Page 4 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

Violet found herself watching the duke go. She was so determined to have a certain opinion of him, but nothing she had seen confirmed it. What was more, he had offered more money to help… was it possible that she had been wrong about him? Surely not.

“He was scary,” Lucy said as she dropped the skirt from her face.

“Yes…” Violet watched him speaking with Miss Wilks, and noted that he wore a sadness in his eyes as he looked over the children. “Very scary.”

Scary was not the word Violet might have chosen. He was intimidating. He was certainly self-assured and confident. But, scary? No… despite her reservations, even Violet had to admit that there was so much more to the Duke of Ashmere than that.

Two

Rarely did Violet visit the orphanage two days in a row. Not because she did not want to, but because she simply did not have the time.

Her life was one of constant worry and stress, always trying to keep her head above water, and always looking to the future as she searched for a way out of the constraints that had ruined her life.

That was why she loved the orphanage so much. It was the one place where she was able to forget about her troubles and focus on the present. There, the children were who mattered, and she gave them all of her attention.

Also, it felt good to be able to help for once. Even if she could only do so much at the orphanage, it felt as if every little thing she did truly made a difference.

As luck had it, she had a spare day, so she found herself at the orphanage bright and early. She walked through the front doors, searching for Lucy, who she knew would be thrilled to see her, only to balk in surprise at what she found instead.

It was the duke! She had chosen to go to the orphanage two days in a row, and so, it seemed, had he. Unlike yesterday, however, when he simply walked the vast space and observed the children, today it looked as if he was taking an active interest in their lives.

“I am as shocked as you.” Miss Wilks said as she stood beside her.

“What is he doing here?”

She shrugged. “He says that he wants to help.”

“Help?” Violet snorted. “Why do I find that hard to believe?”

Miss Wilks eyed her with sadness. “I know that you have your doubts, Violet, and I know the reasons. But this is a good thing for the children.”

Violet grimaced with shame. “You are right, Miss Wilks. This is a good thing. And I promise that today I will do my best not to make things worse.”

Despite Miss Wilks’ assurances, and despite the appearance that the duke meant well, Violet still struggled to believe it. In fact, she did not want to.

Her reasons for such distrust were also justified, or so she believed.

As a young girl, Violet had lived in a happy home with a father who loved her and a younger sister whom she adored. They were of the gentry, not from extreme wealth, but enough that they had never wanted for anything. Sadly, her father was a kind man, the type who trusted without question, and it was that level of trust that led him and his family into poverty.

He simply could not say no, nor could he perceive when he was being lied to. Time and again, people would come to him with requests for loans, or with promises of investments sure to make everyone rich. And time and again, he believed them. He was always happy to open his purse, and never begrudged them when their promises failed.

He died when Violet was twenty and one. That had been three years ago, and upon his death, she had learned that her father’s fortunes had dwindled into obscurity, leaving her and her sister in a state of destitution.

Every day since then, Violet had done all that she could to save her and her sister from poverty. She worked odd jobs. She sold off everything their family owned. She even borrowed money, putting her and her sister in further debt! Nothing ever worked, and every day, things took a turn for the worse.

None of this was the duke’s fault, but that mattered little. In Violet’s eyes, he was the same as all those men who had tricked her father, because all that he and others like him cared about was themselves.

“I am going to find Lucy,” she told Miss Wilks, purposefully walking in the opposite direction of where the duke sat with some children.

“I will find you if I need anything,” Miss Wilks said.

The morning was a long and awkward one, not to mention strange.

Violet spent it with Lucy, doing her best to keep them both away from the duke. If he wanted to help, that was wonderful, but Violet would not praise him as he likely wished.

However, as the morning stretched on, Violet noticed more and more often that the duke was watching her… No, not her. It was always Lucy whom he observed. No matter where they went or where they stood, his curious, sad eyes found them.

When Lucy excused herself to go to the washroom, Violet decided that she’d had enough. Ordinarily, she would help the little girl, but she took the excuse as a chance to confront the duke and warn him off whatever he was plotting.