The Seeds of Love

Chapter One

At the age of six-and-twenty, Lady Matilde Berry should be married off and expecting children by now. Her father, Baron Clive Berry, however was terribly ill and struggled with the thought of losing his best caretaker. She refused to let the servants tend to her father every day and made it her mission to support him and give him whatever he required. It made her feel useful, and useful was the best thing she could be to her father. He was a caring man who had doted on Matilde as a child after her mother passed away and gave her everything she wished for. Now, she wanted to repay him by making sure he was as comfortable as possible with his current condition.

She did not understand everything the doctor told her about her father's condition but she knew his heart was weak. "Too much excitement in my youth!" he cried when the doctor told him about his condition.

"Your father will have to spend most of his remaining days under the most exceptional care and cannot endure anything that could upset the natural beating of his heart." the doctor explained to Matilde.

From then on, Matilde knew that her most important responsibility would be to her father. She put her desire for love and companionship aside and comforted herself with the idea that she would be useful to her father. She did not bother concerning herself with the notion that she could become an old maid, for her father's health was far more important to her than her own status.

Matilde was a kind girl with coffee colored hair and piercing blue eyes. Her appearance had caught the eyes of many eligible bachelors during her time in London during the summer seasons, but none of her potential suitors ever followed through. Matilde fancied herself different to the other girls at court who flashed their decadent jewelry and flirtatious smiles at any man they happened upon. She would rather busy herself in her garden at home in which she grew a sumptuous amount of unique flowers and hedges. She was not shy, as many of her friends liked to claim, but she certainly enjoyed the company of her own thoughts to that of a noisy and boisterous crowd.

The Baron said to Matilde one afternoon on a brisk April day while they were taking tea in the breakfast room of their country estate, "my dear, have you had any thoughts of marriage since your last expedition to London?"

"No," Matilde answered thoughtfully, "I really have no need to bother myself with such thoughts."

"But my dear child," the Baron answered warmly, "I have every intention for you to think of such things. I cannot expect you to be responsible for me for the rest of my life. I want you to go and experience the rest of the world and not have a second thought about an old man like myself." Matilde laughed at this.

"Oh father, you are not so old. You are barely five-and-fifty! I will always be thinking about my dear papa when I am off traveling the world as you say. I do not know who would want to show me the world though. Many think I am already too old to marry!" Matilde said.

"No no no. I will not hear more of this nonsense about you being too old. I think any man would be lucky to have you at any age," the Baron exclaimed, "In fact, I have just found just the man for you. He has lived in the county for a few years now, but I have just met his acquaintance. He is a duke and will make you very comfortable...and he seems very eager to meet you."

"Really father? I cannot imagine why he would want to court me. But, if it is as you say I shall meet him and determine for myself if he is worth leaving you to the care of the servants." Matilde was very excited to meet this new duke. She had barely made any new acquaintances in the past three years since her father was diagnosed and she began caring for him full-time. Maybe this mysterious duke would be the man to relieve her of her premature status of an old maid.

~

The next week, around three o'clock, a servant answered the door to admit a tall man with dark chocolate brown hair that was almost black and a grim expression on his perfectly chiseled face. His dark eyes traveled across the entrance hall when he entered the threshold and landed on a young woman entering the room from the right. She had a fair complexion, a lovely deep blue dress that perfectly complemented her figure and perfectly matched her piercing blue eyes. She smiled and walked towards him expectantly.