My Once Handsome Husband - Chapter 262

Delaney and Miles arrived at the card club once more and he was quick to tell Constance it would be their last night.  He invited her to join them at Delaney’s Aunt and Uncle’s house the following night and the woman was pleased to accept.

“I think I’m going to go home the day after tomorrow,” she said, “So having a nice night together will be the perfect end to this trip.”

Delaney forced a smile to her lips but she was anxious to start playing cards and actually enjoy herself.  If this was going to be her last night of freedom from her heartache then she wanted to make sure it was good.

Constance had a lovely dinner waiting for them in the dining area of the club.  Miles filled his belly but Delaney found she couldn’t make herself eat much.  She was feeling off now.  She was putting a lot of pressure on herself to make the most of the night and it was actually just ruining it for her.

Miles and Constance didn’t seem to notice how little she ate, too distracted talking and laughing.  Delaney made sure to laugh along with them so they wouldn’t realize anything was wrong.  She didn’t want to take away the fun by talking about her feelings or worrying them.

Once they were finished they went together to Sam’s table.  Delaney was happy to have wine placed in front of her and she gulped it down quickly.  She just needed to drink enough that it would start to ease away the ache in her heart and distract her mind.

As they played round after round of cards, Delaney continued to enjoy her wine but now something was different.  Something was wrong.

Even though her head was fuzzy and her eyes couldn’t focus well, her mind seemed to have chosen to remain on thoughts of Vincent.  She hadn’t won a single hand of cards because she was so distracted.  Constance and Miles chuckled about that, saying the wine was taking hold already.

She forced herself to laugh along with them, not wanting them to know the truth.  She really just couldn’t get her mind off her husband and the wine wasn’t helping.

Her friends were both enjoying the wine since it had been decided it would be their last night out.  They wanted to have a good time and since they weren’t so worried about Delaney, they loosened up.

Delaney became determined to relax and clear her mind.  She sipped more wine and worked to focus on her cards.  Finally, very slowly she began to sink into the sort of dumb stupor the drink left her in.

Smiling lazily at the people around her, she laughed when she lost yet another hand of cards and the table laughed as well.  Music was being played in the next room and it came floating into her ears.  The smoke from the pipes clouded the air and filled it with the sweet tobacco smell.

“Play with us Miles,” she pleaded with the man, “It’s more fun when we’re all playing.”

He laughed, “You just don’t want to be the only loser.”

Delaney smirked, “You never know.  You could beat me.”

“Not with how much he’s had to drink,” Constance chuckled.

“Well then if he’s not going to join us at cards I think we should all go dance instead.”

Miles wasn’t particularly fond of dancing but agreed to keep from losing any more money to the women.  They went together with a few other young men into the other room and brought a couple of the lovely server girls with them.

The tables were moved back to clear the center of the floor for dancing.  As a new song started up and Miles took Delaney’s hand, sweeping her out onto the floor.

Delaney clung to him for stability but there wasn’t much there to find.  Miles might have had even more to drink than her at this point.  They spun around the room laughing and tripping over each other.

When the song ended there was a young but handsome man who worked in the stables of an estate waiting to ask the lovely duchess to dance with him.  Delaney smiled and agreed.  Miles gave a quick bow to the man before stepping back and turning the girl over to him.

The servants and laboring men were thrilled at a chance to dance with the beautiful wealthy duchess.  None of them knew why she was there alone without the duke but they weren’t going to question it.  Some of the younger men secretly dreamed she would fall in love and run away with them.  They didn’t know her heart already belonged to another and there was no way it would ever come back.

After several dances and even more wine, Delaney found her cheeks flushed and sweat beading on her brow.  It was hot and stuffy in the room now and Constance called for the doors to be propped open to let the breeze in.

Delaney’s head was swimming and she weaved her way over to a seat.  After dancing she now felt her stomach turning and worry began to set in that she might be sick.  The last thing she wanted was to be sick in the middle of the floor in front of all these people.

Looking over, she saw Miles in the corner with a pipe in his hand, laughing with a group of men.  Constance was talking with the server women, likely telling them things to do.  Not wanting to interrupt either of them, she slipped into the main room of the club.  Using the chairs and tables to support her, she worked her way forward on unsteady legs until she made it to the main doors and out into the cool night air.

She dropped to sit on one of the bottom steps.  Delaney held her head in her hands, trying to keep the world from spinning.  She tried closing her eyes but that only made things worse so she opened them again and tried to focus on something.  Her stomach gurgled and she hiccuped.  She silently prayed that she wouldn’t get sick and bring their night to an end early.

“Are you alright my Lady?”

Delaney looked up and blinked a few times until a face came into focus.

“Oh, Sam!  Yes, I’m alright thank you.  Just feeling a bit tired.”  She didn’t want to admit she was actually feeling like she might get sick any minute.

“Would you like me to get you a room so you can lie down?”

Delaney considered that for a moment.  It would be nice to be able to go lay down until her stomach settled some.  She knew she would just fall asleep though so she shook her head.

“No thank you.  I think I just need a bit of time to rest right here.”

The younger man nodded and hesitated, scuffing his shoe back and forth on a step.  She watched him curiously.

“Is there something else?”

“I’m sorry my Lady but I wanted to ask… Are you Delaney Adair?  The Duchess of Edgewood?  I thought you were except you were here with Lord Miles and I know the Duke is his older brother Vincent.”

Delaney grew still and the sound of her husband’s name brought reality creeping back in on her.

“I am Lady Delaney Adair, Duchess of Edgewood.  Miles Adair is my brother-in-law and has been staying at my Aunt and Uncle’s home in town on a visit with me.  That’s not really any of your business though Sam.”

“Yes of course my Lady I’m sorry,” he rushed to apologize, “But the reason I ask is that there is a messenger here and he mentioned he had a letter to deliver to the Duchess of Edgewood.”

Delaney’s heart felt as if it had stopped with those words.

“A letter?  A letter from who?”

“He didn’t say my Lady but he looks like he’s been well paid for his work.  He rode in on a nice black horse and his clothes are well kept…”

“Where is he?” Delaney cut off the man, getting to her feet.

“He-He’s inside now.  I think he’s gone to the room he rented to change.  He said he wanted to play a hand of cards or two though.”

Delaney held tight to the railing of the stairs to steady herself as her mind spun.

“Sam, can you go get him?  Tell him I’m here and I wish to have the letter immediately.”

The man’s eyes went wide but he quickly bobbed his head agreeing.  “Yes of course my Lady!”  He hurried back inside then in search of this mysterious messenger.

Delaney leaned against the railing and worked to catch her breath.  A well-dressed and well-paid messenger?  Surely that would have to be from Vincent.  What if her husband had written to her?  Just the idea made her heart sing and butterflies fill her stomach.

What would his letter say?  Would he say he had made a mistake?  Would he ask her to come home?  Her mind spun with possibilities.  She thought about going for Constance and Miles but she found she was too nervous to move.

Looking up again a bit later, she saw Sam hurrying towards her with a well-dressed but rat-like little man behind him.  Delaney swallowed hard and felt her heart race.

In the man’s hand was a letter addressed to Delaney Adair.