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A Duke and A Damsel
Chapter 22
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Arjun returned back to Blake's townhouse in a foul mood. He had waited over two hours for Sarah Rhodes to show up and had finally decided to walk home. As soon as he had walked out of the park, however, it had begun to rain profusely, and there was not a hackney in sight. To avoid getting any wetter than he already was, Arjun had decided to take a shortcut through a more rundown section of the city. Unfortunately, a street urchin had come and stolen his wallet. Though he'd tried to run after him and call for a bow street runner, there was not a single person around the area, and the rain was impeding visibility. Of course, right after that, a hackney had passed by him asking if he needed a ride somewhere, but when he'd said he had no money, the driver drove past him without another word and splashed him with mud. By the time he reached Blake's, he was wet, cold, tired, hungry, and extremely cranky.
“BLAKE!” he shouted upon entering the foyer and dropping his coat on the floor. “BLAKE! Where the bloody hell are you?! Meet me in your study right now. We need to talk.”
“Master Arjun!” Spencer exclaimed coming into the foyer to see what all the commotion was, an astounded look upon his face at seeing a usually calm Arjun seething like this. “Whatever is the matter? Why are you shouting? Is everything all right?”
Arjun shot Spencer a look that would have made any normal person cower in fear.
“Does it bloody look like I'm ok? Where the hell is Blake? Call him right now, Spencer. I don't care if he's not in the house. I want you to bloody go out and find him if you have to. He'd better be in front of me in the study in the next two minutes. And don't you dare tell me you can't go outside because of the damned rain. If I can walk back more than a mile in it, you bloody well can too.”
Arjun huffed furiously for a moment, frowning deeply and ignoring Spencer's astonished expression as well as the part of his conscience that was telling him he shouldn't be taking out his mood on poor Spencer.
“Well, why are you just standing there?! Shouldn't you be looking for Blake?!” he barked.
“I-I-I'm sorry, Master Arjun. I will go find him right away,” Spencer stuttered. “I believe I heard him come in a few moments earlier, sir. I think he asked Leslie to draw a bath, b-b-b-but do not worry,” he added, seeing the thunderous expression on Arjun's face, “I will let him know that it is a state of emergency and that he must see you i-i-immediately, even if he is not finished with his bath.”
-----
Blake ran into the study two minutes later with just a towel around his waist. Spencer had run in just as he had began to soak his toes in the bath.
“Arjun! Is everything all right? Spencer told me there was an emergency! What happened?!? And why do you look like that?” Blake asked, suddenly taking note of Arjun's appearance.
Arjun sat at the desk, leaning back in the chair with his fingertips touching and a serene expression on his face, quite the opposite from his expression only a few moments earlier.
“Good afternoon, Blake,” he said. “I trust your walk in the park went well.”
Blake raised an eyebrow.
“Um, sure. Well, not really, but that's a story for another time. What's the emergency? What happened to you?”
“There is no emergency,” Arjun responded. “At least not yet.”
Blake started to lose his cool, and his annoyance became evident in his voice.
“Then why the hell am I standing here in a towel? I was in the middle of a nice, hot bath.”
“Do you have any idea why I look like this, Blake?”
“I've already asked you like three times what has happened to you. If I knew, I wouldn't be asking. Trust me.”
“I was stood up, rained on, splattered with mud, and mugged. On top of that, I heard some very disturbing news at Gunther's.”
“Stood up?” Blake asked, ignoring the rest of what Arjun had said. “Stood up by whom? You didn't tell me you were interested in courting anyone here.”
“Can it, Blake. I'm not. Did you hear anything I just said?”
“Yes, that you were stood up by some lady and heard some disturbing gossip at Gunther's. Maybe if you'd stop being so damned evasive all the time, I would be able to hear more. You do need to speak in order for me to gather information from you.”
“Don't be smart with me, Blake. Plus, you just assumed it was a lady. Though if you must know, I was stood up by Miss Rhodes with whom I was supposed to meet to come up with a plan to help you advance in your relationship with Emma. Anyway, I heard that you caused quite the commotion last night at the Sheridan residence. What the hell were you thinking?”
Blake's face fell.
“Um, Arjun, before you continue, there's something you need to know.”
“What?” Arjun asked impatiently, looking eager to continue his lecture.
“It's too late. I bought my passage back to India. I'm leaving in a fortnight.”
“What do you mean it's too late? And why on earth are you going back to India without fulfilling your duties to keep the dukedom?”
“Emma's getting married,” Blake stated with a resigned tone.
“What?! When did this happen?! To whom?!? Captain Sharpe?!?!” Arjun exclaimed, his voice rising with every word.
“Yes. I witnessed their engagement. In fact, I ran into Miss Rhodes shortly after, and she met Emma and Sharpe as well. She said she was supposed to meet you but wasn't feeling well so she went home instead. I think there was something funny going on between her and Sharpe, though I'm not sure what since they can't have met before. Anyway, I've decided I don't want to remain in this miserable place any longer. I sent a telegram to mother this morning telling her to expect me home and that I had some bad news for her but that everything would be all right.”
“Get dressed.”
“I beg your pardon.”
“I said get dressed.”
“Why? Did you even hear anything I just said.”
“Yes, I did, because I, unlike you, am capable of listening and reading between the lines. Now get dressed, we're going out.”
“Where are we going?”
“You're going to Emma's. I'm going to Miss Rhodes' and the post office.”
“Why? And why aren't we both going to the same place? I don't want to go to Emma's. I have no desire to see her with some other man right now. Or ever.”
“Shhh. Stop asking questions, and go. I have a plan,” Arjun said, his eyes glinting.
Blake felt his stomach sink. When Arjun's eyes glinted like that, it meant that he was up to no good. If they weren't in a state of emergency before, they sure were now.
-----
Emma sat in her sitting room as miserable as could be. Her mother was thrilled, her father ecstatic, and she was beginning to have second thoughts. She felt that she had made a huge mistake in accepting Sebastian's proposal so quickly.
“Emmy!” her mother called. “Did you fix your hair? And did you get Eliza to fix your dress? Lady Fordham and Captain Sharpe will be here any moment.”
Her mother had been a flurry of activity ever since she had heard the news. As soon as Sebastian had exited the study with her father's blessing, her mother had been all over him. She had asked him a million questions, all of which he had answered very graciously, and had promptly invited him and his aunt to dinner despite Emma's protests. If Emma hadn't known any better, she would have thought her mother was the one about to marry Sebastian, not her.
Emma didn't get a chance to answer her questions. The doorbell rang, and since the butler was busy in the kitchen polishing the silver, Emma answered it. And there, looking devastatingly handsome as usual, stood Blake.
-----
Sebastian paced outside of his carriage, waiting for his aunt to come down so they could go for dinner at Emma's. His stomach had been in knots ever since his earlier run in with Charlotte, but they had nothing to do with his engagement. He had thousands of thoughts and questions flitting through his head but not enough attention to focus in on any one. He wondered what Charlotte was doing here, why she wasn't with her husband, how she had come to be acquainted with the Duke of Devonshire, why she was using the horrendous name Wisteria Pinkleberry.
He should have been more concentrated on his fiancee and his plans for the evening, but he couldn't focus. All he could think about was Charlotte and what could have been.
“Good evening,” a voice came from a carriage next to his. “Fancy running into you out here. What're you doing pacing about like that?”
“Oh,” Sebastian said, snapping out of his reverie. “Good evening, Mr. Sen. I was just waiting for my aunt. We have a dinner engagement. What brings you to this neighborhood?”
Arjun smiled down from the window.
“I was just on my way to pay a visit to Miss Pinkleberry. I'm not sure if you've made her acquaintance yet, lovely lady, just moved here from the country.”
“I can't say that I have. Is she a dear friend of yours? Have you known her long?”
Maybe Wisteria Pinkleberry and Charlotte were not the same person. Maybe it was merely a coincidence that they looked alike. Or maybe they didn't even look alike, and his mind was just playing tricks on him. But the way she had looked at him couldn't have been a coincidence. No, he was sure that it was Charlotte.
“Oh no,” Arjun said quickly. “I've only just met her. She's an avid reader and wanted to borrow one of my books from India. I was running errands and decided to stop by her townhouse on my way home to drop it off.”
“I see,” Sebastian said, wanting to ask more questions but not knowing how to prolong the conversation without seeming too eager. Especially since he wasn't supposed to know this Miss Pinkleberry.
“Well, I must get going. Please say hello to Miss Sheridan for me, and have a lovely evening. You must come over for tea sometime soon.”
“Yes, yes, I will,” Sebastian replied distractedly, his mind already formulating a plan. “It was nice meeting you again.”
“You too. Goodbye.”
“Excuse me,” he called out to the footman a few seconds later after Arjun was on his way. “There's been a slight change of plans. Will you please inform my aunt that I am not feeling well and send a message to the Sheridans with my regrets. Ask them to reschedule dinner for Tuesday.”
As soon as the footman was out of sight, he gave one simple instruction to his driver, who was used to his master doing odd things.
“Follow that carriage.”