11 Donkey Nowkey

  It took them two and a half days to reach the Duke’s Stargaze manor in Nowkey. Everything about the place looked extravagant just like the aristocrat’s character. Rich didn’t justify his wealth. Mr. Lancaster didn’t dare touch the gold stair railings in case it was real and would be damaged. The butler helped them settle in their rooms.

  When the time for lunch came, Mr. Lancaster knocked gently on Joseph’s door and waited. Joseph opened the door quickly without the help of his footman, and exited, looking clean and handsome even in a set of clothes he had worn on many occasions. His beard was shaved, and his hair was neatly styled. It would be hard to hide him from women now that his fetching features were highlighted.

  “My Lord,” Lancaster said, his hand still in the air, “You are ready.”

  “Of course,” Joseph said, fixing his sleeves. “We said we would meet the Duke and his lovely bride at lunch.”

  “Yes. But I thought you would be more...”

  “Drunk?” Joseph asked, and Mr. Lancaster swallowed hard. “It’s all right. I know what a mess I am. I haven’t started drinking yet because I’d like to taste the wines of the best alcohol collectors in England. Shall we?”

  They got to the dining room and waited for the Duke and his betrothed to arrive. It seemed a rather personal gathering with only a few peers that Joseph knew. Joseph had never been close with the duke. He wondered why he was invited to such a private affair. All they could talk about with Joseph was how happy they were that he had miraculously regained his health, and also how much thinner he looked than last year. Joseph breathed deeply and gave Mr. Lancaster a side look for failing to save him from unwanted comments.

  The Duke of Nowkey appeared in sight with the future Duchess by his side. Everyone gave their full attention to them. After greetings and short chit-chats, the Duke and his fiancé approached Joseph.

  “Mainwood!” the Duke said, extending his hand to shake Joseph’s, which was odd. They weren’t close.

  “Your Grace,” Joseph said with a smile.

  “You look fantastic!”

  Joseph chuckled. “You’re the first to tell me that.”

  “Of course you look thinner. But you’re vigorous. I haven’t seen you since—“

  “Lord Turner’s wedding. Yes. You have been quite busy on your trips around the world.”

  “That’s how I met my lovely betrothed. Allow me to introduce her,” he said, taking the hand of the lady by his side. “Lady-–”

  “Lady Vasquez of Bornos,” Joseph said with surprise.

  The Duke arched his brow. “You know Lady Vasquez?”

  Joseph didn’t think much to remember. “She was at the ball of Prince Dominic a few years ago,” he said without parting his look from her. “You and my wife talked about helping the orphanage of Hoffman. You said you were inspired to have an orphanage in your city.”

  Lady Vasquez smiled and nodded. “You have a very sharp memory, my lord.” Her Spanish accent was endearing. “I never thought you would recall my conversation with your wife. People mostly didn’t take me seriously. I was merely a child then.”

  Joseph nodded shortly, cherishing the memory. “You were a kind child. It seems like it was only yesterday.”

  “Indeed,” Lady Vasquez said. “How is your wife?” The heavy question wiped off everyone’s smile, and a silence fell upon them. The Duke cleared his throat. Lady Vasquez realized she had made a mistake. “I’m sorry. Is there something wrong?” she asked.

  “The countess passed a long time ago,” the Duke said, and Lady Vasquez’s face fell.

  “Not too long,” Joseph said with a smile. “Two years and three months ago, to be exact.”

  A gloomy look replaced her smile. “Dios mio! Lord Mainwood, I had no clue. I’m terribly sorry for your loss.”

  “It’s all right. How could you know?”

  “Lady Mainwood was one of the nicest women I have ever met. Her intentions were pure, and her heart was as big as—”

  “Pfft, I’m sure Lord Mainwood has better things to do than talking about his late wife,” said the Duke, interrupting her rudely. Joseph looked at him with a wry smile. “Let us take a seat, dear. Everyone’s starving,” the Duke said, dragging Lady Vasquez with him, but it was clear that Lady Vasquez wanted to stay and talk more with Joseph since she kept looking back at him.

  “I’m sorry, My Lord,” Mr. Lancaster said to Joseph.

  “What are you sorry for?” Joseph asked.

  “That was terribly wrong and insensitive of the Duke.”

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  “If you ever wondered, that’s why people call him Donkey Nowkey,” Joseph said, and Mr. Lancaster chuckled, drawing attention to himself. It took him a while to stop and clear his throat. Joseph couldn’t remember the last time he saw Mr. Lancaster’s smile, let alone laugh.

  “My lord. You never insult people!” Lancaster whispered.

  Joseph raised a shoulder. “I’m trying new hobbies.”

  “Please do not insult the Duke. They shall not tolerate it at such an event.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll consider his fragile ego.”

  They all took their seats around the table and started eating and chatting. Things were normal. Joseph had managed to stay off the conversations and tasted the wine which was the only good thing he found about Nowkey.

  “Lord Mainwood would always go there,” the Duke said while talking to someone beside him. Joseph’s ears picked up his name, but he didn’t want to join the conversation. “Isn’t that right, Mainwood?” the Duke almost yelled for Joseph to hear them.

  Joseph’s head turned to him. “Pardon me, Your Grace. I didn’t hear you,” he lied.

  “When we were at Oxford, you used to talk about this place you always liked going to,” the Duke said.

  “Ah, yes,” Joseph said. “The Quins Lake.”

  “Yes. Lord Parlings was telling me about growing up around that lake.”

  Joseph glanced at the man by the Duke, who was looking back at him with a grin. The man raised his glass of wine, and Joseph did the same.

  “I had heard you were sick, my lord,” Lord Parlings said.

  Joseph’s hand tightened around his glass. He nodded once. “Yes. Everyone’s heard that.”

  “Thank God you’re well now, Mainwood,” the Duke said. “I couldn’t have tolerated your cousin, Mr. Capell, even for a second.”

  Everyone laughed at his ‘funny’ insight.

  “With that dreadful accent of his,” the Duke added while grinning. “The man did not speak English!”

  Everyone laughed again.

  Joseph didn’t. Not that he was sensitive about Capells. He found the Duke’s way of mocking others quite rude. Lady Vasquez had an accent too, and Joseph thought how stupid the Duke might have seemed to her. Did he insult her too? He subconsciously searched for Lady Vasquez’s face. She was sitting on the other side of the Duke with a dry smile on her mouth, unintentionally showing she wasn’t amused either.

  “How are you well right now, Mainwood?” the Duke asked, and everyone got quiet. They all looked at Joseph.

  “I beg your pardon?” Joseph said.

  “How did you get well?” the Duke asked again. “We all had heard you had only a few days to live. What happened?”

  Joseph was surprised by how insensitive a man with a title could be. He cleared his throat and put his glass on the table. “A hooded man,” he said as everyone was listening.

  Lady Vasquez’s glass fell on the floor and shattered to pieces. She flushed while looking down at the broken shards by her side of the table. “Forgive me, Lord Mainwood,” she said. “Please go on.” For a confident, dynamic woman like her, she seemed quite distraught.

  Joseph wondered what was wrong while watching a servant approach the table and gather the broken pieces. He looked at his glass of wine and then back at the Duke. “A man in hood did some hocus pocus, and et voila!” he said. “Here I am.”

  Everyone stayed quiet for a few seconds, which lasted like an eternity. Witchcraft was always a sensitive topic to mention in public.

  Lord Parlings started laughing, and the tension dissolved. They all laughed, and Joseph’s atement was treated as a joke. Mr. Lancaster breathed deeply and gave Joseph a warning look. Joseph ignored and continued drinking.

  “You’ve become quite odd, Lord Mainwood,” the Duke said. He turned his look to Lady Vasquez. “When you met him years ago, was he like this?” he asked her.

  Lady Vasquez smiled wryly. “Lord Mainwood and his wife treated me with grace. I was merely a stranger at the ball. His wife made me feel at home.”

  “How would you know if he was odd back then?” the Duke said. “You couldn’t understand our language properly until last month.”

  Everyone laughed at the duke’s mean jokes, even the future Duchess. They didn’t care how insensitive they were.

  “I bet you still don’t understand us!” the Duke added, and the laughters got louder.

  “Lady Vasquez spoke English not so well,” Joseph confirmed, looking at the Duke, and everyone got quiet, waiting for the rest of his sentence, “Since it’s the second language she speaks. How is your Spanish accent, Your Grace?” he asked, meaning to humiliate the Duke just like he had been insulting everyone for the past hour.

  No one laughed. The Duke’s smile faded. He stared at Joseph, not saying a word. It was silly how he could detect disrespectful comments toward himself but not toward others. “I don’t need to speak a second language,” he said with a death stare.

  Joseph nodded. “It was a jest,” he said to lighten the mood, “I guess I am quite odd now after my near-death experiment.”

  Some of the people around the table chuckled lowly. The Duke smiled and decided to let Joseph’s disrespect slip. He diverted his look away from Joseph and started talking to Lord Parlings.

  After dinner, Joseph felt the need for a stronger drink to wash away all the unnerving conversations, so he visited the Duke’s winery and looked for anything other than wine. Hundreds of rows were filled with bottles. Joseph found the duke’s collection striking, but nothing heavier than wine seemed to exist there.

  “Lord Mainwood,” a feminine voice startled him.

  Joseph turned around and saw Lady Vasquez. “My Lady,” he said in surprise. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes.” She approached him and uncovered an empty glass from her dress. “If you don’t tell, I won’t.”

  Joseph smiled. He had never seen an unmarried lady close to her wedding with such courage. She didn’t seem anxious like she was at dinner. Joseph filled her glass without questioning or judging her and then again searched for the drink he had in mind.

  “It seems you don’t mind getting ruined easily,” Lady Vasquez said.

  “Because I’m drinking alone in the winery with the future duchess by my side?” he asked, not looking at her.

  “You’re not a fool after all.”

  “I am a fool. I just filled your glass.”

  “You don’t care about getting in trouble.”

  “It’s hard to care when everyone looks blurry.”

  Lady Vasquez approached Joseph. She drank from her glass and watched him search for his favorite drink. “I noticed your gentle attempt to defend me at lunch,” she said. “It’s audacious to defy the duke.”

  Joseph shrugged. “A man mustn’t disrespect a lady before everyone, especially his fiancé.” He kneeled to look at the lower rows. “A duke or not, he must know that.”

  “You didn’t have to do that for me.”

  He looked at her. “I would always defend you, My Lady.” He returned his gaze to the drinks.

  A few seconds of silence filled the air until Lady Vasquez spoke again. “I didn’t know that you were sick,” she said.

  “You’re the only one who didn’t.”

  “Did a hooded man save your life?”

  “It’s an old maid’s tale.”

  “Who? The Pedlar?”

  “Yes.” He suddenly realized she knew something. Joseph straightened his height and turned around to look at her. She had his full attention, and it was amusing for her. “How do you know what he’s called?”

  “You said it.”

  “I only called him the hooded man. I never said ‘the pedlar’.”

  Lady Vasquez smiled. “Well, I know him.”

  Is Lady Vasquez dangerous? :)