The Duke and the Deal

02. Duke of Westland

The look of her mother did not respond well. 

"Dear me, Ella! What did I say about speaking with your mouth full?" 

Quickly munching and swallowing the piece of cake in her mouth, Ella finally responded:

"Sorry mother," coughing as if to clear her throat from any more pieces of cake left, Ella repeated what she had said earlier. "What a pleasant surprise!" 

Beaming from eye to eye, Ella tried her best to show how surprised she was. It was mildly working on her mother. But it was working. 

"What are you doing here? Don't you see the Duke has arrived and the ladies are now introducing themselves to him?" Jennifer gestured across the room to where the ladies had began to introduce themselves one by one before the Duke.

"Oh dear! I must have not noticed," Ella responded, sarcasm laced in her words all too clearly.  

Despite her sarcastic intentions, it worked the opposite effect on her mother. Without realising it, Jennifer had forcefully grabbed her daughter's forearm and started to pull her away from her paradise and closer to the line of women awaiting to greet themselves to the Duke. 

No, no, no, no, no -

Arriving beside her sister Naomi who, unsurprisingly was waiting in the line, Jennifer removed her grip from Ella. 

"You will introduce yourself, Ella. And be respectable about it." She glared at her daughter.

Fighting off the urge to glare right back at her mother and begin a never-ending argument, Ella reluctantly replied:

"Yes, mother."

"Good. Now, present yourselves with grace and honour. And do not disappoint me Ella." Jennifer cautioned before she left her two daughters. 

Ella's forced smile quickly retracted into a frown as soon as her mother left. 

On the contrary, Naomi was more than happy to comply with her mother's wishes. Like the rest of the ladies in the line, Naomi could not take her dreamy gaze away from the Duke. It was though he was the only thing that she could see. Not for Ella, though. No. 

She was still annoyed at her mother for forcing her away from her paradise of food to introduce herself to the Duke whom she swore that she would stay as far away as possible from. 

Hmpf! This will  not stop me from devising my escape. Ella thought to herself. Determined as ever, Ella vowed to herself that after reluctantly introducing herself to the Duke she would return to her paradise and commence her escape plans. 

"Remember, the Duke is mine."

Snapping away from her train of thought, Ella turned to her sister who had clearly marked her territory. Not that Ella cared. All she wanted to do was laugh at her sister's determination but before she could reply it was now their turn to introduce themselves before the Duke. 

"Miss Naomi Pearson and Miss Ella Pearson," the informant besides the Duke who seemed to have memorised all the names and faces at the ball spoke. 

Ella had now understood why the other ladies including her sister had eyes only for the Duke. 

As she looked up to the dominating figure that stood before her, she could finally make out his appearance more clearly than when she was before in her corner of paradise. 

The first thing Ella noticed was his eyes. They were a mysterious pool of steel grey that from afar seemed dark but up close, in the glimmering light, you could see the depths of grey dancing about the black pupils. The soft strokes of his eyelashes complimented his eyes. 

His hair, sleek as silk and dark as night, was neatly combed back with a few strands dangling about his forehead. 

His skin was fairly tanned as though he had spent most of his days outdoors. A well-constructed nose rested at the centre of his diamond-shaped face. His lips, with faint colour, pressed together to form a flat line. No hairs were intruding his strong jawline or any part of his face besides his bold eyebrows. 

His dashing black attire expressed his hard and well-built physique whom towered over Ella. 

Indeed, she had finally understood why her sister and the other ladies could not resist their eyes fired with desire towards the Duke. 

But it wasn't long before her senses reminded her of the very reason why she despised those of wealth, nobility and power. 

As quick as she was to come back to her senses, Ella along with her sister curtsied before the Duke. Naomi curtsied as though there was no tomorrow. Ella, on the other hand, wanted to quickly get away from the Duke as far away as possible. 

Bemused, Amos focused his attention on Ella. She was the first lady, so far, to act as though he was not anyone important. 

For Ella, that was true. All that was important to her was her paradise of food and escape. 

Not to prolong her important necessities any longer and without waiting for her sister who was still curtsying, Ella abruptly excused herself and made her way back to what mattered to her at that moment.  

Despite the shocked expressions received from those around them, a bemused Amos only saw one thing. 

My perfect bride. 

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Hello my friends! Yes, this is another updated version of my original which has been revised and edited on November 29th 2022. 

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think and how you feel so far :))

Yours Truly, 

Miss Riah