A Duke and A Damsel

A Duke and A Damsel--Chapter 2

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A Duke and A Damsel

Chapter 2

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Lord Blake Percival Carstairs, 14th Duke of Devonshire

Sherwood Manor

Devonshire, England, DV

Arjun Sen

53 Gariahat Road

Calcutta 29, Bengal, India

June 1, 1814

Dear Arjun,

I do hope that this letter reaches you before you depart for England. I am terribly excited to see you again! It has been too long. Though I cannot wait for you to see my estate, I do plan to be in London within the next few days. I am guessing that you will arrive while I am still in London since I have some business to attend to. It appears that my mother will get her wish sooner than she hoped. Luckily, London is closer to Oxford than Devonshire is! I realize that this letter makes absolutely no sense, but I will explain everything once you get here.

Yours,

Blake

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Blake was bored out of his mind.

He had arrived in London the two afternoons ago and had almost immediately met Lady Weston, the town's biggest gossip and his new neighbor. She was an elderly woman, twice widowed, and took extreme pride in her matchmaking skills. She knew everybody, and it would be an understatement to say that everyone was afraid of her. In fact, she reminded him a lot of Lady Bishop back in India.

Ordinarily, he would have avoided people like her like the plague, but now he felt like he had struck gold. It was almost a pity that her two daughters were already happily married. Thankfully, however, she had taken an immediate liking to him, fascinated by his stories of India, and vowed to introduce him to “everyone worth knowing” in the ton. In other words, she wanted to find him a wife. All in all, meeting Lady Weston had been a stroke of luck, and he planned to use her connections to his full advantage.

However, it was also because of her thoughtful invitation to her house concert that he was in his current predicament. He didn't understand how the others were able to sit for hours upon hours listening to the minor contessa who thought she could sing splendidly but in actuality sang slightly off key. He was beginning to get a headache and was in desperate need of fresh air. He wondered if it would be rude to leave in the middle of the performance.

After about ten more minutes of the torturous singing, he didn't care.

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Emma couldn't take another minute of this torture.

Her mother had somehow gotten them an invitation to Lady Weston's house concert, saying that this was the perfect place to go husband hunting. “Half the ton will be there!” her mother had exclaimed. The old lady had been singing for almost three hours now nonstop, and it didn't seem like she was going to stop anytime soon. The shrill sound of her voice was giving Emma a headache. She needed to get out of the room. The problem was that her mother was watching her like a hawk, making sure that she seemed every inch the lady so that she would catch the eye of any eligible bachelor in the room. But Emma didn't want to catch the eye of just anyone. She wanted someone she could fall in love with, someone who would be faithful. Some of the men in the room were notorious rakes, and it would be just her luck to end up with one of them.

She looked towards her mother, hoping that there was some way she could escape. Perfect, her mother was asleep. This was her chance to get some air. She glanced quickly around the room, got up, and slipped away before anyone could notice. If anyone asked, she was on her way to the washroom.

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Blake leaned his elbows against the balcony railing and took a deep breath. He felt much better already. The fresh air did wonders to clear his head. He suddenly felt extremely nostalgic for his life back in Calcutta, however. Everything was so open there, not stuffy and quiet like it was here. There was an aura of excitement throughout the city, hinting that there was never a dull moment to be had. He never got that feeling in Devonshire. London was slightly better, but still not the same.

Looking down at his pocket watch, he decided it was time to go back inside before people began to notice he was missing. Unfortunately, he stood out, since he was new in town. It hadn't taken long for the matrons of society to figure out that he was the new duke, still a bachelor, and therefore, highly marriageable. He'd heard them whispering in hushed tones about him throughout the evening. He took another deep breath and opened the door to return inside, only to find a warm and very feminine body suddenly in his arms.

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Emma leaned against the door to the balcony to catch her breath. She figured that this would be a safe place to get away for a moment, as no one would venture so far into the house. Before she knew what was happening, she felt herself falling backwards. Bracing herself, she mentally prepared to land on the hard ground, but the thudding sound she expected to hear after she fell never came. Someone had caught her instead.