Chapter 41
Since he was pursuing marriage with Lady Lautrec, it was probably her that he meant.
But why, in a carriage alone with her, did he look directly into her eyes and speak as if she were that woman?
Diane’s heart was pounding so hard it felt like its vibrations were stronger than the carriage’s.
It must have been Lady Lautrec he was referring to, yet Diane was annoyed at herself for feeling so nervous. The Duke’s gaze was so warm she couldn’t calm her heart.
She turned her eyes to the window, worried he would notice her agitation if she looked at his face.
Outside, the sun had just set and darkness was beginning to fall.
She couldn’t tell where the Duke’s gaze was directed, but since he wasn’t speaking, she guessed he was also looking out the window.
“We’re almost there.”
The Duke’s voice broke the quiet that had settled in the carriage.
“Yes, it seems so.”
In front of the opera house, carriages and people were mingling in confusion.
The carriage stopped.
The Duke got out first and offered his hand to her.
Diane hesitated to take his hand, but not taking it would have seemed even stranger, so she lightly placed her hand in his.
The moment her hand touched his, the Duke took her hand and, as she stepped out of the carriage, whispered in her ear,
“I hope you have a wonderful time too, Diane.”
At that moment, her ear and neck burned as if scorched.
She stared at the Duke with eyes wide in surprise, but he just smiled with a calm expression, as if he hadn’t said anything unusual.
“I should go see the Earldom people for a moment.”
He gently released her hand and began walking toward the Earldom party who were waiting for him.
‘Diane.’
Had she misheard?
But she’d heard it so clearly.
Diane, Diane, Diane…
She stared blankly at the Duke’s back, then finally came to her senses and turned her head.
The hand that had touched the Duke, the earlobe his lips had brushed, still felt as if they were burning, her head was spinning, and her heart was pounding wildly.
❖
Lady Lautrec simply could not understand the situation.
Until the Duke stepped out of the carriage in front of the opera house, it had been a perfect day.
But why was the tutor following him out of the carriage?
She had been surprised, but not angry, when she heard the Duke’s explanation that Marquis Edward Wale had bought a ticket for the tutor, and so she had come along.
In fact, she felt somewhat reassured to confirm that the woman was the Marquis’s “Professional Beauty.”
Of course, the Duke had never actually described her as a “Professional Beauty.”
He’d only said the Marquis had bought a ticket for her, so she’d come along.
But from the Marquis’s behavior at dinner and in the tea room, it was obvious that he and the tutor were not just ordinary acquaintances. And no man from the Wale Duchy would ever seriously date a common woman, so it was clear that she was a Professional Beauty.
If the woman was a Professional Beauty, it made sense for the Marquis to have a commoner tutor at the dinner table.
And then, a Royal Box ticket.
For a tutor to have the Marquis’s “woman” ticket was blatant proof.
Opera houses were the most common places for Professional Beauties to appear.
Men could show off their woman’s beauty, and women could feel as if they had entered the world of nobles, satisfying their vanity. Such couples always appeared in these venues.
But if the tutor was the Marquis’s Professional Beauty, why wasn’t he watching the performance with her himself, leaving the Duke to watch with her instead?
When the Duke, clearly uncomfortable, had explained that he would watch only the first act with the “common” woman in the Royal Box, she’d lost all reassurance and was now angry even at the fact that the woman was a commoner.
She disliked the Marquis even more for creating this situation, which was so rude and absurd.
Throughout the performance, watching the two of them sitting together made her irritation grow.
She and her mother could never accept sitting in the same box as such a common woman, and her father certainly couldn’t sit with a young common woman. So they couldn’t even stop the Duke, and now, watching the two together, she almost regretted not watching the performance with the woman herself.
She couldn’t focus on the opera at all.
All her attention was on the Duke and the tutor sitting opposite her.
‘Professional Beauty, that vulgar woman!’
Even though neither the Duke nor the Marquis had ever said the tutor was a Professional Beauty, Lady Lautrec now considered it an established fact.
The woman was wearing a dress sold at the boutique where Lady Lautrec had shopped earlier that day.
It was made of the finest materials and was the boutique’s lead designer’s most prized work of the season—a dress every woman who visited the shop had admired.
Not only other women, but Heina herself had wanted it, but the length was a bit long and the waist too slim to alter in time, so she’d given up.
How could a common tutor afford or even choose such a dress?
She must have bought it with the Marquis’s money, as his Professional Beauty.
Rumor had it that Marquis Edward Wale cared only for business and not for women.
To think he was involved with the tutor…
She was a sly woman.
At least she was the Marquis’s woman, but the fact that she was in the box with the Duke was infuriating.
Lady Lautrec glared at the woman until the first act ended.
The Duke had to accompany her into the box for the first act, but for the second act, he would return to his own seat.
She forced herself to calm down and left for the lounge with her parents.
The Earl and Countess soon joined their peers and began chatting.
Lady Lautrec watched the door where the Duke would enter, sipping her drink alone, waiting for him to appear.
“Lady Lautrec.”
But before the Duke could approach, a group of “foxes” arrived first.
Instead of the Duke, several young ladies led by Lady Rose of the Rose Earldom approached Heina.
She wished she’d just waited for the Duke in the box.
Heina regretted coming to the lounge.
Many of these young ladies were vying for the Duke’s hand in marriage.
In fact, nearly all of them were.
The position of Duchess of the Wale Duchy was the most coveted among noblewomen, and the Duke himself was the most desirable husband.
He had the status of Duke, outstanding looks and youth, wealth and power. Even being a widower with a son didn’t detract from his appeal.
They must have seen the Duke with an unfamiliar woman and now swarmed to question her, hoping for an opportunity in Heina’s supposed failure.
“Hello, everyone. It’s been a while.”
Heina forced a smile.
“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you in the capital. We heard you were staying at the Wale Duchy. Did you come to the opera with the Duke, or did he come with someone else and you came separately?”
Lady Rose, representing the group, got straight to the point, and Heina clenched her teeth.
Not only these young ladies, but every noble in the opera house had seen the Duke sitting with the tutor in the box. If she didn’t explain, she’d be their laughingstock for some time.
She almost felt grateful that Lady Rose was asking directly.
It would have been awkward to start explaining that the Duke and the woman had no relationship, and that she was actually the Marquis’s commoner Professional Beauty.
On second thought, this was the perfect chance to protect her own reputation while exposing the woman.
“Of course I came with the Duke. He prepared Royal Box tickets for my parents and me.”
Heina held her head high.
She could not afford to appear weak to them.
“But the Duke was with another lady, wasn’t he? She was very beautiful…”
Lady?
Did they know her status and identity?
“She’s the Wale Duchy’s tutor, who was to attend with Marquis Edward Wale. She’s not a noble, so she couldn’t enter the Royal Box alone, so the Duke accompanied her for the first act. The Duke is kind not only to me, his fiancée-to-be, but also to all his staff. He’s very compassionate.”
“Oh… Marquis Wale?”
“If she’s not a noble… a commoner?”
“A staff member? A tutor?”
Questions flew from all directions among the young ladies.
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Aqua_the_idiot
Sigh sighhhh my baby diane is making enemies man. Also i hate the duke for making such a situation for the count’s daughter too like duh you are in marriage talks with her!?!?!? I understand her hatred