Looking Forward to Life with the Duchess

I would have stayed back and had my soul lost in my library, reading books about aristocracy and ships rather than have myself rock and roll with these folks but I had no choice. I was the heir and I needed to be present. I looked back at the ballroom, unimpressed by the aura of things before resting on the balcony, sighing deeply. There was not much view before me aside from the lake and the ranch close by.

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The evening smell of the lilies graced the lakeside’s cool breeze that hit my nostrils and contrasting the boredom of the ceremony was the neighing sound of the horses. I watched as Rosie shuddered her head, trying to get free from the rein which I think was a little uncomfortable for her.

I was trying to decide on taking a walk to her or just watching her right from where I was standing when a young lady walked out from the ballroom. She held her dress a little higher above her ankle which made it so obvious how she doesn’t take the rule of le bon ton very seriously___she looked very nonchalant.

“I thought I was the only lass here who finds the ball for this season boring,” she suddenly blurted out without sparing a glance at me___her sight seems to be fixed on Rosie as well.

I stared at her, the way her hair was folded up, revealing her neckline, perfectly. The way her hands were still tightly clutched to her ball dress, the way she had not blinked for once since she had been staring at the horse, and now, the way I think engaging in a conversation with her would not be so boring after all.

“You could adjust a horse’s rein?”

“Poor thing,” she answered instead.

“Why?” I asked.

“She’s not even going for a race and she has the rein on,”

“You know much about horses?”

“I have read knowledgeable things about them, not about fixing the reins. I cannot even mount a horse,”

“You don't know much,” I concluded__rather loudly than I would have wanted to.

“I know more about flowers,” she said with a rejuvenating tone and now, she took her gaze off the horse and was fixed on me.

I stared into her dark brown eyes as if searching for some answers but I was in fact trying to know how intelligent she was.

“What other books have you read?”

“I panned out of reading tons of books, beginning with Donne, Burns, and Blake and I as well admire Rime of the Ancient Mariner,”

“Rime of the Ancient Mariner?” I asked again, astonished and she nodded.

“Beautiful!” I commended and she smiled.

“Me? Or my taste in books?” she asked.

“What?” I was genuinely clueless.

“Beautiful,” she answered and I stared at her again for some time and before I could stop myself, I smiled.

“Both,” I quickly chipped in and her smile grew broader. I was not the well-deserving young man for ladies. I could master swinging a sword just for the spring than compliment ladies.

“Do you find the ball so boring that you would rather watch the horse struggle?” she asked me with a bit of shimmer in her eyes.

“Call her Rosie,”

“That does not give a response to my question, my lord,” she said with a rim of sarcasm in her voice.

I stood upright from the balcony railings__with a crooked smile at the corner of my lips, I asked her…

“Would you grace my stay here by dancing with me…my lady?”

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“You finally realized who you are dancing with. What do you say about your betrothed husband?” I asked.

I could see her being in a bit of a shock but I watched her as she regained her composure and replied to me decisively.

“I have not much to say about that,”

“Do you enjoy being sold off to the highest bidder like a piece of livestock?”

“Not when the duke himself lacks the intended standard that is required by the society,” she bounces back, her mood a bit more negative but I could see how much she was holding her composure with a bit of a witty riposte herself.

I chuckled and stared deeply into her eyes. There seems to be something so interesting about her and her eyes seem to dispense that truth. She is not afraid to put me in place with her words. She was not willing to accept all of my comments even though I believed she wanted me for my wealth. She is feisty for one so young.

I pulled her even closer to me than before and she stared aggressively into my eyes without budging

“Are you certainly up for what is to come?”

As I said those words to her attentive ears, she locked her gaze with mine without looking away, fiercely before she spoke.

“Are you prepared for what the season unfolds?” she retorted.

I stared deeply into her eyes for a while before smiling broadly. She is my betrothed wife, the Duchess, and the lady of my manor. I immediately see the mother of my kids in her.

I was not looking forward to having a Duchess this season but I guess I am looking forward to the life with this lady before me.

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