Chapter 14
Nathanial
“Come in and sit down. We were just discussing the matter of how Nathanial got into Miss Little’s room,” Drake said. Like his fiancée, his words came out as more of a demand than a request. He gestured at the empty chair by the escritoire, which no one had yet taken a seat at.
Lifting her nose in the air, Lady Astrid paused for a moment, as if to prove to Drake that she did not have to immediately jump to do as he said, before regally sweeping over to sit down.
Unlike the gentlemen, she was already dressed for the day in a coral dress trimmed with copper ribbon and creamy lace.
Her red hair was pulled back from her face and pinned neatly in place without any alluring tendrils or curls to soften her.
And the look that she sent at Nathanial was very hard.
“As I was just saying, I remember Mr. Little coming into the library. He gave me another drink.” Nathanial ignored the groans and shaking heads that accompanied his words.
Only Lady Astrid did not react, sitting as straight as a poker, ignoring Drake as he hovered at her side.
“I know we talked. I do not remember about what.” Leaning back against his wardrobe, Nathanial rubbed his head again.
“Did he take you to Miss Little’s room?” Christian asked, though his frown was far less fierce than it had been before.
“I…”
“You need to be sure. Her room is just below yours,” Lady Astrid said as Nathanial’s voice trailed off. His head had already been throbbing, and trying to remember made it hurt even more. “Did he lead you there, or did you forget to go up the second staircase?”
The staircase.
Nathanial remembered the staircase.
“He helped me up the stairs. I would not have made it otherwise. I was…”
“Indisposed?”
“Four sheets to the wind?”
“Completely foxed?”
“Snockered?”
Glaring, Nathanial lifted his head to cut off his friends as they snickered in amusement. Strangely, the joking did make him feel a bit better, despite everything.
The idea of marrying Miss Little… well, part of him was not at all unhappy with the thought. The idea that she and her father had trapped him did cause him a great deal of unhappiness, which easily overshadowed the first part.
“I suppose it does not really matter, though, does it?” Sebastian asked. “Either way, he has to marry her.”
“It would change how I feel about it,” Nathanial muttered and saw Lady Astrid nod in agreement.
“Does he have to marry her? Christian was courting her; he could do it,” Matthew pointed out.
Nathanial’s head snapped up, despite the pounding, and his stomach turned over again at the thought of Christian marrying Miss Little in his place.
Zounds, but that would only make this whole farce even worse…
Except…
If Christian was willing, he should probably allow him.
“By that logic, so could you,” Christian pointed out.
Matthew shook his head, his hand lifting to pat the pocket of his dressing robe. Even now, he must be carrying that damned lucky coin, which had told him not to pursue Miss Little.
Rolling his eyes, Christian continued, “I could, and that would save her, but not Nathanial.”
Lady Astrid frowned, her expression turning speculative.
“What do you mean?” Nathanial asked.
“We could shuffle dukes around the altar to save Miss Little’s reputation,” Lady Astrid said, working through the problem out loud.
“Though those here at the house party know it was Nathanial in her bed, if someone else were to marry her, it would be gossiped about for a few weeks until the next scandal. However, because it was Nathanial in her bed, the fact that he did not step in to do the honorable thing would reflect rather badly on him with the ladies.”
Her gaze had turned to one of sympathy as she met his.
Understanding dawned.
If his goal was to marry a woman of impeccable reputation and social standing with a massive dowry, acting dishonorably with another debutante was a surefire way to scuttle his ship.
No woman of impeccable reputation and social standing would marry a man who ruined another woman, then allowed one of his friends to marry her in his stead.
Even his rank as a duke would not be enough to save him from Society’s approbation.
Not for this Season, at least.
And if he did not marry this Season…
Bloody hell.
“If it helps, the answer to your question was yes,” Matthew said, thrusting his hand into his pocket.
“What question?” Christian asked when Nathanial did not respond.
“After I flipped the coin to see if I should pursue Miss Little, I flipped it for Nathanial as well. I did not tell him what it said at the time, because I do not know if it works for someone other than me.” Matthew shrugged. “But it came up heads, which means yes.”
However, Nathanial had not wanted the coin the make his choice for him.
He had not wanted anyone to make the choice other than himself.
And while he’d been trying to talk himself into offering for Miss Little regardless of the fact that she did not meet every single parameter he’d listed for himself…
Closing his eyes, he let his head thud back against the wardrobe as his friends began to argue about whether the coin’s flip had any meaning for anyone other than Matthew. Not that it mattered to him. There was only one path forward.
It felt like his chest was going to crack open, the invisible bands that had wrapped around it so tight. He was well and truly trapped. All of his choices were gone.
He had to marry Miss Little or face the fact he had failed his family, which was no real choice at all. Marrying Miss Little would save her reputation and his finances.
But she was not the lady he’d thought she was. Not at all.
Kalina
Leaving the bedroom was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life.
Kalina knew she looked her best. Margaret had brushed her hair until it gleamed, braided the silky strands before winding the plaits into a complicated knot and securing it with pins decorated with tiny pink diamonds.
One pink diamond hung from a delicate chain, not nearly as large as those she wore with her evening gowns, but enough to remind everyone exactly what the Duke of Hereford would be getting when he married her.
Her dress was bright rose pink, trimmed with dark green, making her look as though she was a flower come to life. The colors made her dark skin glow and her eyes shine brighter than usual.
She was as polished as the diamonds she wore.
But inside, she felt like she was dying.
Her father had gone to meet with the Duke of Hereford in the library
“Chin up,” her mother murmured as they stepped into the dining room together, and there was an immediate hush from the others gathered there.
They’d heard.
They’d all heard.
Most of the ladies goggled at her, regardless of age…
but Tiffany avoided her gaze by studiously staring at the plate in front of her.
Delilah looked at Kalina, then looked away, applying her attention to her plate as well.
Those were the two in the room she had cared about the most. Gregory was not there, and neither were any of the other dukes.
Lady Astrid had also not arrived yet.
Lifting her chin, as her mother had told her to, Kalina glided over to the buffet where breakfast had been laid out.
She had never felt less like eating, yet there was no choice.
Everything she understood about how English society operated, the more she behaved as if everything was normal, the more likely they were to treat her normally.
At least, Society at large would.
Her friends…
Kalina took in a deep breath to keep the ache in her chest from spreading further.
It was not as though they had been her friends for very long. She had spent far more time without any friends than she had spent with. A reversion would be back to her normal.
Maybe she was just not meant to have friends. No matter how badly she wanted them.
If it came to a choice between her father and her friends, she would choose her father, of course. He had been her support for her entire life. She’d known Tiffany, Delilah, and Lady Astrid for less than a year.
Defiantly, Kalina took her plate and walked to the opposite end of the table from where Tiffany and Delilah were seated, choosing a chair next to Mei, the matchmaker’s granddaughter. Lady Hu was on Mei’s other side, and Lord Emeryn and his wife were across from them.
Kalina’s mother took the seat beside hers, quietly sliding into place. She was so serene, so calm. Kalina did her best to emulate her mother’s tranquil demeanor.
“Good morning,” Mei said, turning to look at Kalina. Her dark eyes studied Kalina’s expression, which she feared might show more than she wanted it to, despite her efforts.
“Good morning,” Kalina replied, and she was rather pleased at how her voice sounded. Not too high, not too strained. Almost as though this was a completely normal morning.
“I hear you no longer require my services.” Mei’s lips twitched, a glimmer of amusement sparking in her eyes when Kalina’s mouth dropped open, and she stared at her.
Mei was teasing her.
It felt… it felt like she wanted to burst into tears at the idea that someone was not only looking at her, talking with her instead of about her, but was willing to tease her.
She was also very aware that Mei was cataloging all of Kalina’s actions.
The teasing was meant in a kindly fashion, but there was also an underlying current of being examined.
Still. She was grateful.
“Well, we will see. Nothing is set in stone, as yet.” She dropped her gaze to her plate. Her stomach twisted.
Picking up a piece of toast, which seemed the most harmless item, she began to butter it. It gave her something to do while she tried to convince her stomach to settle. Conversation had sprung up again along the rest of the table, but Kalina was very aware of the whispers, the sideways glances.
She did not dare look down the length of the table to see if Delilah and Tiffany were whispering to each other. She did not want to know if they were.
“From all I have observed, the Duke of Hereford is an honorable man. He will do the right thing.” Mei took a sip of her tea. “I think he may even come to realize what a lucky escape he had from his chosen fate.”
Kalina did not know what to say to that. It was on the tip of her tongue to comment that Mei had not had much time to observe the duke. She had only arrived yesterday. Yet, she suspected Mei saw much more, and much more clearly, than most.
As to a lucky escape and a chosen fate… Kalina could not begin to imagine what Mei was referring to. She did know that the duke and Mei had spoken at length yesterday afternoon.
Had Mei felt as though he was going down the wrong path in regard to his search for a bride?
Did referring to a lucky escape mean that she thought his marriage to Kalina was lucky?
Kalina’s head hurt trying to follow the logic, yet she did not feel as though she could ask. Was not sure she wanted to.
The door to the dining room opened again, and Kalina’s head jerked up. Lady Astrid swept into the room, followed by the dukes. Almost all the dukes. Hereford was absent. Likely still in the library with her father.
Taking in the room with a glance, Lady Astrid’s gaze moved right over Kalina as if she did not exist. It felt like a sharp jab through her heart, and her breath clogged in her throat as her eyes began to sting.
Kalina dropped her gaze back down to her plate, forcing herself to bring the toast to her mouth and take a small nibble as Lady Astrid and the cadre of dukes joined the duchess and baroness at the other end of the table.
Mei leaned in closer to Kalina, dropping her voice so only she could hear.
“Do not worry. Emotions are heightened, but eventually they will realize you had nothing to do with trapping Hereford into marriage.”
Surprise nearly choked Kalina, but she managed to swallow her bread despite it. Mei’s insight was even greater than she’d realized. She sounded completely sure that Kalina had had nothing to do with the events of this morning.
Afraid to hope that Mei was correct, Kalina couldn’t stop the painful little spark that sprang up inside her, anyway.