what?”

  “I love her, Sarah.”

  “She is a maid,” Lady Sarah scoffed.

  “It matters not to me, Sarah. She holds my heart, and nothing could ever change my feelings for her.”

  “This is ridiculous. Father would never have allowed this.”

  “My father wished only for me to be happy, and Emma makes me happy. It is not your place, or anyone else’s place, to tell me how to live my life. I made my choice, and I do not mind living with the repercussions of my actions, because at the end of the day, I know I will be content with my life with the woman I love, while you will be married to a wealthy nobleman who loves you only for your outward beauty and knows nothing of the person who you are on the inside.”

  Lady Sarah’s eyes filled with tears, but the duke did not wait for her reply. He whirled around, and rushed out of her bedchamber.

  The duke ran through the hallways, down the stairwell, and towards the kitchen. He had not been in the kitchen since he was a young boy, but it looked exactly the same as it had the last time he was there. The only difference was that Kate’s hair had more gray, and the crow’s feet in the corners of her eyes were much more noticeable.

  “Your Grace,” Kate said in surprise as she glanced up from the bread dough she was kneading on the large wooden table. There was a flour smear on her cheek, but her eyes sparkled as they always had. “May I help you?”

  “Are you aware Lady Sarah dismissed Emma?”

  “Yes, Your Grace. Lady Sarah sent Emma away with one of the carriages,” Kate answered.

  “Please, Kate, you must tell me where she is,” the duke pleaded. “I must find her, please.”

  “Your Grace—”

  “Please, Kate. I am in love with Emma, and I must find her. I must bring her home. She belongs here. With me,” the duke said.

  “You are in love with Emma, Your Grace?”

  “I am.”

  A smile formed on Kate’s lips and she said, “Your Grace, she is precisely the kind of woman who I had always thought you would marry, if you do not mind me saying so.”

  The duke smiled and nodded gratefully. “Do you know where she is, Kate?”

  Kate threw the dough onto the table and wiped her hands on her apron. “I will call Timothy. He drove the carriage.”

  “There is nothing between Emma and Timothy, is there?” the duke asked reluctantly.

  Kate chuckled and shook her head. “Oh no. Emma only ever spoke of one man she loved, but she was convinced he did not even know she existed. Timothy was more of a brother to her than anything else.”

  The duke smiled briefly and followed Kate out through the back door of the kitchen.

  ***

  Emma glanced around the small cottage she had lived in when she was a young girl, now completely abandoned. The furniture was sparse and old and leaves were scattered all over the floor. She wondered how long it had been since anyone lived there, but it did not matter. She would make it a home. Memories of her childhood came rushing back to her and her knees buckled, causing her to slump to the floor, sobbing heavily.

  After she regained her strength, she began tidying the cottage. She swept the floor, ensuring all the leaves were swept outside, and it already appeared cozier.

  The sound of horses outside the cottage made her freeze suddenly and she slowly approached the window. She drew back the tattered curtain and her eyes widened. She recognized the carriage as the one which had brought her here earlier.

  She stepped away from the window and took a few deep breaths. What on earth was Timothy doing here again, she wondered.

  A sudden pounding on the door made her jump and she stared at the door for a few moments.

  “Emma?”

  Her eyes widened even more, as she would recognize that voice anywhere.

  “Emma, please open the door.”

  Emma pursed her lips and reached for the door. She opened it slowly and stared at the handsome duke standing at her door. He seemed out of place, dressed in his expensive clothes, surrounded by poverty and a rundown cottage, with her, a former servant.

  “Emma,” the duke said with a relieved smile.

  “Your Grace, what are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly. “More importantly, how did you find me?”

  “Timothy told me where he had taken you. I simply had to come to you,” the duke answered.

  “In order to humiliate me further after your sister chased me away?” Emma asked.

  “I am truly sorry for what she did. You did not deserve such treatment from her, or from anyone. I was a fool for not noticing it earlier, but I was not aware—”

  “That I was in love with you?” Emma asked, interrupting the duke. “Would it have made any difference, Your Grace?”

  “Of course it would have, Emma. If I had known, I would have made my feelings known sooner,” the duke insisted.

  “And what would your mother, or your dear little sister have had to say?” Emma exclaimed an
grily. “Your sister chased me away as if I was less than nothing. I was dedicated to her for such a long time, I listened to her, laughed with her, and shared secrets with her, and that was how she treated me when she felt that her family integrity was under threat. What would she have done if she knew that you loved me, and I loved you, and we wished to be together?”

  “It does not matter.”

  “Please listen to yourself, Your Grace. It does matter. You are a duke, and I am nothing.”

  The duke approached her and took her hands. “That is where you are wrong, my dear, sweet Emma. You are everything I could have ever dreamed of in a woman. You are not only beautiful, but you are kind and witty, and you understand me more than anyone I had ever met. I am comfortable speaking to you of things I do not speak to any other person about, and when I found out that you no longer were at my estate, my world plummeted down around me. I cannot imagine a world without you in it, my dear Emma.”

  “We are from different worlds, Your Grace.”

  “Only to those who truly believe it. You and I are not so different after all. We both love one another, and we are well aware of what it feels like to be alone while standing in a crowd of people,” the duke explained. “I am deeply in love with you, Emma, and if you will have me, I will spend the entirety of my life making you feel as royal as you appear to me.”

  “And what will happen when you and I arrive back at your estate? Lady Sarah and your mother—”

  “It is not for them to decide,” the duke insisted. “It is a choice I will gladly make. And I think it is time for my dear sister to find herself a husband, so that we can have Collier Manor to ourselves.”

  “And your mother?” Emma asked reluctantly.

  “If there is one thing I am certain of, it is that my mother shared my father’s views on happiness. They wished only for their children to be happy. She will respect my choice. And she will be thrilled, as she will finally have a daughter who does not look down on others as Sarah does. My mother truly despises Sarah’s arrogance.”

  Emma smiled weakly.

  “Fear not, my dear. I will not allow anyone to treat you in any manner other than how you deserve. That is my vow to you,”

  Emma placed her hand against his cheek and sighed. “My entire life, I believed I did not deserve good things, that I was not destined to find my place in the world, but standing here with you, Your Grace, I know this is where I belong, this is where my home is.”

  The duke glanced around. “In this cottage?”

  Emma shook her head and playfully nudged his shoulder. “No. Home is not a place, but a feeling, and I feel that whenever I am with you. You are my home, Your Grace, and I love you deeply and utterly.”

  “Such sweet words from your sweet lips, the lips I’ve longed to kiss for so very long,” the duke whispered as he cradled her face with both his hands and pressed his lips against her. The kiss was sweet and long overdue, and Emma melted into the duke as their heart beat in unison, as they were meant to.

  Two worlds had finally found their way onto one path.

  The End

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