“I am sending your carriage off.” 

The nerve of Gregory Smith to intervene. She motions for the coachman to wait. “No, you are not."

“Lady Celeste, the attack on your family was recent. What if you meet danger on your return?”

“So, your solution is to rid me of my only way back home?”

“I shall escort you to your manor instead.”

She nearly yells, “That is not your decision to make. I am getting on.”

When Celeste reaches for the carriage’s door, Gregory promptly shuts it and directs his words to the coachman. “Leave right this instant or I’ll break your legs.”

Taking the warning of the nobleman earnestly, the coachman apologizes to Celeste before riding off. She angrily looks on– Gregory spent the entirety of the tea party demeaning her and her family and now he offers to protect her? Only children would pull stunts like this. 

“My carriage should arrive any moment now–,” 

“In what world would I willingly get into an enclosed space with you?” she sharply cuts in. 

It is clear that he holds her words with little weight. It isn't difficult upon seeing how he continues to ignore her and force her into following his whims with no input from her.

“You would be delighted to hear what I have to share.”

“There was nothing you’ve said to me today that has served my interest and I fail to see how that would change.” 

Far from the manor, he finds that it is just the two of them alone and he goes on to reveal, “Let’s get engaged.”

He’s truly an idiot.

She fails to find any humor in his words to even laugh. “Stay away from me.”

She decides to return to Emma’s manor first to request for another carriage when Gregory grabs her hand, pulling her to a stop. 

“I mean what I say, My Lady. My father isn’t Count Lane’s biggest supporter, but he would have no choice but to be one if you are married into the family. I would also have a reason to lend guards while Duke Ellis would have no reason to leave his knights at your manor.”

“I do not need your help.” She pulls against him, but he refuses to release her.

She would have had to drop to the deepest depths of despair to ever depend on a useless man like Gregory Smith.

“Give my words some consideration. My father has made a name for himself amongst the nobility for his trading skills. Your father’s support will only grow with him on his side.”

Gregory Smith’s father does not serve the inner royal court, how much hold could he possibly have over it and the officials? She will also be an idiot if she is ever swayed by his words. 

“No, Lord Gregory– after everything I’ve said, how can you still not know how much I dislike you?”

He has been attempting to corner her father and now he wants to try the same tactic on her? Did he intend to make her feel hopeless and fall right into his arms?

“You don’t seem to understand, Lady Celeste,” Gregory counters, “There are rumors.”

“Yes, the ones you’ve started.”

“No, I have never uttered the word ‘treason’.”

Treason?

Her glare is unyielding until the sound of a galloping horse causes her to break eye contact first. The two of them are standing in perfect view of the rider, but the horse still cuts close enough to Gregory to force him back a couple steps and he finally lets go of her hand.

Though the visitor meets her confused eyes, he directs his words to Gregory. “My apologies for not seeing you there.”

If there is a Gregory Smith, there is a Duke Ellis that comes momentarily after. She has confirmed it for a third time.  

“Your Grace?” she mutters before remembering her manners. “Greetings.”

Whether the duke's words of apology are true or not, Gregory has no choice but to accept his excuse. He brushes off the dust coating his clothes and clears his throat.

“Lady Celeste.”

She couldn’t help but feel small before the duke as he calls out to her. The added height from him mounted on his horse doesn’t help either.

“I believe you were asked to remain home for the time being,” he reminds her.

“I had something important to attend, Your Grace.” It would defeat her whole purpose of being here if she shrinks away from his words. 

What a strange turn the day has taken.   

“A tea party?”

“It has been two weeks. Life moves on, does it not?”

“Many would say two weeks is soon.”

Then when should she consider it ‘not soon’? “My father leaves the manor.”

“To attend court meetings.” 

"And would you say my tea party is not important then?"

"I wouldn't say they're not equally important."

"So, insignificant?" 

She catches herself throwing a tantrum and expects the duke to fully admonish her for her antics, but he sighs instead.

“You should have been accompanied by some knights." 

“They are your knights, Your Grace. Not mine to order around. In any case, what brings you here?”

Even if she is currently ignoring Gregory, she is prompted to prevent further mention of the knights in front of the oaf. She would only hear more drivel the next time they meet.

“I am here to escort you home.”

Is he running errands for her family now?

The kingdom’s duke?

She couldn’t understand the man before her. Is he not aware of what people are saying? What has her father done for Duke Ellis to assist so blindly? If she didn’t know any better, she would think he has some sort of unsettled debt that he owes her father.

“Pardon me, Your Grace, but for a noble lady to ride a horse in a gown–,”

Before Gregory Smith can utter any more foolishness, she interrupts. “I will accept your escort, Your Grace.” Without another minute to spare, she takes hold of his hand and is easily lifted.  

Sitting in between the duke's arms atop the horse, she looks down. “At your leisure, Lord Gregory–,”

“Lady Celeste!”

“Be sure to tell Lady Isabel what you’ve just witnessed and have a… day.”

“What–,”

The horse takes off and at a great speed causing Celeste’s body to jolt backwards into the duke's. 

“I will not let you fall.” 

Trusting his words, she allows herself to simply feel the breeze against her face and in relief, she could also sense the anger within her slowly dissipating. She wanted to get as far away as she could from Gregory and not have to think of any of his words. 

“Are you still uncomfortable? Should I slow down?”

“Do not mind me.”

She looks down at her hands to find the newly repaired pendant broken once more. Anne would be disappointed at the sight.

“Who was that man you were with?” 

“Pardon? Oh, Gregory Smith.”

“Where have I seen him before?” he mutters mostly to himself.

“You ran into us that night of the royal banquet.”

“Is he the reason you defied Count Lane’s wishes and attended a tea party?”

She’s shocked by the many questions and by his conclusion. What is he suggesting? She shoots a look over her shoulder. “Did you mistake my look of annoyance for one of endearment?”

“I based my assumption on seeing how close you two stood from afar. If I came at the wrong time, I apologize.”

“He is the one encroaching my personal space,” she argues.

She looks down at the hand Gregory held onto and grimaces from disgust. How boorish of a man to put his hands on a woman he isn’t even close to!

“Were you two having a love quarrel?”

“Your Grace!”

Duke Ellis suddenly pulls on the horse’s reins and the animal rears. Celeste shuts her eyes in fright and only opens it when she feels the sudden warmth leaving her back.

She watches the duke, in no rush, dismount and walk back a couple feet to pick something up off the ground. In silence, she watches him return to her side. She closes her lips, waiting with bated breath for him to call out her insolence towards him.

She wonders how one can fit their name so well. Though she expects that he might finally lose his patience.

Yet, he doesn’t.

He gently brushes the dust off of the pendant she hadn't realized had fallen from her hand and places it back into her possession. “Count Lane is worried about you.”

The air around him changes to a lighter one, but she refuses to be caught up in his pace.  

“I saw your carriage on my way to your location,” he remarks.

“Lord Gregory threatened the coachman to leave without my verbal consent,” she answers with a softer, but stern tone. She wants no more misunderstandings when it comes to Gregory.

“What would you have done had I not arrived?”

“I would have requested a carriage from Emma.”

“I must ask– was the tea party worth all this trouble?”

“What you have mentioned are nothing more than small inconveniences, Your Grace.”

“Then my appearance was of no help to you?”

Well, she couldn’t possibly deny that his assistance resulted in the best-case scenario, but she also needed to prove a point. “The so-called trouble would have been Gregory Smith prolonging the tiresome situation, but I would not have allowed him to have his way. That also does not mean I do not appreciate you.”

“Had my knights been here from the start–,”

“Your Grace, if I had arrived to the tea party with your knights, how would that have looked to others?”

“They are my knights. It is well within my rights to do what I want with them.”

“What if His Majesty sees it differently? What if His Majesty starts to wonder why my father has your knights serving him and his family?”

“His Majesty would not find fault with it.”

Hearing his response, Celeste is at a loss for words. “You do not understand.”

"Then explain it."

“We do not share the same certainty.”

Duke Ellis lives with the belief that the king will always choose and remain on his side. The same cannot be said when it comes to her or her family. He fails to see his own privilege.

The same privilege that Celeste desires so overwhelmingly.

What must she give up in exchange for it?

Must she also go to war to earn such favor from the king?

She wants to laugh aloud when she thinks back to Gregory’s offer. Even if she fails to consider his awful personality in the equation, she does not see him capable of protecting her and her family in any form. He is simply a proud man with nothing to show for it.

His eyes catch the movements of the pendant rolling around in her hands.

If there is one thing she can take from their interaction, it would be an idea. Except, she can execute it significantly better. She will not grasp at just anything... she will have to create her own salvation.

"Have you given it some thought?" Duke Ellis gently asks. 

"I have given it some thought."

"Let us first return to your family's manor. We shall speak more then—,"

“Let’s get married, Duke Ellis.”