His voice was smooth and deep as he spoke, and in some ways, she found it hypnotic. One thing she knew for sure was that he hadn’t had to force any of the ladies to be with him. No. Each one had willingly gone to his bed.
Bringing back the memory of Lady Eloise’s threat that she could be removed from the group, she steadied her resolve and straightened in the chair. She turned toward him and met his gaze. “I don’t care about your past.”
“I wasn’t talking about my past. I’m talking about how things are now. I won’t make a good husband.”
Sure he was about to inform her that he was going to have meaningless dalliances with as many ladies as possible, she said, “I don’t care what you’re going to do if we marry. You’re free to take whoever you want to your bed as long as you’re discreet about it.”
“On the contrary. I’m not taking anyone to my bed.” Then giving her a pointed look, he added, “Even you.”
She blinked in surprise. Not sure she heard him right, she asked, “Will you say that again?”
“Three years ago, I made a vow that I would never make love to another lady again.”
“You did?”
“A vow is a serious matter. I didn’t do it lightly, but I’m going to stand by it until the day I die. You and I won’t even share a kiss. Ours would never be a normal marriage.”
She was certain he meant for her to be upset by this, but honestly, she wasn’t. In fact, this was some of the best news she’d ever heard. It meant he wouldn’t take any of the members of Ladies of Grace to bed, either. Then there couldn’t be any gossip going on behind her back. She would never be made to look like a fool to any of them. She would be free to pretend she shared a wild, passionate love with him, and they would have to believe it. That was, of course, if she could convince him to play the part of the doting husband.
“I’m fine with that,” she told him. Noting his shock, she added, “I don’t care if you kiss or touch me intimately. Nor do I care if you never come to my bed. I have nothing to lose by not having a child. It’s not my title that would pass on to an heir. What I would like,” she shifted so that she was closer to him, “is for you to pretend you’re in love with me.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “Pretend I’m in love with you?”
“Yes. I meant what I said about my reputation. I need to be in Ladies of Grace. Marriage to you will secure my standing in the group. If you play the part of the devoted husband, it will be even better. I’ll do anything you want in return. And when I say anything, I mean anything. Asking me to stay out of your bed is easy.”
He drummed his fingers on his armchair, probably weighing the pros and cons of going through with her plan.
Hoping to give more weight to the pros, she added, “My dowry is significant. I might not look like it by the gown I’m wearing, but my family has much more money than we show London. We were raised to be frugal, and my brother, Brad,” she gestured to the doorway, “never wastes a single farthing. My dowry is worth five thousand pounds.”
His mouth dropped open, and his eyes grew so wide she thought they might pop out of his head. She waited for him to respond, but he seemed to be incapable of speech.
“Please do this for me,” she implored him. “I know I’m not much to look at and my personality isn’t all that charming, but since you have no desire to have an intimate marriage anyway, why should those flaws matter?”
“Five…” He cleared his throat. “Five thousand pounds?”
She nodded. “And it can all be yours if you marry me. You only need to pretend you love me when we’re in public.” She held her breath, praying the bargain was a simple one, that it would be enough to push him into agreeing to take it.
“I need to make sure the amount is correct,” he told her.
Before she could stop him, he got to his feet and strode to the door.
She rose to her feet but then sat back down. Gentlemen weren’t inclined to believe ladies. They needed to hear the information from other gentlemen. It was just as her mother used to tell her: “It’s a gentleman’s world, and ladies must deal with it.”
Celia didn’t agree with the sentiment, but Celia managed to convince her brother to do a lot of things he hadn’t been all that excited to do. As much as she liked Celia, she didn’t agree with everything Celia did or the way Celia did it.
She heard the two gentlemen talking amongst themselves and directed her attention to them. She couldn’t hear the exact words, but their body language told her all she needed to know.
The duke was gesturing with his arms in a way that indicated he was having trouble believing what she’d told him. Brad, in turn, offered a nod in assurance that she had spoken the truth. Then Brad shrugged as if to say he didn’t agree with what she wanted but was willing to go along with it as long as the duke accepted the deal.
The duke hesitated for a long moment. He glanced over at her, and she had to fight back the urge to blush. Even if there wasn’t going to be anything physical between them, she was still in awe at his male beauty. Imagine how envious the ladies in the group were going to be when he escorted her to Lady Eloise’s father’s ball!
The duke finally turned back to Brad and gave a nod that let her know he was willing to go along with the bargain. She released her breath. What a relief! She’d managed to do it! With Brad’s help, of course. There was no way she could have done it without him.
Brad came back into the room and approached her, so she stood up. “Tad and I will go to the bank to transfer the funds.”
Tad? That was his name? She wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t think of a better name than that to describe such a good-looking gentleman.
“We’ll discuss when to read the Banns and have the wedding ceremony later,” Brad continued.
“That’s fine,” she replied. “I only have one request.” She glanced at Tad. “There’s this ball coming up. It’s a very prestigious ball. The Duke of Silverton is hosting it. It just might be the most important one of the Season.”
“You want me to escort you to it?” Tad guessed.
“Would you?” she asked. “Brad will be with us to chaperone.”
“All right,” Tad said.
“And,” she quickly added while fortune was on her side, “will you share two dances with me? Others will be watching us, and I want to make sure they see us dancing together.”
“Yes, we’ll share two dances.”
She clapped her hands in excitement. “Thank you!”
Brad cleared his throat to get their attention. “So it’s been arranged. We’ll let you know when the ball is,” he told Tad. His gaze went to her. “You can go home in our carriage.”
With another glance at Tad, she smiled. Then thinking it would be best to let her brother know how much she appreciated his assistance in the matter, she added, “Thank you.”
Brad looked surprised she had chosen to thank him, so she decided she’d leave it at that and went to the carriage to go home.
***
Loretta intended to go straight home, but she was too excited to do that. Instead, she had the coachman take her to Celia’s townhouse. She didn’t exactly relish the idea of seeing Anthony or Damara, but she had to talk to Celia about her betrothal to Tad. Imagine someone like her getting the most desirable bachelor in all of London! If she pinched herself, she was afraid she’d wake up and find out this was all a dream. So, to be safe, she resisted the urge to pinch herself.
The carriage came to a stop in front of Anthony’s townhouse, and the familiar skip of her heartbeat let her know that she still loved Celia’s brother. This wasn’t going to be as easy as she had hoped. She’d hoped with her engagement, she wouldn’t experience any more of the lingering feelings for him, but she supposed it was going to take her longer to get over him than she’d expected.
Reminding herself that she was going to succeed in impressing Lady Eloise, she stepped down from the carriage and walked up the steps of the townhouse. When she reached the f
ront door, she knocked on it. She took a deep breath in an effort to settle her nerves. With any luck, she wouldn’t see either Anthony or Damara. Hopefully, they would be spending the day together outside.
The door opened, and the footman offered a greeting.
After replying in kind, she asked, “Is Miss Barlow available to receive visitors?”
He nodded and urged her to enter the townhouse.
She stepped into the entryway, and for a moment, she was taken back to the evening of the dinner party where she believed Anthony had wanted to marry her. Looking back, it was obvious Celia had had a hand in the arrangement. Loretta should have known when Anthony hadn’t come directly to her to propose that his heart hadn’t been in it. But she was so eager to be with him that she hadn’t seen things as they truly were. She’d only seen what she’d wanted to see. God willing, she would never be that stupid again.
“Should I bring you anything to eat or drink while you wait for Miss Barlow?” the butler asked as he approached her in the entryway.
“No, thank you,” she replied. “I’ve had enough to eat and drink already.”
“Then I’ll let her know you’re here,” the butler said.
With a smile to thank him, she went into the drawing room, as had been her habit every other time she’d paid Celia a visit. But as soon as she entered the room, her steps came to a stop.
Damara was curled up in a chair, reading a book. Loretta thought about backing out of the room, but Damara happened to look up before she could.
“Good afternoon, Loretta,” Damara said as she placed the book on the table next to the chair. She gestured to the settee that was near her. “Are you here to see Celia?”
Steps slow, Loretta headed for the settee. “Yes. I-I had some news for her.”
Loretta stopped at the settee, and after an awkward moment, she took a seat. Damara smiled and clasped her hands together in a way that told Loretta she wasn’t the only one who was nervous. Immediately, Loretta’s nerves eased.
“Congratulations on your marriage,” Loretta ventured. “And on the child you’re carrying.”
“Thank you,” Damara replied, her hands relaxing slightly. After a moment, she added, “I didn’t know Anthony was betrothed to you until after we married.”
“You’re a very nice lady,” Loretta told her. “That’s why he chose you over me. You and I might not have shared a conversation before, but I noticed how you conducted yourself when you went to Ladies of Grace as Celia’s guest. It’s obvious you’re a lovely person. Lady Eloise is greatly upset you won’t join the group, and she is very particular about who she chooses. That says a lot about you.”
Damara blushed. “I am honored, but I can’t.”
“I understand.” And it made Damara even more likable. What other lady would give up Lady Eloise’s prestigious group because of her friend? Loretta cleared her throat. “I don’t know how to ask you this, so I might as well come out and say it.”
“What is it?”
“How do you manage to be so nice?”
“Pardon?”
Noting the confused expression on Damara’s face, she explained, “I’m nothing like you. You manage to be kind to everyone. It doesn’t matter who they are. I hate to admit it, but I’m only nice to people who will help me get into Lady Eloise’s good graces.”
Face warm from the admission, Loretta looked away from Damara. That was one of the hardest things she’d ever said aloud, and now that she had, it only made her aware of how selfish she must seem to others.
“You’re being nice to me, and you have no reason to do so,” Damara said.
Still not meeting her gaze, Loretta replied, “I’m being nice so you will give me ideas on how I can be nice. I have something to gain from it.”
“I know that is hard for you to say, but the fact that you’re being honest with me is a kindness in itself.”
Well, yes, maybe there was something to honesty, though she wasn’t all that sure such honesty was all that wonderful.
“One thing you could try,” Damara began after a moment of silence passed between them, “is keeping quiet when you can’t think of something nice to say.”
Loretta considered the idea. She’d never thought of doing things that way before. If she didn’t like something, she’d let others know it. “Yes, I suppose that’s a good option,” Loretta said. Finally making eye contact with Damara, she asked, “Do you have any other tips?”
“There are a couple of people you can never please, no matter how hard you try. I think being quiet around those people is the only way to handle them. As soon as you say anything, it can stir up trouble. But most people have some good in them, and I like to focus on the good in others whenever possible.”
Focusing on the good… Loretta had never considered that before. “It’s too easy to pick out what’s bad.”
“Yes, it is, but it doesn’t make you feel any better about being around them.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I can see the logic in your thinking.”
“I didn’t expect you to come by today,” came Celia’s voice.
Loretta directed her attention to her friend.
Celia ran over to her. “What’s wrong? Did something horrible happen? Lady Eloise didn’t change the requirements of what we’re supposed to wear at her father’s ball, did she?”
“No, nothing of the sort happened,” Loretta assured her. “I just came by to talk to you.”
Damara rose to her feet and picked up her book. “I’ll leave you two alone. I hope you have a nice visit.”
Loretta wondered if she should insist Damara stay since Damara was Celia’s sister-in-law, but before she could decide on the best way to handle the situation, Damara had left the room.
“What is it?” Celia asked as she sat next to her. “Don’t tell me something isn’t going on. I can tell you have important news.”
“You know me better than anyone.” Loretta took a moment to enjoy the suspense. This was very important news, and she wanted to savor it.
Celia groaned. “You’re being cruel by making me wait, Loretta.”
“I know, but this is the best thing that could ever happen to me.”
“Which is why you need to come out and say it! Come on. You know I don’t like to wait.”
“All right.” She shifted on the settee in excitement and finally blurted out, “I convinced the Duke of Lambeth to marry me!”
Chapter Five
Celia gasped, her eyes growing wide. “The Duke of Lambeth is going to marry you?”
“Isn’t it wonderful?” With a glance at the open doorway, Loretta lowered her voice. “We worked out an agreement. My brother will give him my dowry, and in return, the duke will pretend to be hopelessly in love with me.”
“Pretend to be hopelessly in love with you?”
“Well, he didn’t know me before today.”
“Do you think he’ll love you after you marry?”
“No. We’re not going to have that kind of marriage. He has no interest in having a wife. He’s very much a confirmed bachelor. But no one else has to know that. I’m only telling you because you’re my most trusted friend. I can count on you to keep a secret.”
“Oh, yes. Of course, you can.”
“I explained to him how important it is that I get into Lady Eloise’s good graces. That’s why it was necessary I marry him instead of someone else.”
“There’s no denying that she’ll envy you. I think she’s had her heart set on snagging him herself.”
Celia was probably right, which made the fact that Loretta got to him first that much more important.
“So when did this arrangement happen?” Celia asked.
“Just now. I was so excited that I had to come right over here to see you. My brother and the duke are at the bank transferring my dowry over to his account.”
“All of it?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t think to ask.”
“I hope
Brad is smart enough to not give him everything until after the wedding.”
“Brad’s always been wise with money. I doubt he’d do anything stupid.”
“Well, just to be sure, you better ask him because if I was in the duke’s position, I’d be tempted to take all of the money and run off with it.”
“You wouldn’t. You would stand by your word.”
Celia shrugged. “It depends. If the opportunity is too good to resist, I might say anything to get what I want.”
“Not at the expense of others.”
“It would depend on the circumstances.”
Loretta frowned, not sure she liked the way Celia was thinking. Surely, a person’s word had to mean something. If someone couldn’t be trusted to do what they said, then what was the point in doing anything with them?
“Be sure to ask your brother about it when you return home,” Celia said. “The Duke of Lambeth does have a reputation of being a rake.”
“He had the reputation of being one. He’s changed a lot since then.”
With an amused smile, Celia asked, “How can you be sure? You only met him today.”
“Yes, I did, but I have a good feeling about him. I don’t think he’s the person he used to be.”
“I suppose time will tell.”
Loretta didn’t know why, but the conversation hadn’t gone at all the way she’d expected. She’d thought Celia would be hugging her and congratulating her on such a fine conquest. She’d thought Celia would want to know exactly how Loretta had secured a marriage to him or what kinds of things he and Loretta would do to show Lady Eloise they had a love match.
“Do you think I made a mistake?” Loretta asked, afraid to hear the answer even as she asked it.
“I wish you didn’t let Lady Eloise worry you so. I keep telling you she wouldn’t dare remove you from the group. You know as much about etiquette as she does.”
Even if Celia believed that, Loretta didn’t. Celia had the benefit of being Anthony’s sister, and now Celia was Damara’s sister-in-law. Given how much Lady Eloise respected both of them, there was no way she was going to remove Celia from the group unless Celia did something scandalous. Loretta, however, had no self-assurance.
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