Marjorie Farrel by Miss Ware's Refusal

independently. But it seems to me that he does not want to be here. I think he removes himself so that the blindness will be less real.”
    “I keep trying to imagine what it would be like,” said Judith. “Has he made no attempts at becoming more independent?”
    Francis laughed. “You know that as a duke, so much is done for one, blind or not. Your valet dresses and shaves you. You are cooked for and waited upon. You have a groom and butler and secretary. As I told you, he has learned to move around the house. He comes downstairs with little difficulty.”
    “I wonder what a blind person is capable of?” mused Judith. “I am sure some of Simon’s old life would be open to him.”
    “Fencing? Hunting? Inspecting his estates? Assemblies?”
    “His brain was not injured. I know he has always been politically active. Perhaps hunting is out, but surely he could ride with a companion? Dinners. I’ll wager anything that a blind man could even waltz.” Judith smiled at her own fancies. “It is easy, is it not, to determine someone’s life for him in his absence. Neither of us can know what it is like to be the duke. But he does have what many blind men do not: money, privilege, the ability to secure the assistance he needs to live an almost normal life. It is distressing to see how much he shuts himself off from.”
    “Well, a little life is coming in the door with you, even if he refuses to go out the door and meet it.”
    “Thank you for your time, Mr. Bolton. I had best go. I should not be in here too long or the servants may begin to suspect something.”
    Judith rose, and Francis followed her to the door.
    As he opened it, she said, “Thank you for answering my questions about salary, Mr. Bolton. I hope that I will prove a satisfactory employee.”
    “Until Tuesday, Miss Ware.”
     

Chapter 11
     
    While Judith was beginning her position, Barbara was filling her days with her usual activities: shopping, morning calls, various assemblies, and, as often as possible, riding with her brother. On one of their early-morning rides without Judith, after warming their horses up, the Stanleys let them go from a sedate canter to an all-out gallop, something they had not enjoyed for a few days, having been held to Judith’s less-experienced pace. When they pulled up, Barbara’s hat was sliding off and her hair was coming down, but her cheeks were red and her eyes alive and laughing.
    “Oh, Robin,” she gasped, “I am quite out of practice. I have been behaving so well I’d quite forgotten what a real ride feels like.”
    Her brother laughed. “We both needed to clear the cobwebs out.”
    “What do you plan to do, now that peace seems to be won?” asked Barbara as they turned their blown horses back down the Row to cool them off. “Shall you return to Ashurst? Will you be able to settle down after soldiering for so long?”
    “Lord, yes, my dear. I have had my fill of it. I intend to derive my pleasures from lesser adventures like challenging Father and experimenting with new farming methods.”
    “And do you intend to remain a bachelor?” Barbara asked in what she hoped was a light tone.
    “And who are you to ask, my marriage-shy little sister?” he teased.
    “Seriously, Robin, has no woman captured more than a part of your heart?”
    “Isn’t this a case of the pot ... ?”
    “But it is different for you, Robin. As a man, you have more choice—and a duty, as father’s heir. I don’t have the weight of an earldom hanging over me.”
    “What of your responsibility to yourself, Barbara? Have you never met anyone you care for?”
    “I asked first.” Barbara laughed. “I will answer honestly if you will,” she said more quietly, suddenly occupied with untangling her reins.
    “A challenge I can’t refuse! Well, then, the answer is yes, there was someone. But we quarreled—how commonplace, eh? —and that was that.”
    “It could not have been as simple as that,” said his sister. “If there