The Inconvenient Duchess

tired…
    She raised her hands to her temple and pushed against them, trying to silence the thoughts that were running through her head. It did no good to try to analyse the events of the last two days. Even if she had been clear headed, they’d have made no sense and they just seemed to get stranger and stranger.
    She was going to focus on the task before her. Not one step behind. Not one mile ahead. Just one step at a time until she could walk herself out of the maze she was lost in.
    And the first step was breakfast. She entered the breakfast room to see St John, lounging at the head of the table in the place she’d expected to find the duke. He was reading the mail as though he owned the place. She wondered what her husband’s reaction would be if he were there to take in the picture, and then checked herself.
    She knew perfectly well what it would be. Similar to all the other reactions she had seen him make when he saw something that displeased him. Yelling. Threats. And St John banished from the house without a hearing. If she could do nothing else in the house, perhaps she could find a way to end the foolish bickering that these two seemed to revel in.
    ‘Miranda.’ He stood and beamed at her and she felt unaccountably less lonely than she had. ‘You are already having a positive effect here. There is breakfast for a change. And, although I would not trust the kippers, the eggs today seem fresh enough. Come, sit down.’
    ‘Aren’t you a trifle free with your brother’s hospitality, for one I saw banished from the house yesterday?’
    He smiled again. ‘Perhaps. Perhaps. But they informed me at the inn that my brother was riding out for London. And although he cannot abide my company, the servants here are still quite fond of the black sheep and I count on them to hold their tongues when he comes home to pasture. And…’ he looked probingly at her ‘…I wondered if the new duchess might need assistance after being abandoned by her husband on her wedding night. Are you well?’ The question was gently put, but he was no longer smiling and he tensed, waiting for a response.
    ‘Of course,’ she lied. She had not been dismissed, if Polly’s attitude was any indication of the duke’s mood. And to be left alone by her new husband, but allowed to stay in the house was quite the best of all possible results, if a trifle annoying. ‘I am beginning to feel at home here already. Is that the mail?’ She reached towards the letter in front of him and he gathered it to himself.
    ‘Expecting a billet-doux , little sister? No, not the mail. Just something I brought with me to dispose of. Damn bill collectors tracked me to the inn. Let us show them what I think of them.’ And he resealed the letter, than twisted it into a roll and walked towards the fireplace. ‘The less time spent with this odious missive the better for all concerned.’ He struck a lucifer on the mantelpiece and held it to the paper, watching it blaze before tossing the smouldering end into the fire.
    ‘Really, St John, you should not be so casual with your responsibilities.’
    ‘Miranda, my dear, I am quite serious at times, when a goal is before me. You have not yet seen me at my best. AndI am sure, if you have talked to my brother, you have heard nothing but the worst of my character.’
    ‘Oh, no, I assure you. There was very little time to discuss anything with the duke last night.’ She paused, embarrassed. It sounded rather like they were occupied in other ways. She looked down at her plate and nibbled on a slice of toast.
    ‘Did he take the time to tell you, then, why he was leaving you so quickly?’
    ‘I am sure he has a good reason for his actions,’ she answered.
    St John nodded over his coffee. ‘I’m sure he does. There might be certain people in London that need to be informed of his nuptials. So as to avoid embarrassment later.’
    ‘Certain people?’ She waited for him to continue.
    He cleared his throat. ‘Well. Yes. It doesn’t do to let the rumours come back to town before him. It needn’t change the current situation, if he has married again, but it is wise to put her mind to rest. To let her know that her position is still secure. Jealousy, thy name is woman, and all that.’ He looked at her and a faint blush was visible on his cheek. ‘I know I shouldn’t even hint at such things, especially not to a lady, and on your first day here. But I felt you deserved to know the lay of the land. I meant