Ducal Encounters 02 - With the Duke's Approval

by Wendy Soliman

  Perdition, she really did not understand. “Annalise,” he replied softly. “Regardless of Mrs. Anderson’s reasons for resenting you, I was holding you in my arms—”

  “Only to prevent me from falling.”

  “Mrs. Anderson does not know that. Nor would she believe it if we tried to convince her. You know how society ladies enjoy spreading gossip, and you said yourself she resents you.” Clarence shook her head. “She will be out to make mischief for you.”

  “I do not care!”

  “No, perhaps you don’t, but your family most assuredly will.”

  Her face paled. “Oh!”

  “Winchester went to considerable trouble to protect your reputation when you were abducted—”

  “Only for me to undo all his good work. Oh heavens, Zach will be furious with me.” She shrugged. “Still, it cannot be helped. It will blow over.”

  He will be ever angrier with me. “Unfortunately, it won’t. And it isn’t just you who will suffer. Portia’s reputation will be tainted by association.”

  She looked on the verge of tears. “Surely not?”

  He had been angry with her for behaving recklessly—angrier still with himself for being drawn into her childish games and enjoying them a little too much. Even more, for enjoying holding her. Now, watching her reaction as the reality of her foolishness struck home, he felt nothing but an urgent desire to comfort her, to make it all go away. Such fresh individuality as hers should never be tempered by society’s rules, and the desire to banish the bruised expression from her eyes became more compelling by the minute. The desire to kiss her temptingly plump lips had never left him. He was fairly certain he would have given way to it, right there in the centre of the park, had Mrs. Anderson not driven along. And so he was as much responsible for this situation as she was. More so, since he understood the dangers and should not have allowed himself to be influenced by her abandoned behaviour.

  “We can make it right,” he said, reaching for her hand.

  Her head shot, hope replacing the feral look in her eyes. “How? What must I do?”

  Clarence took a deep breath. “If you would do me the very great honour of becoming my wife, then society will turn a blind eye to our escapade.”

  Her eyes widened to an impossible degree, and he could see she was genuinely shocked, perhaps even insulted, by the suggestion. Foolish child! Could she not see he was offering her a way to salve her family’s reputation? Her mouth fell open, and she appeared incapable of speech. Clarence waited for her to recover her composure, nervous about how she might respond. He had not intended to embrace matrimony. Now that he had been boxed into a corner, instead of feeling trapped, he was surprisingly ambivalent about his changed circumstances. Life with Annalise would certainly never be dull.

  “That is, without doubt, the most unromantic proposal I have ever heard!”

  Clarence’s lips twitched. “You require romance?”

  “No, because I don’t have the slightest intention of marrying you, Lord Romsey.” She crossed her arms defensively over her torso. “There must be another way to resolve this unfortunate misunderstanding.”

  “I can imagine the nature of the thoughts running through your head at this precise moment,” he said.

  “I very much doubt it.” She turned away and looked out of the carriage window.

  “You are very beautiful, Annalise,” he said softly.

  “Harrumph!”

  “You might at least look at me when I pay you a compliment.”

  “The time for compliments is before you propose.”

  “Is it? You must excuse me if I am doing this wrong. I have never proposed to a lady before, you see, and did not anticipate doing so today, so I have not had time to prepare pretty words.”

  “Do you prepare everything you say in advance? Of course you do,” she said, answering her own question. “Spontaneity can have no part in a diplomat’s life.”

  “You, on the other hand, must have received any number of addresses,” he continued, ignoring her interruption, “so perhaps you would be good enough to point me in the right direction.”

  A smile flirted with her lips. She appeared annoyed by its presence and tamped it down. “You want me to tell you how to propose?” She sent him a damning look. “This just gets better and better.”

  He drilled her with an intensely profound gaze. “If you would be so kind.”

  ***

  Anna could scarce believe her ears. Her world was falling apart, and he was jesting with her. Could he not see just how much she adored him? How desperately she needed to hear him say he felt the same way about her, even if it was not true? Surely, even he could work that much out without help from her? After everything that had happened to her over the past few days, she had never been in greater need of reassurance.

  “I will not do your work for you, my lord. Besides, nothing you say could persuade me to accept you. You are proposing for all the wrong reasons.” She tossed her head, conscious of a headache threatening, brought on by the storm that would explode at home when they learned of her latest escapade. “There is nothing more to be said on the matter. Just take me back to Sheridan House.”

  “Drive round again, Pierce,” Lord Romsey called through the window.

  “Just a minute, Pierce,” she called out. “I wish to go home.”

  “Drive on, Pierce.”

  Clearly satisfied his order would be obeyed, which appeared to be the case, Lord Romsey returned his attention to Anna. “Now, where were we? Oh yes, about the reasons why we ought to marry. You are beautiful, talented, intelligent, and from one of the best families—”

  “And I have a good dowry.”

  Lord Romsey’s smile faded. “Which I do not need, if that is what you suppose,” he said, clenching his jaw.

  “I’m sorry, Lord Romsey. I should not have said that.”

  “I know you think that is why so many gentleman have pursued you, but I can’t accept that. They could not help but fall for your charms, I am absolutely sure.”

  And yet, you appear immune to them. “Nevertheless, it’s true.”

  “You were a sensation last season, and have every right to expect to be romanced.” Lord Romsey spread his knees, rested his forearms on them, and stared at the carriage floor. “Unfortunately, I don’t know how to be romantic.”

  She widened her eyes. “You do not?”

  “I have never had time for romance, just as I have never had time for any of the pursuits you enjoy so much.” He shrugged. “Such is the way my life has been.”

  Anna was aghast. “I think that is the saddest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  He looked up at her again, effortlessly capturing her gaze and holding it, such was the power he wielded over her. “I am older than you, Annalise, but not so much older that it would make things awkward for us. I am wealthy in my own right, I can offer you a comfortable home, and I will do my very best to make you happy.”

  Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes. “Thank you, but the answer is still no.”

  “Don’t be difficult. We really don’t have any choice.”

  “You may not, but I—”

  “Love will come, I am perfectly sure of it.”

  “And I am not prepared to take the risk of…”

  “Of what?” he asked when her words trailed off.

  “It doesn’t matter. Please take me home. I shall tell Zach what happened and make sure he understands it was not your fault. Once he stops scolding me, I dare say he will think of a way to fix things. Zach always knows how to fix things. It is what dukes do.”

  “Very well.” Lord Romsey tapped on the roof and gave Pierce new orders. “It just so happens that I need to speak with Winchester as well.”

  By the time they reached Berkeley Square, Anna still had not recovered from the shock of Lord Romsey’s cold, practical proposal. Faraday took her outdoor garments and informed her the duchess wished to see her in the small sitting room the mo
ment she returned home. Mama probably wished to ring a peel over her for going out with Lord Romsey alone. She could have no idea how richly that dressing down was deserved, but Anna had rather hoped it could wait. She desperately wanted to speak with Zach before Lord Romsey got to him, but could not defer a direct request from her mother.

  “Is the duke in his study?” Lord Romsey asked Faraday.

  “I believe so, my lord. And he wishes to see you, immediately.”

  “Not as much as I wish to see him.”

  Lord Romsey sent her the ghost of a wink, a gesture that was as surprising as it was uncharacteristic. It proved to Anna there might yet be hope for him, but that did not alter her firm determination not to accept him under the current circumstances.

  “You are enjoying this,” she hissed at him.

  “I am not enjoying oversetting you, Annalise,” he said softly. “But I will do the honourable thing by you, and there is no more to be said on the matter.”

  “On the contrary, there is a very great deal to be said.”

  He touched her face, just fleetingly, and then headed in the direction of Zach’s study. She felt his fingertips searing into her skin long after he removed them. These brief glimpses of the sensitive man lurking beneath all those years of training and dedication to duty made her want to call after him. Beg him to pour out his heart. Find a way to convince him he had nothing to fear from loving her. And…that it was perfectly acceptable to fall in love, even for someone with his rigid standards. But she didn’t think he would ever do so. Damnation, why could he not love her? What had happened to him as a child to make it impossible for him to feel emotion, or openly display it even if he did? Her poor, damaged Clarence was an enigma, but she was determined to find out what demons drove him.

  The man she had fallen in love with had proposed to her. It ought to be the happiest day of her life, even if that proposal had been made grudgingly. It ought not to matter if her love was not returned. She was sure Lord Romsey liked her, and enjoyed her society. She made him laugh. Not the polite, social laugh she had heard him deploy on many occasions—the one that did not reach his eyes. But a real, genuine laugh that lit up his handsome features with a wicked humour that made her insides melt with desire. Many marriages had been built upon considerably less. Unfortunately, it did matter to her. It mattered very much indeed.

  That was the problem.

  Sighing, she turned in the direction of the small sitting room and found her mother there alone, reading a book. She looked up when Anna entered the room, put her book aside, and smiled at her.

  “Bring us some tea, please, Faraday.” Mama patted the seat beside her on the settee. “Now, come and sit here and tell me what you have been up to this afternoon, my dear. But first, tell me you feel better.”

  “Oh, Mama, I have made such a mull of everything!”

  To her horror, and her mother’s obvious consternation, tears flooded Anna’s eyes and tricked down her bruised face.

  “My love, whatever is wrong?” The duchess clutched Anna’s hand, much as Lord Romsey had in his carriage. “I knew you should not have returned to the east end so soon. It would be enough to discompose anyone.”

  Anna accepted the handkerchief her mother handed her, mopped her eyes, and did her level best to compose herself. Then she told the duchess everything that had happened that afternoon, starting with the trip to the east end and her recognition of her prison, then finishing with the events in the park. Her mother, instead of appearing horrified, merely smiled.

  “Oh dear,” she said. “Mrs. Anderson will cause all sorts of mischief for us now.”

  “Yes,” Anna replied glumly. “And it’s all my fault. I just wanted Lord Romsey to have some innocent fun. I never imagined for a minute things would come to such a sorry pass. Do you know I cannot discover that he has ever done anything for his own pleasure? Or anything reckless.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not before he met me anyway, and I am sure he regrets that day now.”

  Mama laughed. “And I am equally sure he does not.”

  “I doubt whether he had ever read a book for enjoyment rather than self-improvement.” Anna waved her mother’s discarded novel in the air to lend emphasis to her words. “It is so very sad.”

  “How does he plan to fix the problem he created?”

  “He did not create it. I did.” Anna ground her teeth. “I have been a terrible trial to him these past few days. And, by my actions today, I have damaged not only my reputation but Portia’s also.”

  The duchess waved Anna’s statement aside. “It will blow over.”

  “That’s precisely what I said, but Lord Romsey did not agree.”

  “Then tell me what he proposes to do about it.”

  Anna shook her head and said nothing.

  “Anna, what are you not telling me?”

  “He asked me to marry him,” Anna replied reluctantly, addressing her words to the rug beneath her feet.

  “Well, my love, that is what you want, is it not?”

  Anna looked at her mother askance. “What do you mean?”

  Mama chuckled. “You have had eyes for no one else since you first met him. A mother always notices these things. I knew immediately that Crista was right for Amos the moment I saw them together. I suspect I knew it before Amos himself did.”

  “Just as you think Frankie is right for Zach.” Anna wrinkled her brow, momentarily diverted from her own problems. “And yet Frankie is living here and you do nothing to promote the match.”

  “Your brother is the most stubborn one of you all. If I try to push him in a particular direction and point out what he is not yet ready to admit to himself, he will most likely run the opposite way just to spite me.”

  Anna managed a weak smile. “You are very wise, Mama.”

  “I have six children, my love. Of course I am wise because I care so very much about the happiness of you all.” Mama smiled. “Now tell me again why it’s such a bad thing that the man you adore proposed to you?”

  “I want him to marry me because he loves me and can’t bear to live without me, not because he feels compelled.”

  Mama’s soft smile was full of understanding. “And what makes you imagine he does not love you?”

  “He did not say he did. If fact, he appeared to go out of his way to make no mention of his feelings. Actually, I don’t believe he has any,” she added with a mutinous toss of her head. “I imagine they were beaten out of him by his brute of a father. What little he has said about him makes him sound like a cold, heartless ogre.”

  “Many fathers are like that. Not everyone is as lucky as you were.”

  “Yes, so I am finding out. Lord Romsey spoke about duty, about his house, and giving me a comfortable home, but nothing about his personal feelings. How can I possibly marry a man who does not feel?” Anna rested her head on her mother’s lap, as she had been accustomed to do when she was a little girl and felt unwell. Her mother’s comforting hand gently stroked her hair. “I want what you and Papa had, Mama. It is all I have ever wanted. I saw daily just how much you loved one another, and I can’t settle for anything less. Zach is not the only one of us who can be stubborn.”

  “Your papa and I were not always as close as you remember.”

  Anna’s head popped up from her mother’s lap. “You were not?”

  Mama smiled at Anna, a faraway look in her eye. “When I was your age I was plain Miss Ascot, daughter of a wealthy but untitled family. I had no brothers or sisters and was my father’s only heir, which made me that much more attractive to the fortune hunters.”

  Anna laughed. “Mama, you were a beauty. It cannot only have been money that made gentlemen admire you.”

  “Perhaps not. You are in a similar yet better position that I was. Just as you are, I was pursued all the way through my first season, mainly for my fortune. Your papa needed a wealthy wife. His father had run the Winchester duchy almost into the ground with his gaming habit. I knew that was why your papa took an inter
est in me, but I liked him, and I liked the idea of being a duchess. I won’t deny that. Besides, my family put a lot of pressure on me to accept him.”

  “Oh Mama, I have caused all this trouble. Put Portia’s reputation as well as my own in jeopardy, and you have yet to issue a single word of censure, or put any pressure on me to accept Lord Romsey.” Anna sat up and threw her arms around her mother’s neck. “I don’t deserve you.”

  “In my case, not much pressure was necessary. I decided I would marry your father, and that I would make him fall in love with me.”

  “You certainly succeeded in that ambition.”

  “And that is what you must do with Lord Romsey.”

  “But how?” Anna shook her head. “I haven’t the faintest notion how to go about it. How did you achieve it with Papa?”

  “Ah, there is only so much help I can give you. The rest you must work out for yourself.”

  A footman came in with their tea. Anna sat upright and neither she nor her mother spoke again until he withdrew.

  “You have no choice but to accept Lord Romsey, my love,” Mama said, handing Anna her tea. “He is quite right about that.”

  “But I—”

  “Mrs. Anderson is bound to be at the Pettigrew’s party this evening. Vince doesn’t know it yet, but he will escort Portia and me to it. I shall tell Mrs. Anderson in the strictest confidence that you have accepted Lord Romsey. She will be delighted, of course, because that will leave the field clear for her daughter and Lord Roker. I shall tell her that you and his lordship will make your announcement at Lady Ancel’s ball in two nights’ time. Your bruises ought to be healed well enough by then for you to be seen in public. If they are not, I am sure Fanny will be able to conceal them with your hair and a little face powder.” Mama flashed a mischievous smile that caused the years to fall away from her. “Naturally, Mrs. Anderson will spread the word, and everyone in the room will know within the hour.”

  Anna laughed in spite of herself. “But I am still not sure I wish to marry Lord Romsey under such circumstances.”

  “You don’t have to. You merely have to enter into the engagement. If after a few weeks you still feel the same way, we shall find a way to break it off.”