The Duke’s Mischievous Spinster (Unlikely Duchesses #3)
Chapter 1
Chapter One
“Icannot let my only daughter die an old maid!”
Cassandra Burrow sighed, stretching across the chaise longue with her blonde wavy hair streaming across her face. It was late morning, and she had taken up her usual residency in her drawing room. It was her favorite room in the house, until of course her father came in to spoil it.
“I am five and twenty, Papa. I am hardly decrepit.”
“Not as yet perhaps, but that day will come, and– can you at least sit up when I am speaking to you?”
She pushed herself up, looking at him with big blue eyes.
“Is this better?” she asked.
The Earl of Hurton pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes squeezing closed for a moment before he opened them again.
“Cassandra, you know that I am only doing this because I want what is best for you. I know it may seem as though you are not old now, but believe me. You will blink, and suddenly you will be nearing fifty and you will be surrounded by cats rather than children and grandchildren. Is that the sort of life you want for yourself?”
At precisely that moment, her cat Luna decided to make her entrance, jumping up onto Cassandra’s lap and purring loudly. Cassandra winced, and it was not because she thought her father could be right but because Luna padded her black paws into her thighs, with her claws out as always.
“I will not die an old maid surrounded by cats, Papa, that is absurd.”
“Is it? All you seem to do is revel in that cat, and it will lead you to a very bleak future. You know, they once thought that ladies like you were witches.”
“And burned them at stakes, yes. You would think after you have told me this hundreds of times, you might have given in and understood that I will not be changed by it.”
“No, you would think that after being told so many times you would listen.”
“Papa, I am not lonely! I have my cousins, and I have my violin. They have their instruments too, so perhaps we may all become acclaimed musicians and never need husbands anyway.”
At that, her mother came into the room, looking at her pointedly.
“Your cousins are younger than you,” Lady Hurton reminded her. “They still have time to play with their harp and their piano, but eventually their parents shall marry them off, which is precisely what we would do for you if you would only let us.”
“I cannot think of a worse fate. I would rather be hailed a witch and burned at one of those stakes Father likes to tell me about so much. If I ever marry, it will be because I want to, and as it stands I do not, and so that is that.”
“If that is what you think,” her father warned, “then so be it.”
Cassandra knew that was a warning, and so decided that it was the perfect time to go for a stroll in Hyde Park.
She dressed for the outing, pulled gloves over her hands, and left the household without telling her parents where she was going.
She had her maid with her, and she told their housekeeper, so where was the harm in it?
When she arrived, she saw her friend Anthea, the Duchess of Everleigh, with her husband and their son nearby. Her friend noticed her, and left her family to join her, her face animated.
“Did you hear?” she asked. “Sybil has had her child. Both are well.”
“Oh, that is wonderful!” Cassandra said warmly. “Another boy?”
“A girl, this time. They have named her Emmeline, after her sister. It is wonderful news, indeed, but it does mean that we cannot see her for the time being.”
“A shame, but as long as she is healthy that is all that matters.”
Her friend agreed, but the truth was that Cassandra did not only have excitement when it came to the child.
Each time her friends had a child, she was given the reminder that she did not have such a life for herself, and though that had been her own choice, there was always that pang of longing for the life she had refused to lead.
“And how are you?” Anthea asked. “The season will begin soon, and I suppose your father has his thoughts on the matter.”
“Indeed he does, but that is no concern of mine. He will have to accept eventually that I am not the sort of daughter to simper, desperate for some viscount or other to look in my direction.”
“Is that to say you thought I simpered?”
“Your husband is a duke. One whom you love, at that. That changes everything.”
Anthea raised an eyebrow at that, but Cassandra knew what she meant.
Both of her friends had fallen in love with their husbands, and that had meant something.
Cassandra wanted to love, and to be loved, but it had never happened for her, and so she had instead come to terms with her life as a spinster.
It was easier that way, and it protected her.
“I do want happiness for you,” Anthea said gently. “If that happiness is found alone by the sea, with Luna of course, then that is perfectly fine.”
“Why does everyone think that of me? Do I really appear to want that?”
“Cass, you have told me many times that that is all that you want.”
Cassandra bit her lip, realizing that her friend was right.
“Yes, well… I am pleased to have your support at least. I will not keep you from spending time with your family.”
“Cassandra, you know that is not what you are doing. We are friends, and that is not changed by the fact that I am now a wife and a mother.”
But it was, and when Anthea did eventually return to her husband Cassandra wondered just why her friends had found their happiness, and yet she had not. She had her friends, and she had her cat, but she had never felt lonelier than she did at that moment. It was not fair.
Then again, it was what she proclaimed to have wanted.
She was considering that as she walked, when suddenly she felt her olive skin collide with the fabric of a coat.
She stumbled backward, gasping, when she felt an arm reach out to catch her.
It was strong, and pulled her to her feet so that she was upright again, and when she was once again steady she dared to look up at his face.
For the first time in her life, she was almost able to call a man handsome.
He was tall, very tall, and broad with an athletic build.
His black hair was neat, and his eyes might have been considered icy to some, but to her they were captivating.
Objectively, he could have been a very handsome man indeed, if not for the scowl he wore.
“Where is your maid?” he asked, his voice deep.
“She is… she was right behind me moments ago.”
She glanced around and saw her mere feet away, pointing her out.
“Rather a lot of distance between you,” he grumbled.
“I do not know what you are suggesting, but I do not think it is wise to do so.”
“Do you truly not? So you are saying that you are not trying to compromise yourself so that I have to marry you?”
The words rang in her ears, and she no longer thought that there was anything redeeming about him. She looked down and saw that he still had hold of her arm, and she pulled away sharply, eyes blazing.
“So you assume that all ladies wish to marry, is that what you are saying?”
“The ones that go so far as to accost a gentleman certainly do. Now, I understand that a lady in your position can be desperate, but that is no excuse for such behavior as this. I would actually assume that that is precisely what brought you to your situation.”
“If you truly believe that I would go to such lengths for you, then not only are you incredibly foolish, but you are evidently most full of yourself, too.”
She could see the surprise in his face, as though it were the first time in his life that he had been told such a thing.
She almost scoffed at the audacity of him, his expectation that she would fall at his feet simply because he was a man and she was a lady.
His comment about her position burned, but she had grown accustomed to it.
Everyone saw her that way; a spinster that had to therefore be desperate to be wanted.
“Then, if you are not trying to trap me, that is to say that you are married already? And if so, pray tell, where is your husband?”
“Is that all you think ladies are good for? Trapping men and marrying them?”
“It is all I have ever seen them do.”
“Then you have not met very many ladies. We have ambitions of our own, desires of our own, that are not confined to the men we are forced to walk down an aisle for.”
“So you have not been forced down any aisles?”
“No, and I shall thank you to not imagine me in such a way. I have grander plans for myself than being someone’s wife and someone else’s mother, and even if I did not, I would not chase such dreams by forcing another person’s hand. Do not think so lowly of others.”
She turned to walk away, but he caught her wrist again and turned her back to face him. She expected him to be furious, to admonish her for speaking to him in such a way, but when she looked at him she could see faint amusement in his eyes.
“I do not think lowly of others, for what it is worth, but consider this. If you were out alone, hoping for some respite, and some gentleman came to you and did something untoward, what would you assume?”
“That is not– I–”
“But you did, and you cannot blame me for making an assumption when you were the one to guide me to it. Now, if you truly did not mean to cause such a fuss, then I ought to apologize for my outburst, and if you truly want to be a spinster all your life, then I commend you, but you need to consider what sort of life you will lead.”
“How dare you? I have passions, and I have friends. I do not need a marriage to complete me when I am already so fulfilled.”
“Yes, and I am certain that your friends will like you just as much when they themselves are married, and that you will never feel excluded as you watch them raise their families, and you will never wish that you had swallowed your pride when you were younger and done what was expected of you rather than rebelling for the sake of it.”
“That is most reductionist. Tell me, do you see me as a lady, or as breeding stock? If you were a gentleman, you would understand that I am a person, one that can have greater desires than being someone’s wife and another person’s mother, but of course I would never expect someone such as yourself to do that. ”
“Someone such as what, pray tell?”
But she was already walking away, and Cassandra felt her cheeks flame. For once, she was grateful for her complexion, for had she been pale everyone would have seen that she was scarlet.
She had always thought that nobody understood her; that she had said what she wanted enough times that they all believed it, but a stranger had taken one look at her and sized her up on his third attempt.
“Are you all right, my lady?” her maid asked.
“Yes, but I wish to return home now.”
The embarrassment was too much, and the point of her outing, escaping the expectations of her family, had been ruined. As they returned home, her mind settled, and she knew what she would have to do.
She found her mother and father in the study. She had tried to conceal how she was feeling, but she must have failed as they both looked at her with sudden concern.
“Whatever is the matter, dearest?” Lady Hurton asked.
“Find me a match,” she declared. “I do not care who it is, but I must be done with all of this at last. If everyone is only going to make me miserable for my choices, then I shall bend. If you find me someone I deem suitable, then I will do it.”
Her father brightened at once, and she knew that she had sealed her fate. She had promised, and there would be no going back on that. Cassandra had once hoped that she would find a man that ruined what she thought was true, and proved that she could love, but she had given up on that years before.
If it was practicality that they wanted, then she would give them it.