Chapter 16 #4
“I’ll marry you.”
The sentence hung in the air like a physical object. Rowan froze. He didn’t move for several seconds, his back still turned to her, as if he were certain he had misheard. Even Selina, who had been hovering by the sideboard, let out a tiny, muffled squeak of surprise.
Rowan turned slowly, his brow furrowed in utter bewilderment. “What did you say?”
“I said I’ll marry you, Your Grace,” Lucy repeated, her voice gaining strength even as her heart hammered against her ribs.
She took a step toward him, her chin tilted up.
“You said you won't look for a wife anymore because you don’t trust your judgment and you don’t want to bring a stranger into your sons’ lives.
Well, I am not a stranger anymore, and I love your sons.
The boys trust me. I know their favorite hiding spots, I know which one needs a firm hand and which one needs a quiet word, and I already know exactly how you take your tea. ”
Rowan stared at her, his dark eyes searching her face for the punchline of a joke that wasn’t coming. “Lucy, you cannot be serious.”
“I am perfectly serious,” she countered, the plan forming in her mind even as she spoke.
“But we will make our own deal. A business arrangement, if you will. I will be your duchess. I will manage this household, I will ensure your sons are protected from the ‘Judiths’ of the world, and I will stand beside you at whatever dull functions the Duke of Langridge must attend.”
She took another breath. “In exchange, I will continue my work. I will not be a decorative ornament locked away in the country. I will keep my matchmaking business, I will keep my own income, and I will continue to live my life with the freedom I’ve earned.
We will be partners, Rowan. You get the help you won’t admit you need, and the boys get a mother who actually cares for them. ”
She paused, her gaze softening just a fraction.
“I won't bother you. You can have your silence, your study, and your solitude whenever you wish. You already have your heirs, so we do not have obligations to fulfill. We don’t have to pretend there is... anything else between us. It will be a perfect, professional union.”
Rowan’s gaze dropped to her lips for a fraction of a second before he looked back into her eyes, his expression unreadable. He didn’t move. He stood as still as the statues in his gallery, his gaze boring into Lucy with sharp wariness. He let out a breath that was half-laugh, half-scoff.
“A business arrangement?” he repeated, his voice low and raspy.
He began to pace the length of the rug, his boots crunching on a few stray shards of crystal that hadn’t yet been cleared.
“Lucy, you are talking about a lifetime. You are talking about binding your name, your reputation, and your very life to a man you’ve spent the last three weeks arguing with. ”
“I am talking about a solution,” Lucy corrected him, her voice unwavering.
“You need a duchess who won’t terrorize your children, do you not?
I need a position that allows me to maintain my agency while securing my future.
This arrangement will also please my aunt,” she said, glancing back at Selina whose jaw was dropped.
“We are both practical people, Rowan. We have already proven that we can navigate a crisis together.”
There was a cacophony of voices erupting in her mind, a frantic chorus of her own principles screaming in protest, asking what she was doing.
This went against everything she believed in.
Everything she had wanted for herself. She wanted to be the woman who brokered freedom for others, yet she had just walked willingly into a gilded cage.
But then, her gaze drifted to the doorway where Brook had stood, bruised and trembling, and the logic of her heart began to drown out the logic of her head.
She couldn’t leave those boys, not now that she knew the troubles they were facing alone.
If she accepted this, she could protect them as they grew.
For Rowan, the arrangement was practically perfect in its coldness.
They were already comfortable with each other in a professional capacity; they understood the language of contracts and expectations.
She wouldn’t have to pretend to be a blushing bride or a doting wife.
She would continue her matchmaking, and since Rowan already had his heirs, there was no biological pressure, though a small, unbidden thought whispered that they might still have to share a bed to maintain the facade for the Ton.
She pushed that thought away, focusing instead on the practical beauty of it all.
As long as they adhered to the terms of their deal, she could be a mother to the boys and a partner to the Duke without losing the woman she had worked so hard to become.
It was a gamble, a dangerous, dizzying risk, but as she looked at the shattered crystal on the floor, she realized she had already stopped being a spectator in this family’s life. She was part of the foundation now.
Rowan stopped pacing and turned to face her, his silhouette framed by the late afternoon light.
“You realize what you are suggesting? I told you from the beginning, I am not looking for a grand romance. I am not looking for a woman to occupy my heart. I need a marriage of convenience, purely functional, purely for the sake of the estate and the boys. It would be a cold life for a woman like you.”
“It would not.” Lucy didn’t flinch. She leaned back against the mahogany table, her hands gripping the edge to hide their slight tremble.
“Even better,” she said, her voice dropping to a cool, professional tone that masked the thunderous pounding of her heart.
“A marriage of convenience is exactly what I am proposing. No emotions, no unrealistic expectations. I will provide the stability this house lacks, and in return, I get the protection of your title and the freedom to pursue my own career. We would be a team, Rowan. Nothing more, nothing less.”
She looked him directly in the eye, her gaze a challenge. “You wouldn’t have to worry about me falling in love with you, and I wouldn’t have to worry about you trying to control me. It is the most honest proposal you are ever likely to receive.”
Rowan stared at her as if he were seeing her for the first time. Beside them, Selina held her breath, her eyes darting between the two of them like a spectator at a high-stakes duel.
Finally, Rowan took a step toward her. He didn’t stop until he was mere inches away, his presence overwhelming. He reached out, his hand hovering near her face for a heartbeat before his fingers closed firmly around the back of a nearby chair.
“You are certain, Lucy? Once the papers are signed, there is no turning back. You will be the Duchess of Langridge. My Duchess.”
“I am certain,” Lucy whispered back, though the air in her lungs felt thin. “Do we have a deal?”
Rowan inhaled sharply and nodded. “We have a deal, Lucy Crampton.”