She glanced up at the portrait of her husband and sons that hung above the fireplace in her sitting room. “I am getting no younger, Isabella,” she said, her sharp eyes softening as she turned them back toward her goddaughter. “But I hope that before I go to join my dear boys, that I am able to meet the grandson who was kept from me. Please, Isabella. Say that you will go get him for me.”
Isabella was moved in spite of herself. The dowager was a difficult woman. But she’d truly loved the despicable Gervase. And despite that love, she’d done what she could to ensure that the true story of how he’d died never got out. She might have seen to it that all three women present that day were prosecuted for his death. Instead she’d hidden the truth. That in and of itself was enough to make Isabella grateful to her.
But the dowager’s next words destroyed any goodwill Isabella had harbored for her.
“If you do not go,” she said, her eyes narrowed, “I will see to it that your sister’s match with Coniston comes to nothing.”
Damn her.
She might have known that the old woman would find it impossible to simply let Isabella make the decision herself. Unable to wait, she’d decided to use the one bit of good to come out of Gervase’s death—Perdita’s proposed match with the Earl of Coniston—as leverage against her sister.
“You almost had me,” she said shaking her head. “Really, Duchess, it was quite splendidly done. If only you’d waited.”
The dowager did Isabella the courtesy of not misunderstanding her. “I had to make sure you would do as I asked.”
“I was almost ready to capitulate,” Isabella said coldly. “But you couldn’t resist threatening Perdita, could you?”
“It was not a matter of threatening your sister,” the dowager said. “It was a matter of using the right tool to make you do what I wished. And you have always been ready to do whatever it takes to protect your sister, have you not?”
Indeed, Isabella had always been protective of her sister. Not only because they’d lost their parents at an early age, but because Perdita’s sweet nature made her more vulnerable than most to the darker elements of the world. Like Gervase. And his grandmother.
“I suppose this means you still refuse to go to Yorkshire on my behalf?”
“On the contrary,” Isabella said. “Now I have no choice. Just as you wished.”
The Earl of Coniston was not, perhaps, as handsome or as polished as the Duke of Ormonde had been, but he’d managed to woo Perdita with his affable good nature and even temper. And Isabella would do nothing that would endanger her sister’s engagement. Even if it meant leaving London in the middle of the Season, and persuading a man with no intention of taking up his position as duke to return to town with her. And the dowager knew it.
“Sadly, it is blackmail,” the duchess said without a trace of remorse, “but needs must when the devil drives. Besides, as I told you before, it will do you good to get up to Yorkshire this time of year.”
“I’ll be taking one of the Ormonde traveling carriages,” Isabella said curtly. If the duchess were going to force her upon this fool’s errand, then she may as well be comfortable on the journey. “And I wish you to set up an account for me at Madame Celeste’s for when I return.”
The duchess, knowing she’d won, inclined her head to indicate her assent.“I do apologize for having gone about the business in such a havey-cavey manner, Isabella,” she said. “But you know how important family is to me. Especially now that Gervase is gone.”
Still cursing her own naiveté, Isabella rose. “If I’m to make an early start, I suppose I’d better be off.”
Not bothering to say her good-byes, she stormed out of the dowager’s sitting room and hurried downstairs to retrieve her hat and pelisse.
Also by Manda Collins
How to Dance with a Duke
How to Romance a Rake
How to Entice an Earl
Manda Collins spent her teen years wishing she’d been born a couple of centuries earlier, preferably in the English countryside. Time travel being what it is, she resigned herself to life with electricity and indoor plumbing, and read lots of books. When she’s not writing, she’s helping other people use books, as an academic librarian.
Visit her website at: www.mandacollins.com
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
“The Perks of Being a Beauty” copyright © 2013 by Manda Collins.
Excerpt from Why Dukes Say I Do copyright © 2013 by Manda Collins.
All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Author photo © One Six Photography
Cover art © Steve Gardener
eISBN 9781466834903
First eBook Edition: June 2013
The Perks of Being a Beauty Page 10
