The Reluctant Duke (A Seabrook Family Saga) by Christine Donovan Read Free Book Online Page B

with no explanation, puzzled him.
    He’d have Giles
make inquiries and book their passage. Thomas knew Giles hated this savage
world and pined for England and the status he had there as manservant to a
duke.

 
    CHAPTER
SIX
     
    Emma’s heart
pounded with excitement as she selected and packed many of her worldly
belongings in her trunk. The things she didn’t take she’d give to her friends
here, and she would donate the rest to the town’s Female Charitable Society.
Emma had been told her other belongings from various estates were in storage
until the time she was located permanently somewhere.
    So she was
finally sailing for England. She would never let the handsome, domineering duke
know how excited she actually was to be traveling to his homeland with him.
Excited as she was, she still had reservations about leaving her beloved
America behind. And she would not make this departure easy on him.
    Something
nagged at her that things were not as they appeared. No matter the questions
she’d asked and the answers she received… There was a shadow of secrecy
surrounding the death of her dear papa. Somehow Emma would find out exactly
what the duke was hiding from her regarding his death.
    Before packing,
Emma had handed out several items of clothing to Amy. They included her
favorite plum riding habit that she had outgrown. Amy had said how much she
liked it. Even so, Emma hoped the duke allowed the females of his family to
mount a horse. Since coming to school, she had missed riding and the sense of
freedom and exhilaration that came from it. Not to mention her favorite mare,
Petunia, who had passed away last year from colic.
    And this year,
Emma had grown considerably. Several of her day dresses needed a small bit of
altering, so Emma let down the hem and loosened the seams at the bodice before
she packed those. Though she hadn’t felt it happening, her figure had changed
in the past year.
    In the rush to
accomplish all, she flew around her bedroom in a whirlwind of energy that
spiked her pulse and sent her heart banging against her ribs. The duke would
arrive within the hour, and she needed to calm herself. Emma would rather cut
her hair short than admit to him the thrill and romantic anticipation drumming
inside her at the thought of traveling with him to England—Jane Austen’s
England.
    Would she have
the chance to meet Miss Austen? To profess her utter devotion to her for making
the years at Miss Beauregard’s Finishing School less lonely and more interesting?
To tell her that to make it tolerable, Emma had put herself in the stories and
vicariously lived the lives of the heroines?
    Then there was
Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice . Emma wrapped her arms around her
waist and spun around. Could any lady read that book without falling hopelessly
and completely in love with him? She did not think so. She imagined that even
old ladies past their prime dreamed about him. And if they did not, then it was
surely their loss.
    Would she meet
her Mr. Darcy in England? She sighed loudly, closed her eyes, and prayed she
would. Falling in love, she imagined, would be wondrously exciting and
passionately satisfying. How could it be otherwise in her romantic mind? Oh,
dear, Emma would have to work hard to remind herself she did not want to marry.
Or, at least, keep up that pretense while in the duke’s company.
    “Oh, my,” she
sighed as she tied her buttercup bonnet on her head. It matched the only day
dress that fit her properly. Next, she donned her royal blue pelisse and kid
gloves. She took one last look around her bedroom and gave a silent farewell to
her girlhood, ignoring the slight ache in her chest. Yes, she would miss some
of her time here and some of the people, but the adventure of her life, as an
adult woman, lay ahead, and she could not wait to step into it.
    Confident her
trunk was packed and ready to be transported to the ship, she walked in the
direction of Amy’s room, hoping Amy’s roommates were