The Fraudulent Duchess | ONC 2022

Chapter One | The Overheard Conversation

    "Candide by Voltaire," I continued to mutter under my breath as I entered His Lordship's library.
    I was not one for reading books written by French philosophers, or any philosophical books. However, Lady Gwendoline, my mistress, was. She said she enjoyed reading books that made her think and question matters. When she attempted to explain the plot of Candide to me, she stopped shortly after she began, knowing that I had not understood anything. After all, my training to become a lady's maid did not involve any French or philosophy of any kind.
    "Candide by Voltaire," I repeated, as I roamed the shelves, not remembering how His Lordship organized the books. Were they by author or genre? I hoped that it would be by authors' last names since I did not understand the plot enough to know what the book's genre was. Unless there was a philosophy section, but if there was, I had no idea where it might be.
    I headed deeper into the library towards the back where there was a little nook, where books written by authors whose last names started with 'V' should be. I knew that I had to find the book quickly and give it to Lady Gwendoline. She was expected to devote a couple of hours to her studies that day, but she always wanted to have a non-assigned book with her in case she got bored.

    I crouched down to look at the books on the bottom shelves when I heard the library door open. At first, I thought it might have been Lady Gwendoline, arriving to fetch the book herself since I had taken too long. But then I heard my employer, Lord Winton's voice and crouched down even further. It seemed inappropriate to hide from him, but I did not want Lady Gwendoline to get in trouble for neglecting her studies. Lord Winton had lectured her many times about the importance of her education.
    "Come now, Cecil, you do not have to be this dramatic," Lord Winton declared. For he was never the sort of person to stand for any type of nonsense.
    "I know that you believe that I am a dramatic person, however this time, I am not," came another man's voice. It took me a moment to recognize it, but I then realized that it belonged to the Duke of Bedford. He had gone to university with His Lordship, and the two of them had remained friends ever since.
    "Well, how bad is it then?"
    "It is bad."
    "Cecil, I am trying to help you. But I cannot do so if you speak in vague terms. Tell me how bad the situation is."
    "I could lose the estate."
    I almost let out a gasp. I did not know much about the Duke of Bedford, apart from the information I gathered from seeing him come and go from the Winton Estate over the years. However, I knew that the last thing a nobleman wanted was to lose his estate. It seemed that in high society, losing one's estate was the worst thing that one could do. Since neither I nor my parents had ever owned a house, I did not understand the importance of an estate. Lady Gwendoline tried to explain to me that an estate is linked to a man's legacy. Although after saying such a thing, she admitted that she did not understand it either; she remembered overhearing her brother saying something similar.
    "What do you mean you could lose the estate?" Lord Winton inquired. "How could it be that bad?"
    "I never paid much attention to the accounts when I was younger," the Duke of Bedford explained. "And I never bothered to make budgets, which I realize now was a foolish idea, but I was still young at the time. Now everything seems to be catching up to me. If I do not want the people who live on my estate to live in squalor, I will have to sell the house."
    Lord Winton let out a series of swear words that I knew he would never think of uttering in front of Lady Gwendoline. It was odd for me to hear it as well since Lord Winton normally kept himself well-composed.
    "Well, how much do you need?" Lord Winton inquired. I heard a drawer opening, no doubt the one that he kept his cheque book in.
    "I cannot ask you to give me money," the Duke of Bedford protested.
    "You did not ask. I can see that you and your estate are in trouble, and I wish to help you. Now. tell me how much you need."
    "You do not understand, Ernest. It would not be fair of me to ask you for this amount of money; it is too much."
    "Then let me give you some, at least. Enough to keep you going until you can find a solution."
    "Ernest..."
    "Is your pride going to cause you to sell Bedford!?" Lord Winton exclaimed.
    There was silence, and for a moment, I thought it meant that the two were leaving the library. However, the silence had been caused by a moment of realization when the two men recognized how dire the Duke of Bedford's situation was.
    "Cecil, I am sorry for raising my voice, and for speaking in such a rash manner," Lord Winton said. "Do forgive me."
    "Of course," the Duke replied. "After all, I know that you only act like this because you care too much. It is how you react whenever you hear about the latest stunt that Gwendoline tried to pull off."
    The men chuckled, and I almost did as well. Lady Gwendoline was not the most ladylike, not that I minded. It was far more interesting working for her than any other mistress. The previous week she had gone riding with her governess and not only did she refuse to ride side-saddle, she then declared a race against the supervising groom. While she did win, she almost crashed into a tree, and when Lord Winton found out, he lectured her for ages about how she could have gotten herself killed.

    "Well then, if you will not accept my financial help, what is your plan?" Lord Winton inquired.
    "I just had an idea, although it may be a daft one," the Duke of Bedford informed.
    "I am sure that it is daft. Unfortunately, most of your plans are."
    "Anyway," the duke ploughed on, ignoring His Lordship's comment. "I remembered this proposition that my Aunt Adelaide offered me many years ago."
    "Oh?"
    "Well, for some reason, she says that once I marry that she will give my future wife a generous sum, and some sort of allowance."
    "Really? Why?"
    "You have met my aunt, who knows why she does the things that she does. It has something to do with the return of a dowry or something of the sort. But regardless of her reasons, if I get married, then I get my wife to give me the money, then the estate will be safe."
    "But the money is meant for your wife."
    Although I was still listening to the conversation, and quite curious about the Duke's aunt, I was still scanning the shelves for Candide. I finally spotted it and went to pull it out, which unfortunately caused a whole row of books to crash to the floor.

    "Who is there?" Lord of Winton called out, as I winced from the embarrassment of being caught."Gwen, is that you?"
    I heard footsteps approach, and I knew that the two men were getting closer. I kept a grip on the book, took a deep breath then got to my feet.
    "Susan?" Lord Winton asked in bewilderment.
    "My lord," I mumbled, bobbing a curtsey. "Your Grace."
    "What are you doing back here?"
    "I am sorry, my lord. I did not mean to overhear your conversation with His Grace. I had been looking for a book when the two of you entered, and..."
    I trailed off, not having a good explanation as to why I did not leave once they came in. Or why it took me this long to reveal myself. Or why I had to bring a whole row of books down.
    "Voltaire," the Duke of Bedford observed, peering at the book in my hand. "I have read it more than once; interesting choice there. Susan, was it?"
    Before I had a chance to respond, Lord Winton snatched the book from my hand with a groan.
    "This is Gwen's doing, isn't it?" He sighed. "She sent you down here to fetch this because she knows that she is supposed to be focusing on her studies right now."
    "I am sorry, my lord," I replied. "I should not have gone along with Lady Gwendoline's plan."
    "No, it is not your fault, Susan. You are loyal to her, which is an admirable trait, and why I have you as her lady's maid."
    "Thank you, my lord."
    "You may go."
    I curtsied to the two of them and quickly made my way to the door. I did not bother to ask for the book back; I was too relieved to get out of the library.
    "Why is Gwen interested in Voltaire?" I heard the Duke of Bedford ask as I closed the door, followed by Lord Winton letting out a loud groan.

    Later that afternoon, I found myself returning to the library. While His Lordship had not asked me to do so, I wanted to clean up the mess that I made. And to see if I could find another book for Lady Gwendoline to read since her brother confiscated Candide.
    When I entered the library, I found the Duke of Bedford on the couch. I made to leave again, but he motioned me in with his hand.
    "Your Grace," I curtsied.
    "Ah, you again," the Duke of Bedford nodded. "Susan, was it?"
    "Yes, your grace."
    "Well, I am glad that I ran into you. For I have been thinking quite a bit over the past few hours. Which, if you ask Ernest, is never good for others involved. But, I do have a question for you...or more of a proposition."
    "For me, your grace?"
    "Yes. As you heard earlier, my aunt...well my great-aunt, is willing to give my future wife a generous sum, and an allowance. And I need that money to keep my estate afloat."
    "I am dreadfully sorry to hear about your estate, your grace."
    "Anyway," the Duke of Bedford continued, ignoring my comment. "I need that money, but as Ernest pointed out, it technically would belong to my future wife. So I am not sure if I would be able to get my hands on it. Then I suddenly had an idea; you."
    "Me?" I repeated, confused and forgetting that he was a duke and I should have been addressing him more formally.
    "You already know everything!" He exclaimed, now breaking into a smile. "It would not be deceit, because you already know! So I have this proposition for you, Susan: we pretend that we are husband and wife. Then when my aunt gives you the money, you split it with me."
    I opened my mouth but found that I could not find anything to say, so I closed it again. I did not know what I could say. The Duke of Bedford's plan was ridiculous. There were so many things that could go wrong, and I had no idea how he planned to pull it off.
    But then I remembered how sad he had seemed during the earlier conversation in the library. And how worried Lord Winton was over the idea of his friend losing his estate. Lord Winton was the best employer that I ever had, and the Duke of Bedford was his closest friend. Besides, receiving half of a generous sum would not be the worst thing in the world...
    "Susan?" The Duke of Bedford said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "What do you think of my proposition?"
    "I accept it, Your Grace," I replied.