The Duchess Takes it All

Chapter Nine

“You have a visitor, Your Grace,” one of the footmen said from the door of the library where Tamsin had sought refuge.

Tamsin glanced up from the book she was reading as Georgie walked in.

“Georgie!” she said with a glad cry, jumping up to greet her friend. “What are you doing here?”

“I am on my way back to town. I thought I’d stop in for a moment. I could do with a little rest.”

Tamsin’s brow quirked up. “Wrothlake Park is less than an hour from here.”

Georgie smiled and held up the last letter Tamsin had sent her. “I also thought I’d take the opportunity to see if I can help with your…predicament.”

“Oh, you wonderful woman.”

Georgie nodded with a smug smile as she sat on the sofa. “Quite.”

Tamsin sent the footman off to order a tray of refreshments and retrieved the book where she’d hidden the caricatures before sitting beside her friend, waiting until the door had closed before she spoke again.

“You are traveling alone?” Tamsin asked.

Georgie snorted. “My dear brother would never allow me to travel alone. Your housekeeper took my maid to the kitchen for a bite of something while we have our visit.”

They discussed the weather and Georgie’s brother’s new plant obsession—and his new spat with Nigel, of course—while they waited for the maids to return with a pot of tea and a tray of nibbles. And then waited longer while the women puttered about setting everything up.

“Your tea service is lovely,” Georgie remarked, trailing a finger over the delicate lip of the black basalt Wedgwood porcelain cup.

“Thank you,” Tamsin said. “It belonged to my mother-in-law who bought it when her husband passed.”

Georgie nodded. “If one must use a black tea service during mourning, it is wonderful to at least have one that is so beautiful.”

That was true enough. And the set truly was lovely with the embossed motif of black vines, flowers, and strawberries encircling the bowls of the cups and teapot. It was a shame to only use it when in mourning.

As soon as the door closed behind the maid, Georgie excitedly took the book from Tamsin and immediately flipped it open to find the new caricatures she had hidden inside. “These are wonderful!” She beamed at Tamsin. “As usual.”

Tamsin smiled. “Thank you.”

“Three?”

“There’s not much to do out here. Though it has been rather difficult finding places to work where I won’t be discovered. Got close a time or two.”

“Oh dear.” Georgie sighed. “We must get you back to town as soon as possible.”

“Yes, we must,” Tamsin said with a weary sigh.

“Take heart,” Georgie said. “For now, I will get these caricatures to the bookseller in time for the printer to release them on his usual schedule. And having three to give him will give you some leeway if you cannot get more to him. But…I shan’t be able to come back again to fetch more.”

“That is why I am so glad that you were able to come. Not just to take the art but…”

The door opened, and Lord Rauchberg walked in. Both women gasped, covered quickly with smiles, and Georgie snapped the book shut, hiding the caricatures inside. She put the book beside her on the couch and surreptitiously slid it beneath a pillow. Partially, in any case. She and Tamsin rose, Tamsin using all her willpower to keep from glancing at the book.

“Your Grace, Lady Georgina,” the count said, bowing to each of them. “Forgive me for interrupting, but I heard we had a visitor.”

“Yes, my lord,” Georgie said with a quick curtsy. “I am on my way to town and couldn’t resist stopping in to see Her Grace.”

“Ah,” he said with a smile. “I know our dear duchess is happy to see you. I fear she is a bit restless out here in the country.”

“Yes, she is,” Tamsin said, pinning him with her gaze.

He gave her a half smile and bowed his head. “My apologies, Your Grace. You can, of course, speak for yourself.”

She hadn’t realized that was something that needed stating, but she didn’t wish to argue in front of Georgie. In fact, she’d agree with him all day if it meant Georgie could get out of there with the book containing her caricatures.

“Well, I will not keep you. I was walking past and grew curious as to with whom our dear duchess was conversing. I feared perhaps her time in the country had finally…”

He trailed off as he met Tamsin’s gaze.

“Yes. Well.” He cleared his throat and took a step back, his hands clasped behind his back. “I shall leave you to your visit, then…”

Tamsin started to let out a sigh of relief. A few moments too soon.

“Ah, what is this?” he asked, reaching behind Georgie for the book on the sofa. “A wayward book?”

“Oh!” Tamsin and Georgie said in unison. They quickly glanced at each other and then turned to the count with innocent smiles.

“Her Grace was kind enough to allow me to borrow a book for my journey. It does get dreadfully boring over so many miles.”

“Indeed. That was very kind of our duchess.”

“Yes, very,” Georgie said, her eyes on the book.

Tamsin scarce dared to breathe while the count held the book and what, for the moment, remained hidden between its pages.

The count frowned down at the cover. “ Ancient Treatises on the Greek Philosopher Parmenides ?”

Tamsin blanched and risked another glance at Georgie, who was similarly risking a glance at her before turning to the count with an over-bright smile. “Yes. I find the topic just…fascinating.”

The count pursed his lips with an interested, “Humpf.”

And then he flipped open the book.

Georgie’s mouth dropped open, and she shot a panicked look at Tamsin, who could only stare back in quickly disguised horror.

The count turned a few pages, skimming over the words inside.

Tamsin stepped closer, and her sudden movement had the count looking up from the book.

“I didn’t realize you were interested in ancient treatises, my lord,” she said, adding a teasing lilt to her voice that she hoped would draw him into another one of their “discussions.” Anything to keep him from continuing his perusal.

“I am interested in a vast number of subjects. You have just never asked me what they are.”

She frowned. “I’m sure that’s not true. We must have discussed the subject at some point.”

He turned another page, and her gaze flickered back to the book, her heart thundering in her chest.

“The only subject you have been much interested in is returning to London.”

She stepped closer, close enough to grab the book. Though doing so would unfortunately raise more questions than it would solve.

“Then perhaps we should simply return, and then we may converse on any number of different topics. I promise, I shall make the journey so diverting you will hardly notice the passing hours.”

“I actually do not doubt that, Your Grace. If it is one thing you are, it is diverting.”

Georgie’s eyebrow rose subtly, and a small smile played at her lips as she looked at Tamsin.

Who ignored her. The only thing Tamsin wanted to focus on just then was getting that book back before he found her caricatures. Especially the one who looked far more like him than she had intended.

“Then it is settled. Shall I have my maid start packing?” Tamsin said, knowing his remarks had meant nothing of the sort.

The count chuckled. “I’m afraid our return trip will have to wait for just a bit longer. Though if we bring along reading material such as this—”

He flipped a few more pages and was within one more page flip of finding her caricatures. And Tamsin panicked.

She lunged at him, knocking the book from his hands as she fell into him. He caught her with a grunt, and she managed to twist enough that his body was turned away from Georgie while he tried to get her back on her feet. Tamsin prayed that Georgie took the opportunity to snag the book and its secret artwork before the count saw them strewn on the floor.

“Are you quite all right, Your Grace?” he asked, his brow creased in concern. And his arms remained around her.

“Yes, I…” She brushed a curl from her eyes and leaned into him. “I must have tripped over my hem. I’m dreadfully sorry.”

“Not at all,” he said, his hands tightening on her waist. “I’m glad I was here to save you from falling.”

“As am I.”

His brow rose as he gave her an amused half-grin. “I believe that is the first time you’ve expressed happiness for my presence.”

Tamsin scowled, though her heart must not have been in it because his smile only grew.

“Yes, well…don’t get used to it,” she murmured.

The count chuckled, the rumble from his chest echoing in hers where they were pressed together.

Tamsin gasped quietly, and they both froze, his hands still gripping her waist, her own hands now gripping his, their gazes locked.

She didn’t know how long they stood thus when Georgie cleared her throat. Tamsin, startled, took a hasty step back. The count released her, though his hands lingered for as long as they could. He let them fall as she stepped completely from his arms.

“I should be going if I am to make London before nightfall,” Georgie said.

Tamsin’s eyes widened, her gaze darting to the floor. She nearly sagged in relief to find that Georgie had tucked the pages firmly back in the book, which she had wrapped in her shawl and held tightly to her chest.

“I will leave you to your goodbyes,” he said, bowing to each of them. “Safe travels, Lady Georgina.”

“Thank you, my lord,” she answered with a curtsy.

With one final glance at Tamsin, he left them alone.

“Well, that was a mite closer than I cared for,” Georgie muttered, holding the book closer to her chest. “I think I shall be on my way before our good count decides he wants a closer look at old Parmenides,” she said with a grin.

“Yes, but Georgie, what do I do? The man is stubborn to a fault. I have pestered and annoyed and questioned and generally made myself a right awful nuisance.” She threw her hands up with a huff. “Short of…setting the house on fire and smoking him out.”

Georgie laughed. “That may be a tad drastic just yet. What have you done so far?”

Tamsin started ticking them off with her fingers. “I started by hiding all his quills and ink and pointed out that had we been in town we could send someone for more. But one of the servants just found where I’d hid them in a closet a few hours later, and he declared himself happy for the unexpected break from the ledgers.

“Then I set mice loose in his room, but he only pointed out there were mice in London and at least here there are plentiful cats. Then I spread fresh goat dung beneath the study window so when he opened it for fresh air as he worked, as he always does, the country air he so loves would be permeated with an extra tang.”

“Oh goodness. And that didn’t work?” Georgie asked, horrified.

“No! The wretched man simply moved to another room on the other side of the manor for a few days. And last week, I began tightening the waistband in all his trousers in the hopes he’d be forced to return to town for at least a brief visit to the tailor. All to no avail. Tonight, I was going to start shortening the cuffs of his shirts.”

Georgie burst out laughing. “Well, you have been creative, certainly. Perhaps…hmm, perhaps you’ve been thinking too small. What you need to do, my darling duchess, is something so overwhelmingly distracting that it keeps him from his work for days. Something that could only happen in the country. Something that makes London look so appealing that he cannot do else but pack his trunk that very day.”

“Oh, is that all? That’s a relief. I thought you might wish me to come up with something truly brilliant and failsafe.” Tamsin buried her face in her hands with a muffled groan.

Georgie laughed, and Tamsin could only join in as she walked Georgie to her carriage.

Georgie handed her maid the book and gestured to her to get inside first. “Surely you’ve got a few more devious ideas up your sleeves,” she said, turning back to Tamsin. “I’ve seen that wickedly naughty mind at work with your caricatures. You just need to put your energies into the count for a brief moment.”

Tamsin groaned again. She had been putting all her energy into him. He had filled her every waking thought—and more than a few sleeping thoughts as well—for weeks now. She was beginning to wonder if she’d ever think of anything, or anyone, else. Though, at this point, she rather thought she’d miss their silent battle were it to abruptly end.

She let out a sigh. “You make it sound so simple.”

Georgie shrugged. “It can be. Brilliant doesn’t need to mean elaborate. Sometimes the best-laid plans are the simplest.”

Tamsin sighed. “The simplest, hmm?”

Georgie gave Tamsin a quick hug. “You’ll come up with something.” She climbed into the carriage and got settled. “Just do it quickly. Lavinia is hosting a dinner party next week to celebrate our return, and you must be there.”

“I shall do my best.”

Tamsin waved goodbye to her friend and then plopped down on the garden steps, watching with Lucy as James chased one of the ducks that had waddled up from the pond. She kept a careful eye on them—the duck seemed to be enjoying the game, circling back around to chase after James as often as James chased him—while she contemplated what had just happened. Gone wrong. Gone right?

She truly didn’t know. Oh, it had been very wrong, and not at all what she’d intended. But oh…something about it had felt very, very right as well.

She covered her face with her hand—the finger of which had tingled for hours after the count had put it between his lips and—

She slapped the other hand to her face. It would not do to dwell on that, that…brief moment of madness. There were bigger issues for her to concern herself with. Chiefly, what else she could do to disturb, irritate, and otherwise aggravate the count. And whether or not she could sustain such behavior to the point that he gave up his misguided quest for nobleness and took them back to London. Or, better yet, let her take her son while he stayed in the country. The fine line between feigning enough ignorance to merit his intervention without seeming so ignorant as to make the count believe even more that she needed his guidance was a delicate and dangerous balancing act.

And it wasn’t working.

Aside from everything else she’d tried, she had spent the whole of yesterday interrupting him at steady intervals throughout the day with the most mundane nonsense and until it became impossible to keep her amusement in check at his increasingly aggravated, and confused, looks. Panicking over a bit of marmalade on James’s cheek had been particularly entertaining. Especially watching the count try and juggle the child.

Until he’d taken her finger and… Well, she wasn’t going to think of that anymore.

That particular plan had probably been a mistake on her part, for a variety of reasons, but especially considering her previous reaction to seeing him with James. Feeling anything for the count but the need to best him—well, evict him…or at the very least get him to relocate—was unacceptable. Surely, he could do whatever he needed to do elsewhere. He was just sitting in the study all day going over papers. Why couldn’t he do that in town?

She needed to raise the stakes. While he had to be aware of what she was doing and he was obviously beginning to lose his patience with her constant interruptions, it wasn’t enough.

Tamsin blew out a frustrated breath and rested her face in her hands, propping her elbows on her knees while she watched James play. She would never chase the count out of the house this way. She needed something extraordinary, exceptional…something sure to make him throw his hands up in surrender. Something that would only occur in the country. Simple, Georgie said. It didn’t have to be elaborate, just something that—

The sound of bleating drifted to her on the breeze, and she perked up, looking in the direction of the south paddock. A smile blossomed on her lips. Oh, this might be perfect. The more she thought about it, the more the idea took hold. Oh yes, this would do very nicely indeed.

“James,” she said, holding out her hand. “Let’s go visit the goats.”