12 Chapter 12

She wasn't imagining it! She was absolutely not imagining it! The Grand Duke was definitely ignoring her!

When Celia woke up that morning, she quickly discovered the clothes that had been brought to her room. It was a beautiful and simple red dress without a corset. Probably on purpose, as travelling with a corset could be very uncomfortable.

She called for someone to help her dress and do her hair and meanwhile thought of some topics of conversation for the ride. She did not want to experience such an awkward silence as the day before again. After all, she really wanted to get to know the Grand Duke better.

But already at breakfast things got strange. When she went downstairs to eat something, neither her fiancé nor Lord Merton were there and she had to take her meal alone. Afterwards, she was taken directly outside, where next to the carriage from yesterday, a second, somewhat simpler carriage was waiting. In front of it were the two men she had missed at breakfast.

Joyfully she wanted to go up to the Grand Duke to thank him for the new dress. But no sooner had he spotted her than he suddenly disappeared into the carriage. Celia wanted to follow him, but his secretary blocked her way. "Lady Fleuret, good morning to you."

"Good morning. Are we leaving already?" Lord Merton nodded and offered her a hand to lead her to the carriage. Not the one she wanted to get into, though. "Why are you taking me to the other carriage, Lord Merton?"

"Please speak casually to me, Lady Fleuret. I am first and foremost an employee of the Grand Duke and therefore of you. You can call me Ramas."

It felt a bit weird to Celia, after all he was still the son of a baron. In the end she settled for a deal. "Very well, but please call me Celia, Ramas. And now would you answer my question?"

The Lord glanced sideways as if deliberately avoiding eye contact. "The Grand Duke would like you to travel in the more comfortable carriage, Lady Celia."

That doesn't explain why we are travelling separately and why I am denied the pleasure of looking at his handsome face. "Then why is he in the other one if it is so uncomfortable?" She wanted to know as she walked up the steps to her carriage.

"He is shy," his secretary replied without batting an eye and the door was closed.

And now she sat here, jolted by the stony road, wondering what she had done wrong. She didn't think the Grand Duke was shy. Lord Merton had clearly lied to her. Presumably his master had asked him to do so, his secretary seemed far too respectable for that to her. But then why did he avoid her?

Suddenly she put her hands over her mouth to suppress a gasp. Had he seen it after all? The nude picture?!

+++

Alek was reading through some files when his secretary entered the carriage. "If everything is done, we can leave."

"I have taken care of the lady's change of clothes and sent a letter to your butler."

Alek nodded without looking up. "Good, then let's not waste any time."

Ramas signalled the coachman to set off and they started to move. "By the way, I hope you will understand that renovating the entire estate in such a short amount of time is not possible. I have therefore mentioned in my letter to the butler that Lady Celia's chambers have priority and that only the most important things should be taken care of afterwards."

Disapprovingly, Alek clicked his tongue. "You'd think I'd have enough money to make a quick makeover possible.... and since when did Lady Fleuret become Lady Celia anyway?"

"As soon as money can be used to make the workers grow a second set of arms you are welcome to try again to place such an order. Until then, 6 days is only enough for some superficial adjustments. And the lady herself has just asked me to address her like this."

"Hmmm, I was already allowed to address her by her name yesterday," Alek replied, glancing up briefly to look into his friend's unimpressed face. "Very mature, Your Grace."

Shrugging his shoulders, Alek turned back to his papers and there was silence for a short time. But he was not quite satisfied yet. "Did you talk about anything else in particular?"

"Do you mean together with Lady Celia?"

"No, with the coachman. Of course with my fiancée." Apparently Ramas was having his fun teasing him.

"She asked why she would not ride with you in a carriage," Ramas replied at last.

Presumably she had assumed that they would share a carriage again. But after his emotional outburst yesterday in her room, he was afraid of that happening again. The very fact that she had explained to him that she had never spent a long time in a carriage told him that she must have been living like a prisoner. Hearing this yesterday, he lost all control over his features. Fortunately, he had been able to regain his control and stay calm. He didn't want to scare her again but to feel safe with him. And the best thing he could think of to reach this goal, was to give her space and stay away from her for the time being.

"What did you answer to her question?" He inquired curiously of his secretary.

"That His Grace is shy."

Alek almost dropped the documents from his hand. "What did you tell her?" Then a sudden thought struck him and he looked at Ramas with narrowed eyes. "You're not still mad at me, are you?"

His secretary held his hand to his heart indignantly, but his face remained serious. "Your Grace, are you accusing me of seeking revenge on you? Why should I? Because I had to cancel all your appointments so you could leave immediately for Lady Celia? Or because I hardly got any sleep, had to take over your business appointment in the city and was not even allowed to dine at the Counts estate? Or maybe because I had to sit next to the coachman for hours in the icy wind and was dragged out of my bed before sunrise the next day to write a letter with an absurd order and to get clothes for the Lady then?"

Okay, he is definitely still mad.