Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“ W hat are you doing out here? I thought you would be at breakfast.”
Leah looked up from the garden bench she was sitting on to see Vivian approaching, dressed in a simple white morning dress, her brow furrowed with concern.
“Vivian,” Leah said weakly, not even bothering to stand up as her friend approached. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to call on you,” Vivian said, sitting down to Leah on the bench and taking her hand. “You disappeared from the ball last night right after saying you were going to ask Mr. Fitzwilliam to marry you. I wanted to make sure you were well— and to see if you were engaged. But I ran into the Duchess in the hall and she told me… Well, she told me everything that happened with you and the Duke of Nottington.”
Leah looked away. She didn’t want to think about last night. Her whole body felt numb and she didn’t know how to talk about it .
“Leah?” Vivian asked quietly, coaxingly. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s going on.”
“I just still can’t believe it happened,” Leah said, turning back to Vivian. “I’m so embarrassed! That’s why I’m out here and not at breakfast. I couldn’t face anyone this morning. So many of last night’s guests stayed the night, and they know something happened with Lord Dubois. I cannot bear to face it all. I’m so ashamed of myself and the way I behaved.”
“Ashamed?” Vivian tilted her head to one side. “Why should you be ashamed?”
“Because I kissed the Duke of Nottington!” Leah shook her head in baffled wonder. “I kissed a man! I tried to entrap him into marriage! Something has come over me and it has turned me into an entirely different person.”
“You were desperate and scared,” Vivian said gently. “Anyone in your situation would have done the same thing.”
“I should have just asked Mr. Fitzwilliam to marry me,” she said, lowering her head. “But I couldn’t even bring myself to speak with him. I felt so tongue-tied, so nervous.”
Vivian frowned, as if trying to understand. “And yet you could kiss the Duke of Nottington? He seems to me to be far more intimidating than Mr. Fitzwilliam.”
“Nottington is an old family friend,” Leah said with a shrug. “I knew him as a girl. Perhaps that’s why I can talk normally to him. But I wasn’t planning to entrap him. He found me crying, and then, when Lucien appeared, I knew it was my chance, so I took it.”
For a moment, Vivian was quiet. Then she asked, tentatively, “And you think he can help you find a husband in the next fortnight.”
“He says he can. He wants me to have lessons with him.”
“What kind of lessons?”
“I’m not sure.” Leah looked away again. Hopefully lessons that teach me how to talk to gentlemen without getting tongue-tied. “But he is a very sociable, flirtatious man. He must know how to induce someone into marriage.”
“Yes, I suppose he would,” Vivian said with a laugh. “Half the ton wants to marry him. I think the lessons are a good idea.”
Leah looked at her uncertainly. “You do?”
“Of course! They will help you feel more confident talking to gentlemen.” Vivian smiled encouragingly. “And confidence is all you need. You’re already beautiful and wealthy--you just need to believe in yourself.”
“Maybe,” Leah said doubtfully. She had a bad feeling her problem was much deeper.
“Well, at the very least it will help you figure out a backup plan,” Vivian said. “In case the contract is authenticated and your father’s signature turns out to be real.”
A cold sweat broke out on Leah’s forehead. In her embarrassment and panic over kissing Nottington, she hadn’t thought much about Lord Dubois. But Vivian was right: she had to take all the help she could get to ensure she didn’t end up married to him.
“You’re right,” she said, squeezing her friend’s hand. “I will do the lessons, and I will try to make the most of them.”
“Good, now come inside.” Vivian stood up, pulling Leah to her feet as well. “Let’s have breakfast. You aren’t going to get any better at speaking to gentlemen if you’re faint with hunger.”
Dorian had been wondering what, exactly, would make a young lady as beautiful as Lady Leah Grove feel that she had to stoop to entrapment in order to get a gentleman to marry her. After all, in his experience, wealthy, beautiful women in need of a husband could usually secure one pretty quickly--as long as they didn’t expect too much from their spouses.
But as he watched her from across the breakfast room where she was speaking to Mr. Jonathan Roland, it was becoming clearer and clearer what the problem was.
While Lady Leah might look the part of the perfect proper young lady, she was barely saying anything at all. Even when Mr. Roland asked her direct questions, she would stare at him blankly for several seconds before seeming to remember that she was supposed to be talking. When she did speak, she seemed closed off and cold, uninterested in hearing his response .
Dorian shook his head. This is a disaster! A young lady who doesn’t even know how to make conversation!
“Are you well, Dorian? You seem distracted.”
Dorian started and looked around at his friend, Anthony Caller, the Duke of Cresswell, with whom he had been trying to have a conversation. Anthony was blinking at him slowly, a concerned look on his face.
“Oh, yes, I am well,” Dorian said.
“Is this about Lady Leah?” Anthony smirked at him. “I heard that you made a deal with the devil in order to keep from having to marry her.”
“Where did you hear that from?” Dorian said, his eyebrows shooting up. Surely the gossip hadn’t spread that fast! It would ruin her.
“Lucien told me,” Anthony said with a shrug. “He doesn’t fully trust you, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Dorian asked quickly. Lucien was his best friend--of course he trusted him. Didn’t he?
“He told me what happened between you and Lady Leah, and according to him, he isn’t fully convinced that his sister was the one who started the kiss.” Anthony smirked. “I must admit, I also have trouble believing this version of events. I have never known you to be the kind of man who doesn’t kiss a lady first.”
“Well, you ought to believe it,” Dorian said, trying to keep some of the annoyance from his voice. “Lady Leah is a woman who knows what she wants. Although she is a strange one. She throws herself at me in order to find a husband, and yet she cannot even open her mouth in order to speak to a gentleman. How is it that a lady can be so bold on the one hand, and so fearful on the other?”
“Perhaps she doesn’t actually want any of these other men,” Anthony said, and his smirk had become a whole smile now. In fact, Dorian thought he looked as if he was trying not to laugh. “Perhaps she just wants you.”
“Oh very funny,” Dorian said, rolling his eyes. Anthony had always had a dry sense of humor. He was detached from things, choosing to laugh at situations instead of ever taking them seriously, but right now, Dorian was not in the mood for jokes. “But no, she does not want me. She wants a man– ”
“Who isn’t a rake?”
Dorian swallowed, irritated at the designation even though he’d done everything to cultivate it. “Yes. She wants someone who will make life pleasant for her. And that’s what she will get, with my help.”
“Well then, good luck to you,” Anthony said, shaking his head. “Whenever I have tried to speak to her, it is like speaking to a brick wall. She is going to need all the help she can get.”
Dorian sighed. “Then I suppose I should get started. Please, will you excuse me?”
He stood up and bowed to his friend, and Anthony raised a glass to him .
“Adorable to see you as a marriage-minded mama,” he said, chuckling.
Dorian rolled his eyes and stalked off. He knew he was being rude. But it was going to take him a little bit of time to integrate back into London manners. He’d been away too long. And he couldn’t bear to watch Lady Leah sabotage herself like this any longer.
Dorian headed straight across the room to Lady Leah and Mr. Roland. When he reached them, he cleared his throat to get their attention and bowed.
“Mr. Roland, may I borrow this lovely lady from you?”
“You may,” Mr. Roland said, looking more relieved than Dorian liked to see. “Lady Leah, it was a pleasure speaking to you.”
Dorian took Lady Leah’s arm and led her away. She remained stiff until they had gone several yards across the room, and then she hissed at him, “What are you doing? That was a gentleman who was actually interested in me! You are supposed to be helping me, not getting in the way of potential matches.”
Dorian didn’t say anything. He wasn’t sure it was the best idea to tell her that she was terrible at speaking to gentlemen and that he had just rescued her from boring Mr. Roland to death. That would probably only undermine her confidence—what little she had .
She tutted impatiently. “Well?” She demanded. “Aren’t you going to explain why you did that? Is this all part of your elaborate plan?”
Dorian smiled, amused by how forthright she was being with him. Why could she not summon that boldness with the eligible men of the ton? “You have a real fire in you, Lady Leah,” he murmured. “Tell me: does it only come out when you are speaking to me--or trying to foist yourself upon me?”
Lady Leah’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that when you were speaking to Mr. Roland now, you were so demure as to appear almost uninterested. But right now, you are like a spitfire--and while it isn’t exactly ladylike, it is far more attractive.”
“I’m not being a spitfire,” Lady Leah snapped. “I’m just trying to find myself a husband in the next two weeks. And you should be trying as well! Otherwise you’ll be stuck with me forever, and that doesn’t seem to be what you want.”
Dorian laughed. “I am trying to help you find a husband. That’s what I’m doing right now. The more gentlemen that are interested in you, the better. It increases your appeal. If they think you have many suitors sniffing after you, they will be more likely to pursue.”
“Sniffing?”
“Chasing after you,” he amended. “And it doesn’t hurt either that I am a Duke. And an exceedingly charming and handsome Duke, to boot. With me on your arm, you are increasing your desirability tenfold.”
“You are unbelievably arrogant,” she said, staring at him with an expression somewhere between shock and amusement. “I don’t remember that about you from when I was younger.”
“Well, you only knew me as your brother’s friend. Now you are getting to know me as London’s most notorious rake.” He smiled wickedly at her. “And I am very, very arrogant.”
For a moment, they stared at each other, and he thought he saw her cheeks pink slightly. Then she rolled her eyes and looked away, and he was sure he had imagined it.
“Well, I hope it’s working,” she said, “because Mr. Roland is now talking to Miss Beauregard. And he looks very pleased with the conversation.”
Dorian glanced in that direction as well. Mr. Roland was, indeed, talking to the pretty, blonde-haired Miss Beauregard, and he had a much warmer and more sincere smile on his face than when he’d been speaking to Lady Leah.
Oh dear.
“Meet me after lunch in the music room,” he murmured. “We will begin our lessons then.”
“But, we should not be alone together!” She said, looking affronted.
Now it was Dorian’s turn to roll his eyes. “What’s the worst that could happen? We are caught alone together and forced to marry? Heaven forbid!”
CHAPTER FOUR
The Duke had a good point about being caught. The worst that could happen would be that she would get what she wanted: marriage to someone other than Lord Dubois. Anyone other than Lord Dubois, but was it too much to hope for someone quick-witted, at least?
Still, Leah felt nervous as she walked to the music room after lunch, and she kept checking over her shoulder. When she reached the door, she raised her hand to knock, then realized how ridiculous she was being. Pushing it open instead, she slipped inside.
The Duke was already waiting for her, and he gave her a haughty smile as he came over to her.
“You came,” he said, as he kissed her hand. “Despite the danger.”
“I was thinking about that on my way here,” she said, as he released her hand. “Or really, I was thinking about last night and how I tried to trap you like that, and I wanted to apologize.”
The Duke raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. His look of comical skepticism somehow only made him more handsome. He was very tall, taller even than her brother, with wavy dark brown hair that he wore longer than was fashionable.
The effect was to make him look a little bit like a pirate. This was only enhanced by the bright blue color of his eyes, which reminded her of the ocean on a calm, clear day. It was easy to see why this man was considered such a notorious rake and flirt. He was so handsome it was almost jaw-dropping.
Fortunately, Leah felt immune to this kind of appeal . It was the attractiveness of rakes, and she had never been interested in rakish gentlemen. Lucien might not be as strict as he used to be, but he had instilled in her a firm sense of her duty and responsibility to her family.
Falling for some sort of rakish character was not worthy of a responsible lady. Besides, rakes never fell in love. And of course, it was love Leah desired above all else.
But she forced herself to push this thought away. She had no time for love anymore.
“You never need to apologize for kissing me, Lady Leah,” he said, his smirk widening. “I enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, I give you permission to kiss me anytime you like.”
“Very funny,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “But I’m being serious. What I did. I never imagined I would be the kind of person who would treat someone so cruelly.”
“Cruelly?” Now both of the Duke’s eyebrows had shot up. “Do you think you are so bad at kissing that it was cruel to me?”
“I’m not speaking of the kiss itself,” she said, reddening with a combination of embarrassment and annoyance. Why is he being so difficult when I’m trying to do the right thing? “I’m speaking of the fact I tried to trap you in marriage!”
The Duke shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the first.” He leaned closer to her, so that his mouth was far too near hers. “And I’m sure you won’t be the last.”
She stepped back, to get away from him, her annoyance flaring even more strongly. “I’m trying to say something important and you are making everything into a joke,” she snapped. “It isn’t very gentlemanly.”
“Haven’t you realized by now, Lady Leah? I am not a gentleman.”
The Duke’s eyes were sparkling, the mirth in them somehow dangerous, and Leah felt the annoyance edge away--replaced by something else. A desire to beat him at his own game.
Leaning back toward him, she brought her chin up and looked him directly in the eyes.
“You keep saying you’re such a rake, that you’re not a gentleman,” she murmured. “But I don’t believe that for a moment. Only a true gentleman would offer to help me find a husband and, should he fail, offer to marry me himself.”
“Do you forget that I only offered for you because I kissed you first?”
She shrugged. “Well, I didn’t leave you much choice. What were you going to do, not kiss back a beautiful woman?”
The Duke let out a bark of laughter. “Oh-ho, now who’s arrogant? ”
She winked at him. “I learned it from you.”
Several moments passed, during which neither of them said anything or moved away from one another, so that their faces remained far too close for comfort. But Leah refused to be the one to break first.
It had to be him.
And at last, he took a step back, his smile widening and his eyebrow arching up once more.
“Tell me the truth, Lady Leah: why do you have no trouble quarrelling with me, and yet, when you speak to other gentlemen, you cannot seem to even make the simplest reply?”
Leah blinked and took a step back of her own. She hadn’t been expecting this question. So he noticed that. He’d hinted at it when he’d said she was demure to the point of seeming uninterested.
But now she realized he had fully assessed the problem and seen how bad she was at making conversation. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks, and she felt herself wanting to disappear into a puddle on the floor.
“What?” he asked, moving closer to her. “Don’t be embarrassed, just tell me what is wrong. I’m here to help you.”
She took a deep breath. If she couldn’t talk to the one person who was meant to help her, who could she talk to?
“I just never know what to say to gentlemen,” she said at last. “When they speak to me, I immediately start wondering what I should say in response, which only makes things worse, because then I lose the thread of the conversation and end up saying something completely unrelated.
“I… I think to hard about the ‘correct’ response or the most ladylike one, the most likely to win me a husband, that I fulfill my own fear that I will err and reveal that I don’t know the first thing about fitting in with the ton.”
Leah closed her mouth at the end of this, determined not to speak again until he had. She had said so much! Revealed far too much about herself! It was humiliating.
But when she looked up at him, she was surprised to see that he didn’t look as if he were going to laugh. Nor did he seem to judge her. Instead, he was watching thoughtfully.
“Well there is your first mistake,” he said, his tone gentle but firm. “A woman like you is not meant to fit into the ton. A woman like you is meant to stand out.”
Leah stared at him, her heart hammering in her chest. She didn’t know what to say. It was the nicest thing anyone had ever said about her.
“Alright,” he said, when she didn’t respond, “I think we should get started. Pretend that I’m a gentleman you don’t know.”
“What?” Leah eyed him uncertainly. “How am I supposed to do that?”
“Just pretend I’m a gentleman at a party you were just introduced to, and make conversation with me.”
“Alright…” She took a step closer, feeling ridiculous, and then said the first thing that came into her mind. “Are you enjoying the ball this evening, Mr…”
“Trenton,” he supplied. “And no, I’m not.”
“Oh…” It was not the answer she had been expecting. “Er… Why not?”
“I do not care to dance. And social gatherings make me fatigued.”
Leah put her hands on her hips. “You are purposefully making this difficult! How am I supposed to make conversation with you when you are responding as a curmudgeon!”
“Because if you’ve already dealt with the worst, everything else will be easy,” he said. “Anyway, there are things you could say to me that could get the conversation rolling. You could have inquired if I preferred to speak away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd. Or offered up that you don’t care to dance, either.”
“But I do care to dance.”
“You do when you’re dancing with Mr. Trenton. The fact you don’t care to dance will make him feel even more special when you eventually convince him to dance with you and then enjoy it immensely.”
Leah narrowed her eyes. “That’s manipulative.”
“That’s flirting, my dear.”
“You’re not making this easier for me,” she complained. “You’re making me have to think more, not less.”
“You’re right,” he said, shaking his head. “Let’s start with something easier. Come over here to the mirror. I want you to see your posture.”
She followed him over to the mirror, and he positioned her right in front of it, while he stood behind her.
“Do you see your posture?” he asked. “It’s very stiff. Try to relax.”
“I can’t when I’m looking at myself.”
He walked around in front of her and stood between her and the mirror, so that she could no longer see herself. “Let’s try with an easier gentleman,” he said. “I’m the Duke of Nottington now.”
“That’s just yourself.”
“So get to know me.”
Leah took a deep breath. “I’ve just rung for a pot of tea,” she improvised. “Would you like some?”
“Yes,” he said, smiling warmly at her. “I’d love some tea.”
“How do you take it?” she asked. “With milk and sugar?”
“The more sugar the better. Life is rarely sweet, so why shouldn’t our tea be?”
She laughed. “That’s a very grim view of the world, Your Grace.”
“Not at all. Reminding myself of life’s difficulties helps me live to the fullest. And take advantage of all the little treats along the way.”
The way his voice dipped and softened on the word ‘ treats’ made her blush, but she kept going. “And how do you do that? Live to the fullest, I mean? What do you care to do?”
“I like to travel, and ride horses, and fence. I stay active.” He tilted his head to one side. “And what about you? What do you do to occupy yourself?”
“Oh, the usual things,” she said, shrugging. “I ride as well, and play games with my sisters. Sometimes I paint as well. Although really, what I’m most interested in is astronomy.”
“Astronomy!” He looked surprised by this. “How very curious--and very original. I like astronomy too. Some might say that is a typical trait of my being a Libra.”
Leah frowned. “That’s not astronomy. That’s astrology. It’s very different.”
“Is it?” His grin grew wider. “And that is a very Virgo thing to say. You are a Virgo, are you not?”
Leah stared at him, her eyes wide. “How do you know that?” she murmured.
“I remember many of your birthday parties when you were young,” he said, laughing at her surprise. “You forget that I was around often when you and your sisters were growing up. And your birthday comes right before mine, so yours was particularly memorable.” He paused. “September 19th, is it not?”
“Yes,” she muttered, more flattered than she cared to admit that he remembered. “I’m sorry, I don’t remember yours.”
“September 23rd.”
“Oh! That is very close!” She smiled up at him, unable to disguise her delight. “How serendipitous that we should almost share a birthday!”
“How serendipitous indeed.” He moved aside at that moment, and Leah caught sight of herself in the mirror. To her surprise, she looked entirely different than she had a minute ago.
Her shoulders were relaxed, her jaw was unclenched, her hands were falling comfortably at her sides, and she was smiling.
“You see?” he murmured, as he came to stand behind her again. “The key to good conversation isn’t to have the perfect reply ready. It’s simply to be relaxed, go with the flow, and really listen to what the other person is saying.”
Her eyes met his in the mirror, and she nodded. She hadn’t wanted to admit that he was right, especially as he pointed out her flaws, but she could see now that he had a point. And he was helping her. It was clear just by observing herself that she was improving.
For the first time since Lord Dubois burst into the parlor, Leah felt a flicker of hope.