By the next morning, Lady Louisa was quite sure that she might have been a little quick to take offense. After such a long and tedious evening like the one before, a night of rest always seemed to clear things up.
She was confused by his bidding her goodnight when he left her with Mrs. Vance in the breakfast room. All was made clear after her discussion with the cook and return to the drawing room. The Duke had never returned, stating that he was suddenly not feeling well and to please excuse him for the night.
She then proceeded to be pestered by her aunt and elder cousin about what she could have possibly done or said to him to offend him so. She was still determined that if anyone should be hurt by their time in the breakfast room, it should be her.
Perhaps he didn’t mean the words to come out as they did but he still said them. It had nothing to do with the jealous feelings welling deep down inside her every time she heard him compliment Miss Elisabeth.
Lady Louisa had to admit that she was a bit relieved when they first spoke alone in that breakfast room and he told her of the tedium he too felt over the night. She couldn’t believe all that he had been subjected to from Miss Elisabeth, and then to take it with such an air of appreciation and flow of compliments… It was astonishing to Lady Louisa at first.
But then it also solidified her opinion that the Duke was no more than a spineless creature who did and said anything to please others. How could someone like that ever be trusted when the fact of the matter was they would say anything, disguise themselves in any way, to get the desired result?
Lady Louisa was determined to shake all ideas of the Duke promptly out of her head. This would be a complicated matter as she would be seeing his cook later that afternoon.
Mrs. Vance was all too ready to help Lady Louisa with her medicinal garden endeavors. She even suggested that Lady Louisa returned the following day from their discussion in the afternoon so that she might show her around Mrs. Vance’s own medicinal herb garden.
Perhaps if Lady Louisa had not been quite so exhausted at the time from listening to Miss Elisabeth’s high-pitched singing all night long, she would have had the clarity of mind to suggest they meet elsewhere. As it was, the meeting was set, and Lady Louisa could not cancel it.
“I must confess I was very disappointed with your behavior last night,” Rowland’s uncle announced upon finally finding him sitting in the library.
“Uncle James, I know you are, but I fear I have no way to make you feel better about the matter,” Rowland said, finding himself feeling decidedly defeated at the moment.
He had spent the whole night in his room tossing in his bed, wondering how he could have said things in such a wrong way to Lady Louisa, and on two separate occasions. Even worse was the fact that he cared so much about it and didn’t know why.
“I suggest you find one,” Mr. Vaughan said, sternly looking down at his nephew. It strongly resembled the way he had scolded him as a child. “You could start by telling me why on earth you left your own dinner party without so much as a farewell. It was very embarrassing for me to see the ladies off after such an event.”
“I couldn’t bring myself to return to the room,” Rowland simply answered.
“Why ever not?”
“Because I was sure that if I did, I would have told Miss Elisabeth Hendrickson what I truly thought of her incessant chatter about herself. Ugh,” he said getting up from his seat and pacing the room. “I could bear it no longer. I am tired of these stupid superficial games. If this is what it takes to get my inheritance, then I am quite ready to wait until my thirtieth birthday, Uncle.”
“You could force me to be a beggar on the streets until then, and I wouldn’t care in the least. I cannot bring myself to marry at this time. I will not be subjected to pretending that I care when I don’t. I have no desire to have wife hold me down, and I don’t know that I ever will be.”
“My boy,” Mr. Vaughan said in a softer tone as he took his nephew's place on the cushioned chair. “It is my fault really that you feel this way. I influenced you against such a thing. You must know that I am the exception to a rule that must be followed.”
“Then perhaps I will follow it, perhaps I will not. Why does it matter so much that I am not an exception also?”
“Because you have a title to think about. With no heir of your own, and certainly none from me, there would be no one left. Do you really want your father’s legacy, and your grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s legacy, to end in such a way? It is not always easy, these responsibilities we are born into. But this is yours, and you must find a way to bear it. The sooner you do this, the better. There are certainly worse things in life,” he added with a lopsided smile.
Rowland didn’t answer but instead stared into the unlit fireplace as he thought over his uncle's words.
“Listen, Lady Hendrickson suggested something last night, and I rather like the idea. Let us have a private ball here at the estate. We will invite all the ladies and respectable families in all the counties surrounding the area. Perhaps then you will find a girl who piques your interest.”
“The problem is that, all these ladies see is the Duke and not the man I am. They will not be themselves, and I won't be able to be myself. How am I to discern an agreeable match in such a situation?”
His uncle contemplated on this for a few moments. It was clear that Rowland was looking for that elusive fairytale that children were fed. That he would find love. James Vaughan knew it to be a fantasy and nothing more.
“We shall make it a masquerade ball,” Mr. Vaughan announced after a few moments of contemplation. “No one will know one from the other if so one desires. In that way, you can find the truth and realize that your silly dream of a perfect match is nothing but that, a dream.”
“And if I don’t find someone to my liking, will I be forced to choose anyway or suffer the consequences?” Rowland asked his uncle with a weary look to his emerald eyes.
His uncle gave a long huff. “If I place you in a room full of eligible beautiful women all hoping to marry you and yet you fail to find one to your liking, I will have to surmise that all my years influencing you have rotted you to the core, and there is no hope. I will be liberated from any guilt, knowing I did all I could for the sake of your parents. Your soul will be in your own hands,” Mr. Vaughan announced before rising from his seat and leaving the room.
The arrangement seemed agreeable to Rowland. It would give him a proper chance to search out a possible companion in earnest, and also free him of the obligation if he was unable to do so, which he found very likely.
He thought, if he would be able to hurry with the proceedings, then perhaps he could be done with the matter and set sail for the Indies before the winter storms settled in. With that hopeful thought in his head, he at once began to organise the preparations needed.
Lady Louisa was very hesitant as she arrived at Bassen Park. It was a massive estate, however, and the likelihood of her actually seeing the Duke was no doubt very small. It was an interaction she didn’t want to deal with. In all honesty, she wasn’t even entirely sure how she would deal with it.
Luckily, when the butler, whom she recognized as Fredrick, opened the door, he showed her straight to the kitchen without any interruption. There, all her attention was given to Mrs. Vance, and all apprehension left her.
The afternoon was first spent walking the gardens directly behind the kitchen. They were vast and glorious to behold. Though Mrs. Vance couldn’t grow everything she needed, she endeavored to grow as much as possible right there on the property. She was sure that it made the produce that much sweeter to the taste.
While they talked of various plants and herbs and their medicinal properties, Mrs. Vance also shared a lot about herself. Mrs. Vance had not grown up far from Bassen Park, and her father even was a gardener of the property before the house was closed down for an extended time. Even after that, he still came to tend to the gardens and park in proximity to the estate.
It was because of this dedication that the Duke sought her family out immediately upon his arrival. Though her father had passed, he had also given Mrs. Vance all his knowledge of the land and the ability to produce incredible nourishment from it.
Up until the Duke's return, she had solely used that knowledge to help others with any ailments in the village. Lady Louisa learned that the nearest doctor was at least a day’s ride away. Mrs. Vance was very often the only source of help in situations of illness, accident, or birth.
“You must be very busy all the time,” Lady Louisa remarked. “I do feel bad to know that I am taking up your free time when you must get so little of it.”
“I don’t mind it at all. In fact, I rather like having someone to pass knowledge on to as I have no children of my own. I must admit,” Mrs. Vance said, looking around as if she was about to reveal a deep dark secret, “I have a bit of a selfish reason for it as well.”
“And what is that?” Lady Louisa asked.
“I was hoping if I showed you a thing or two, your ladyship wouldn’t mind tending to those in need when I can’t. It wouldn’t be anything horrible. Just perhaps if a child goes sick or the like. I could show you what to do, and it would be a great relief to me knowing that someone was available when I couldn’t be.”
“Mrs. Vance, I scarcely think you could have asked a more willing participant.”
Mrs. Vance gave a sigh of relief at her words.
“Now, it seems you know enough about the various uses of plants,” Mrs. Vance said while she rubbed her hands together as if they were truly now getting down to business.
“Yes, I have been studying the different herbs and their uses for a few months now. It is what inspired me to plant the garden here. I am afraid I know nothing past what I have read in books, however.”
“That’s quite fine. Let’s come inside,” she waved and started the way back into the house. “I will show you how to dry and press what needs it. Then we can move on to extractions and teas.”
Lady Louisa happily followed behind her teacher as they made their way back into the kitchen for the rest of her lesson that day. She promised herself to pay close attention to all the knowledge that Mrs. Vance could give her so that she could also pass it along to Miss Mary. She was sure her youngest cousin would also find this work most interesting.