The Duke's Daughter Read Online Free PDF

her nose up and ignore him. He was soon wishing she had. No sooner had the first course been served than Lady Alice began her interrogation of him.
    ‘So Mr Fox, you were in the army?’
    ‘Yes, Lady Alice, fifteen years all told.’
    ‘And you were injured at Waterloo?’
    ‘Yes, Lady Alice. I was lucky to survive.’
    And so it went on. For two solid hours the silver-haired dowager countess grilled him about his life. By the time the footman served an overly sweet dessert wine, Avery had begun to wilt under the constant questions.
    Thank God she wasn’t on the side of the French during the war.
    ‘Well. Thank you for a most illuminating evening, Mr Fox,’ Lady Alice announced.
    She signalled to a nearby footman, who hastened over to pull out her chair. Avery quickly put down his wine glass and rose from the table. He came to her side, handing her the walking stick she had propped against the table.
    Taking the walking stick, she flinched when Avery put a supportive hand under her elbow. She looked up at him and for an instant he could have sworn he saw fear in her eyes.
    The look was gone as soon as she blinked. A tight smile came to her lips.
    ‘Thank you, Mr Fox,’ she said.
    ‘I should very much like for you to call me Avery, Lady Alice. If that is to your liking. It does seem a little overly formal to address me in such a way under your own roof,’ he replied.
    She considered his words and then nodded.
    ‘Avery it is. Goodnight, Avery; welcome to Langham House.’
    She hobbled out of the room, leaving Avery with a handful of servants to wait on him alone.
    He resumed his seat at the table and finished the last course of flavoured ices and fruit. The first olive branch of friendship had been extended to Lady Alice, and he was pleased that she had accepted it. Less comforting was that she had not reciprocated the gesture, but he consoled himself that it was to be expected.
    ‘Small steps,’ he whispered into his wine glass before draining it. His offer to the servants to leave him to his own company was met with a polite refusal. He tried not to read too much into the curious situation. Likely it was just a normal part of the social rules. Members of the family must always have servants on hand at their beck and call.
    He sighed. With no one else home and lacking the funds to venture out, he faced the prospect of a long, boring evening alone.
    ‘Is there a library in the house?’ he asked the ever-present footman.
    Within minutes he was standing in Lord Langham’s well-stocked private library. Hands on hips, he whistled his appreciation of the magnificent collection. Towering shelves groaned under the weight of heavy tomes. He had never before seen so many books in the one place. He walked around the room, slowly perusing the collection. As he ran his finger along the spines of book after book, an appreciative smile formed on his lips. The Langham family not only read widely, but they had similar tastes to his own.
    ‘It’s just like finding King Solomon’s treasure,’ he muttered to himself.
    Finally he chose a collection of Wordsworth’s poems. Book in hand, he strode over to the footman.
    ‘Is it all right if I borrow this to read in my room?’ he asked.
    The footman shifted uneasily on his feet. Avery could see from the look of concern on the young man’s face that whatever his instructions for the evening had been, they had not included Mr Fox asking to remove books from the library.
    ‘Forget about it. I would hate to get you into trouble over a book,’ he said.
    Turning on his heel he walked back to the bookcase and returned the book to the shelf.
    ‘Excuse me, Mr Fox, but I’m sure it would be acceptable for you to sit and read the book in here. I can build up the fire and have one of the other lads bring you a brandy,’ the young man replied.
    Avery retrieved the book and was soon ensconced in a comfortable chair by the fire, a warm brandy keeping him company.
    The following morning