The Making of a Princess. by Lorrie Mae.

Opening of Two Hearts. PART 111.

Duke Callum de Moreau stood holding onto Daphne and he was beginning to feel very protective of her, after seeing her beaten so badly and the way she was pulling herself together so strongly, she was feeling so very vulnerable as he gently held her as she sobbed into the warmth of his body, she had finished her sobbing and was now feeling just a bit flabbergasted with all that was going on it was all a bit too much for her and she started to feel herself slowly dropping into a faint.

Callum could feel her body changing and held onto her as tightly as he could, she was as light as a feather when he picked her up, he called out for Jenny and Brittany, both of the girls came hurrying as fast as they could, they could hear the slightly anxiousness coming out of the Duke's voice, 'We will take her if you would like us too," said Jenny, "No it is alright I only have a small way to go, can you both go ahead and pull back the duvet so I can gently lay her on the bed, and then you can look after her, thank you both, I will call the doctor to come and check up on her," and he left and headed for his rooms.

Dr. Reeding had arrived and was speaking with the Duke," She has been walking slowly around the space from her room toward the stairs and back again her wounds seem to be taking along time to mend, and her emotional state is borderline, she broke down in my arms this morning," " That's a good thing it means her body is starting to heal itself, each time she has a moment like that, she will heal a little more, I am a great believer in that part of my patients healing. it takes a little bit of the sadness away as the body is saying I have had enough of this and therefore the tears are away of trying to mend itself, come with me and we can see her together." and so the two men walking side by side entered the room that Daphne was in.

Daphne had been awake for a little while, when the door to her room opened and two men entered, "Good morning Daphne how are you today," said the Dr." I just want to check up and see how you are healing and if there is anything I can do to help you, may I please have a look at your wounds , I will be very gentle, I just need to see that there is nothing nasty happening with some of the wounds that are deep into your body, where you were badly kicked by that beast of a man," and so with the help of Jenny on one side and Brittany on the other side, they gently moved her around so that the doctor could examine her very closely.

The Duke stood and watched on as Doc Reeding goes about his checking, it was when they pulled up the back of her dress that he saw how badly she had been hurt, there are bruises all over her back, he found himself staring at the carnage one man had done to this sweet young girl, it looked like she hadn't eaten anything in her young life, I have to sit down and help her, and so as soon as the doctor had finished with her he asked him to stay and talk with him. as they left her room he told Daphne that he will be back soon to have a talk if you are up to it.

Daphne was sitting next to the window, with the help of Brittany and Jenny they had her move out of her bed and she was now dressed in the beautiful blue dress that the duke had found for her, it was lightweight and cool, as with her body still trying to fight the injustice done to her by that horrible man George Aspen, she felt very comfortable and it was about time she told the Duke about herself. Her hair was brushed until it shone so brightly, the bruising on her face gave her an ethereal look, and when the Duke came into her room, he could only stand and stare at her, how beautiful she looked to him, here was a jewel that he had to protect, and he felt himself being pulled toward her in more than one way.

"Good morning Daphne it is so good to see you up out of bed, how are you feeling," he asked her gently as he picked up a chair and moved it over to where she was sitting, "I am feeling a lot better thank you, each day is a little better, thank you my lord, " she answered softly. "You should call me Callum as that is my name, we are friends are we not," he asked her, she looked at him a little frightened, as to herself she was feeling as if her place was below him, "I feel as if I would be over stepping my position if I called you that my lord, you see I have always been the servant never the lady, but in my mind somewhere I remember my dear mother being a well loved and well bred lady but that was all taken away from her, as my papa gambled away all of our belongings, they came and took all of the beautiful possessions that she had, and thus I was sent to the place of George Aspen.' She hung her head and started quietly crying, " I am so sorry, this is the first time I have talked about this with anyone," Daphne looked up at the Duke and upon seeing the caring look in his eyes, she kept on talking as truthfully as she could.

Callum handed her a handkerchief and she gently wiped her eyes, "Thank you, I must keep talking to you while I can, that horrible man will be out to get his revenge on me as I have the one thing he wants, and he thinks my parents have it, but with his nastiness, he has promised to hurt them until he gets what he wants, that is why I was trying to get away from him and to warn my parents what was going to happen, with the help of a few people in his employ I was escaping in the night, but I think someone turned me in, otherwise how did he find me".

Callum took ahold of Daphne's hand, "You must tell me everything but first give me a few minutes to organise a cup of tea for us both and then you can tell me all that you can, is that alright with you," he gently asked her, "Yes please, that would be lovely thank you." Callum opened the door and was gone for a few minutes, Daphne sat and looked out of the window, the gardens below were beautiful, if you listened quietly you could here the bees as they worked hard at getting all of the pollen there little bodies could carry, if only I could get the energy of these little guys I would be in a great place, and with that thought in her mind she decided she was going to clean the slate with all that she could and ask the Duke to help her.

Unknown to Daphne the Duke had entered the room and stood looking at her as she gazed out of the window, how beautiful she is, he thought and she doesn't even know it, I need to protect her so much, and I will start from now, and so he headed over to her, "The girls will be here soon and we will have a cup of tea, it always seems to relax me, what about you, " he asked. just then he heard the girls coming with the trolley, he got up to help them, "Would you girls like to have a break with us, I'm sure Daphne would not mind, and just as he finished talking he heard a familiar voice say "I will be in that too," and as they all turned around the Duke's friend Anthony was standing at the door.

"It is good to see you my friend," the Duke said, and Anthony gave his mate a slap on the back, "It's been awhile since I've seen you, I have been keeping an eye on that person of interest , so I'll talk to you a bit later, ,when we finish here. "I'm fine now thank you, if you would like to leave me, " said Daphne, "I think I will have a sleep if that is alright and I thank you for all you are doing," and with that she turned and thanked Jenny and Brittany for all they have done for her. Both girls looked at this lovely lady that they have been looking after, Brittany said gently, "There is no need to thank us your lady, it is our pleasure, " and with that both girls were ready to leave, but Daphne said, " You have me mixed up with someone else, I am no lady, I am just someone that has been found and needs some help." " You are a lady to us in every way your politeness, and your caring to even including us in talking to us, so we thank you for that, "and as the girls left to do their duties, Daphne was left pondering when she could tell the Duke that she was indead a Lady, and that is why Mr. Aspen wanted her to stay, but she must get all of her possessions that she had hidden, and give it to the Duke who would hopefully help her when he knows the truth, which she must see as a priority. She could not stop thinking about the Duke, he was such a caring man, and she could feel herself being drawn to him.