Winning The Indecisive Duke: The Fairbank Series

by Bennett, Jessie

  Camilla looked like she was about to choke to death. “N… no thank you, my lord. I… I would truly rather read my book.”

  “But that will make it uneven,” Alexandra said in a hard voice, narrowing her eyes at Camilla.

  “It’s all right, my dear. I will sit with Camilla and watch.” Their mother diffused the impending situation gently.

  “What a shame that you can’t play, Mother. You should really play, Camilla. That way we can all enjoy it,” Alexandra suggested.

  Camilla stared at Alexandra. “You know that I never play at croquet, Alexa.”

  “But it’s so pretty outside. Why wouldn’t you want to play?”

  “I simply would rather not,” Camilla replied, tilting her head to the side, looking confused.

  “Camilla…”

  “Alexandra, we do not need to argue about it,” their mother said softly. “You know Camilla does not enjoy these games. I will sit with her.”

  Alexandra looked like she wanted to continue but the look on her mother’s face made her remain quiet. “Very well,” she said, though her eyes were hard.

  Daniel, on the edge of the conversation, wondered what it would be like to be a member of this family. His own experiences of family life were limited, and the tensions surprised him. He couldn’t help thinking with a personality like Alexandra’s, it might be difficult for things to remain tranquil.

  He turned his head to look down at Elizabeth, who was still standing on the opposite side of him from Alexandra. “I think we will have a grand time, my lady. I’m glad you brought up the game. I’ve always enjoyed playing it.”

  Elizabeth felt her cheeks growing warm. She knew she must look just like Camilla had when the duke spoke to her earlier. She wished she could remain indifferent, but try as she might, it was impossible. He was truly a good-looking man. She smiled.

  “First, we will dine,” Anna said firmly. “I believe Cook had a brace of capon to cook for us?”

  “Sarah always makes delightful meals. I’m sure it will be good,” Elizabeth said warmly.

  Anne nodded. “Yes, I expect it will be.”

  Elizabeth listened to the conversation that flowed around the table while they ate their lunch. She swallowed almost two glasses of lemonade, trying to stay calm in the presence of the duke. He was paying less attention to her than he was Alexandra. At least, that was the way it seemed to her. But she could just have been overly sensitive. She couldn’t think about anything else as she delicately cut her roast capon. It was done to perfection, melting on her tongue.

  She closed her eyes, relishing the taste. It was truly delicious. “Sarah is such a good cook, isn’t she, Frankie?” she whispered to her brother, then raised an eyebrow as he sawed vigorously at the leg of capon on his plate.

  She leaned toward him. “You should not eat so fast. You will give yourself a tummy-ache.”

  Frankie stopped eating momentarily to look at her. “I have to finish my stew before he does.” He gestured toward his brother with his head, raising his brows at his sister as if the answer should have been obvious. A moment later, he was plying his knife with renewed vigor.

  Elizabeth closed her eyes in exasperation. She did not know how her mother did it. Despite the taming influence of a nanny and a governess, the two boys were incorrigible. She hoped that she herself would not have quite so many children, and definitely not a set of twins, like Frankie and David.

  Her mother was a twin herself. Anne and her sister, Ruth, were identical to one another but had very different personalities. Anne was a woman who liked to stay inside and go out only when necessary. The only time she was anything less than tranquil was when she was at a ball or party, trying to find a suitable husband for her daughter. Elizabeth smiled to herself. She would continue that with Camilla, she was sure.

  David and Frankie were on their own to find a wife. She had told them as much already, though at ten years of age, they both reacted with relief. They knew their mother would not be troubling them with that. For now, neither were interested in girls. They had too much fun to have together, wrestling, running, and playing outside.

  “Are you with us, my lady?” Daniel leaned over his plate and spoke in a low tone to Elizabeth. “You seemed miles away.” He was seated across from her, her father at the head of the table, and Frankie to her right. Alexandra was seated next to Daniel and opposite Frankie. She noticed when the duke whispered to Elizabeth, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously. Elizabeth knew she would be listening. Not to mention the fact that the duke had been speaking to her father, and now Hamilton was also watching the exchange.

  She swallowed, feeling awkward. “I apologize, your grace. I was merely lost in thought for a moment.”

  “It is nice to have you back from your plane of thought, then,” he said easily. “Are you enjoying the capon?”

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “Your father and I have planned to go for a turnabout the grounds before we play a lively game of croquet,” he said.

  She nodded.

  “Would you like to accompany us on the walk?”

  Elizabeth was so taken aback, her eyes immediately and unwillingly darted to her sister’s face. Alexandra turned pale, left with two bright red spots on her cheeks. The color contrasted with her dark hair and made her look surprisingly beautiful.

  Daniel saw Elizabeth’s surprise and looked down at Alexandra, too, saying, “Your sister is welcome, as well, of course.”

  “Y… yes, that would be lovely, your grace. We will come along. Won’t we, Alexandra?” Elizabeth said in the most cordial voice she could manage.

  Alexandra could only nod her head and whisper, “Yes.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  A WALK

  A WALK

  Elizabeth was surprised when Alexandra slowed her pace to walk beside her. The duke and their father were looking out across the fields, discussing some point of horsemanship and the prospects of the new colts.

  Elizabeth stood beside her sister, feeling nervous. Both of them had parasols, though the day was mild. Alexandra had hers open. She was spinning it in her hand, nervously, her eyes boring holes in the duke’s spine. Elizabeth held hers in one hand, its bone handle firmly clasped. Her eyes were also locked on the duke.

  “You know you can’t have him, Lizzie,” Alexandra hissed. “You are too young and you are already betrothed to someone else. You don’t have a chance, so you might as well stop considering it.”

  “You know I do not wish to marry Jonah, Alexa,” she said levelly.

  “What you want does not matter,” Alexa retorted bluntly. “You will have to take your year-long journey and when you return, you will marry him.”

  Elizabeth sighed. “I do not understand why we should continue in what was established. Because our mother was made to marry against her will, and her mother was before her, we have to do the same? It is time to make some changes.”

  “I suppose you will be leading the way in that battle, will you, Lizzie? I wish you luck, but you know as well as I do you cannot fight established protocol. You will end up with eight children, married to Jonah, and you will learn to love him.”

  Elizabeth’s fingers tightened on her parasol, her face burning as if she had been stung. “You know that would be worse than death for me! And why should I not fight it? What will they do if I break off the arrangement? Will they stone me to death?” She was exasperated.

  The look on her sister’s face didn’t change. “It’s doubtful,” she said calmly. “But you will lose your fortune. Mother and Father will disown you. Your reputation will be ruined and all of society will turn their back on you. And that’s truly worse than death, in my mind.”

  Elizabeth was shocked. Is that true? She could barely believe it of her parents, but how well did she know them? Why should they not punish her, for going against their wishes? “I will be eighteen in a month, and I don’t want to leave for the Continent. I'm frightened, Alexa.”

  “That’s what yo
u get for being born a month before Jonah. They thought you would naturally be a couple,” her sister said flatly.

  “It’s not my fault when I was born!” Elizabeth protested.

  Alexandra suddenly smiled, making Elizabeth feel unsettled. “That’s the beauty in it. You didn’t do anything to cause this and yet, it is still happening.”

  Elizabeth stopped in her tracks, staring at her sister. “What are you talking about?”

  “Your misery will lead to my happiness. Don’t you see? When Father tells the Duke of Athlone about your arrangement with Jonah, he will understand that he cannot pursue you. I can see that he is considering me. I can tell by the way he looks at me.”

  The words hurt Elizabeth’s ears all the more because she knew they were nothing but the truth. She was unable to control her destiny. What she wished for did not matter.

  Ahead of them, the duke had stopped and looked back at them. She felt a warm feeling inside, as though her heart was growing, blossoming even, under that one gaze. She could not help feeling that he was her destiny.

  Daniel looked down at her father and continued talking. Elizabeth could not help but wonder what they discussed. With a sinking feeling, she thought it might just be the time when her father would tell the duke she was betrothed to Jonah.

  Up ahead from the two sisters, the duke was looking out across the earl's estate. He sighed. “You have a beautiful home, Lord Westering, and your land is just as magnificent. I am impressed.”

  Hamilton ran his eyes over the landscape, nodding proudly. “Thank you, your grace. And I do allow myself to take at least a little credit for it. These sculptures and statues are all selected personally by myself and the countess. The rest was largely up to Stanton, our head gardener, but approved by us, of course. We also have been known to get our hands a little dirty and come out to tend to some of it ourselves.” He smiled, eyes sparkling as he looked up at the younger man. Daniel was at least half a foot taller than him, making him over six feet. Both of his daughters were fairly tall, having taken after their mother, who was the same height as Hamilton. “You have many plans for the land you shall inherit here in Fairbanks, do you not?”

  “I do.” Daniel nodded. “My Uncle Nigel and I have great plans. It abuts his property, where he has a small hunting residence. He is my father’s brother. One of four, would you credit it?” He chuckled, then grew serious again. “My Uncle Christopher, the second-eldest of the five, owned the land before me. Since he had no issue, I am his heir. He put a clause in his will that I should not inherit the land if I am not married by the age of twenty-seven. It is vital that I tend to this soon, as my birthday is only a few months away.” He frowned.

  “That seems an odd age to set for an inheritance.”

  “He was a superstitious man. The number twenty-seven had some special significance to him.” He sighed, smiling tolerantly. “You would probably have liked him. Most people did. He was a bit eccentric.”

  “How did he go, if you don’t mind my asking?”

  “He was on a ship that sank in the Atlantic.”

  “Oh, my.”

  “He had been the most adventurous of the brothers.” The duke spread his hands, looking down at them as he remembered. “He had just begun exploring options in the Americas. He was on his way back when it sank.”

  “How very odd.”

  Daniel raised his eyebrows. “You should have seen what some of my relatives had to do before they could inherit something.”

  “Is this information I really want to know?”

  Daniel grinned. “Suffice it to say one of my brothers was threatened with disinheritance if he did not cure his stutter, and I heard Uncle Oscar was almost denied his inheritance on account of the fact that he would not shave his mustache.” He chuckled at the thought. “Others, like me, have to get married. It seems a little unfair, considering the hammer has not fallen on my brothers or sisters.”

  “How many brothers and sisters do you have, your grace?”

  “I have three younger brothers and a younger sister, as well as an older sister.”

  “Large family.”

  “Yes, it is. Something like yours, I daresay.” It was then that Daniel stopped walking and turned back to look at the ladies behind them. They were not walking quickly. The looks on their faces made it clear they were not speaking kind words to each other. Daniel felt a moment of regret that he was surely the cause of the discord between them, but shrugged it off. It was obvious the girls had always had a bit of a difficult relationship. It was not his fault. They clearly didn’t care for one another's company, and now that there was a rival suitor in the mix, they would fight ferociously. Silently but ferociously. The thought amused him. He tried to keep the look from his face but when he turned his eyes back to Hamilton, the older man was looking directly at him. He tried to recover and keep the smile back but he was sure the earl had seen it.

  When he spoke, Daniel was even more confident of that fact. “My daughters are both very taken with you, your grace.”

  Daniel nodded. “I noticed. It is one of the reasons I thought to mention this inheritance situation to you. I am in search of a bride and you have two fine, lovely daughters. Would you consider granting me permission to pursue one of them?”

  Hamilton felt a nudge of regret in his heart. He felt he was beginning to understand why Elizabeth was so keen to dissolve her marriage contract. He felt obliged to inform Daniel about the contract. That would inevitably push the duke toward his eldest daughter, Alexandra. But Hamilton did not see Alexandra and Daniel as a good match. He could not imagine either of them making each other happy. Alexandra was a naturally quiet, contained person and the duke was lighthearted and open. They were so ill-matched as to cause each other both continuous misery.

  “Both of my daughters are fine women, though a bit young,” he began hesitantly. “I would not have an objection to your interest in either one of them. However…” He stopped. It would be hard for him to tell this young duke the truth. He felt like he was sentencing Daniel to a life of terrible misery.

  “Yes?” Daniel asked curiously.

  Hamilton hesitated just slightly longer before deciding that Daniel was an intelligent man, who would see the possible pitfalls of his match with Alexandra. “My younger daughter, Elizabeth, is betrothed by contract to the Lord Macefield’s son, Jonah. We have been close friends with the Boothes all our lives and I cannot retract the agreement – it is of too much benefit to both our estates.”

  Daniel was surprised by his own disappointment. The young woman didn’t appear to be aware of her own marriage contract. She had been flirting with him since his arrival.

  “Does Lady Elizabeth desire the marriage?” he asked hesitantly.

  Hamilton was impressed by how quickly Daniel had perceived his daughter's predicament. “No.”

  “How about Lord Jonah?”

  “He is also unhappy with the contract.”

  “Why do you not dissolve it?”

  “I fear it will cause discord between us and our dear friends and neighbors.”

  Daniel couldn’t help frowning slightly. “You would rather cause discord with your daughter and sentence her to a life she does not desire?”

  It was Hamilton’s turn to look surprised. The man was perceptive and intelligent. “I… I had not thought of it that way.”

  Daniel nodded again, giving the older man a kind look. “Clearly not.”

  Behind them, the young women had reached the field and were almost in hearing distance of them. When they were close enough, Daniel bowed slightly at the waist and held out his hand to Elizabeth first.

  “Please accept my apologies for our rudeness. We pulled ahead of you in our haste to discuss the horses.” He waved a hand at the vast fields ahead of them where the new colts grazed under the sunshine.

  Elizabeth smiled at him. “Of course, your grace. We understand that men sometimes have business to discuss.”

  Daniel took Alexandra's hand
and squeezed her fingers, bowing to her in turn. “But how rude of me to invite the two of you along and not pay any attention to you at all? A man would be simply out of his mind to ignore such beauty.”

  Elizabeth had never heard such talk and blushed to the roots of her light hair. Alexandra turned her head away, one hand placed over her mouth to hide her smile.

  “You are very flattering, your grace!” Elizabeth said, a little breathlessly. She turned her wide eyes to her father. She wished she could read his mind. He was looking back at her with a strange wistfulness on his face, as though he was sad about something.

  She immediately thought he had told Daniel about her marriage arrangement.

  Her head whirled. If her father had told Daniel about her arrangement, did that mean the duke had asked about her? Perhaps he truly felt a connection to her, the way she did to him? But if her father had told him, he would no longer consider her proper material for pursuit of marriage. The thought made her heart stop. She felt strangely, as if she were about to cry. She dare not look at Alexandra. If her sister had guessed her thoughts, she would certainly reinforce her misery.

  “Your grace, it would please me to invite you to a dinner we are hosting here on Friday night,” her father said, invading the quiet that had lasted a little too long.

  “I would be delighted, Lord Westering. Thank you for inviting me.”

  Elizabeth’s heart almost stopped. The dinner party had been planned for everyone in the family, with her uncles, aunts, cousins, and the entirety of the Boothe family, as well. If her father had invited the duke, he must have told him of the arrangement.

  Her heart sank. The day seemed to grow dark. She no longer wanted to play croquet. She wished she could return to the house.

  She was sure there was nothing that could happen that day would be able to cheer her up.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ANNABELLA INTERRUPTS - TWICE

  ANNABELLA INTERRUPTS - TWICE