Chapter 9
“So what brings you to London?” Susan asked as they sat down around the lunch table.
Father had, predictably, been thrilled to welcome the Duke to their home and had immediately arranged for a meal to be served. “I’m afraid it isn’t much,” he said apologetically as a stew was brought to the table. “You must visit us again, Your Grace, so that we can show you proper hospitality.”
“Nonsense, this is delightful,” the Duke assured him. “And to answer your question, Lady Susan, I’m here on business. I thought to make a few investments in the interest of improving the livelihood of the tenants of my land.”
“A worthy ambition,” Father said. “But you must be cautious when choosing which investments to make.”
“I quite agree,” the Duke said. “That’s why I hope to go into business with a partner—someone who knows a bit more about the doings of other gentlemen in society than I do.
The fact of the matter is that I am new to my title, and while I like to believe I’ve risen to the occasion well, some things only come from experience. ”
He gave Father a smile that Susan thought seemed fairly natural.
She was confident that the Duke meant most of what he was saying.
He did want to go into business with someone more experienced than himself.
The only thing he was being disingenuous about was his reason—he probably didn’t need advice as much as he was letting on.
He needed Father for the same reason he had accepted an engagement in the first place—appearances.
People would trust him more if he were working with someone they knew. They saw him as an outsider.
Father didn’t seem to put as much thought into all that as Susan had—he merely straightened up in his seat, clearly flattered by the Duke’s words.
“Well, it does make sense for you to turn to experience,” he said.
“I have to respect that, Your Grace. Many men in your position would assume they didn’t need any assistance, that they were clever enough to do everything on their own. ”
“It’s my belief that anyone can benefit from the assistance of another man, if he has the humility to accept it,” the Duke said.
“It says nothing at all about how clever a person is. He ought to learn to understand his own weaknesses and how he can support himself with the strengths of those around him. The fact of the matter is that it will take me years to have the kind of experience in society that other men have already, so the best thing I can do is to benefit from that where I can.” He took a sip of his wine.
“Have you thought about my proposal, as we discussed when you were at Heathmare?”
“It has never been far from my mind,” Father assured him.
“As you know, a gentleman of my standing can’t simply pour himself into a business enterprise without careful consideration.
But yes, at this point I can say that I will be more than happy to explore the idea of going into business with you.
After all, you’re going to be married to my daughter, so your successes will also benefit her. ”
A shiver ran down Susan’s spine, but she kept her smile firmly in place.
I don’t relish lying to Father—but it’s the lesser of two evils, isn't it? If I dealt with him honestly, I would be forced into a marriage I don’t want, and that would be far worse than telling a fib.
Norman’s smile didn’t falter either. “I hope you know how important it is to me to ensure that Lady Susan has a good and happy life,” he said. “I consider it the sacred duty of a gentleman and a husband.”
“I quite agree,” Father said. “Although it is her duty to bend to your will. Wives who fail to follow their husbands’ lead will never be happy, no matter what he does.”
We aren’t talking about me any longer. That comment had been about Mother, and Susan knew it.
Though Father never spoke of her outright and hadn’t since she had left them, on occasion, he made backhanded comments like that one.
Susan knew that if she tried to say anything about it, her father would protest that he hadn’t meant to reference her mother at all, that he had been making a general observation and nothing more.
There was no point in arguing, even though it gave her a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
But the Duke responded. “I wouldn’t want my wife to bend to my will, exactly,” he said with a thoughtful frown. “That makes it sound as though she ought to do whatever I say, even if she disagrees with it.”
“You don’t think so?” Father asked. “Ladies need to be led and guided by their men. That’s important.”
“Perhaps, but that doesn’t mean ladies don’t have good ideas of their own,” the Duke said.
“I’d never want to be so prideful or sure of myself that I’m unable to listen to wisdom just because it comes from my wife.
” He glanced at Susan and smiled. “And one thing I have come to realize about Lady Susan is that she is an uncommonly wise lady. I’m privileged to have that in my life, and that I’m going to have it in my home. ”
Father pursed his lips and said nothing at all, but Susan’s heart fluttered—he had actually stood up for her. He had complimented her to Father, and what a compliment it had been! Could he really have meant it?
She turned her attention to her food, suddenly sure that if she tried to look at him, she would turn bright red. She didn’t know if she was going to be able to keep up the necessary act between the two of them for the remainder of this meal.
After lunch, Father insisted that Susan and the Duke ought to take a walk out on the grounds. “After all, it’s her you came to see, not me,” he said, winking roguishly. “And Marina can go along with you.”
Marina was eager enough, still bouncing on her toes with excitement after Gilbert’s visit, so the three of them went out onto the grounds. Marina danced her way ahead, and Susan and the Duke were left in relative solitude.
“Thank you,” Susan said. “For what you said to my father back there. It’s not what you really believe, is it?”
He glanced at her. “Which part?”
“That ladies ought to speak their minds and not follow their husbands’ lead. I thought the reason we weren’t going to be married was that you didn’t want someone who did that.”
“Well, just because it isn’t what I want, that doesn’t mean there’s no place for it,” he pointed out.
“There are plenty of gentlemen who would appreciate that kind of thing, and you’ll make one of them very happy.
” A ghost of a smile crossed his face. “Besides, it’s not as if my personal preferences are the only reason we decided not to marry—right? ”
“That’s right,” Susan agreed, though she had a funny sort of knot in the pit of her stomach that she was at a loss to explain. She agreed with what he was saying—why should she feel agitated by it?
“If we’re going to go our separate ways eventually, I don’t want your father to decide it was all your fault,” he said. “If he tries to say that you should have submitted to my will, you can remind him of this conversation and tell him you knew that wasn’t something I wanted you to do.”
“That’s… incredibly thoughtful,” Susan said softly. She hadn’t expected anything of the sort from him. Not that she’d thought him heartless, but the idea that he had considered what would be best for her after they were out of one another’s lives was startling.
Moving.
She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
He really was such a handsome man—arms thick with muscle, hair blowing in the wind, shoulders broad and strong.
She wondered momentarily what it might be like to walk hand in hand with such a man, or even to be embraced by him.
She imagined she would feel very small and safe in his arms, and that wasn’t something she was used to.
Father wasn’t the kind of man who embraced his daughters, and Mother had been gone for so long.
Leah had held her a few times before she’d left home, but…
well, Susan had been in the role of eldest daughter in this house for years now.
But this is the kind of thinking that gets ladies into trouble, she reminded herself. This is the kind of thing that makes ladies think they ought to look for love, for marriages. And that when they find them, everything is going to be perfect, as it would be in a storybook.
An embrace might be nice, but a marriage was a much bigger thing. And it would go sour. They always did.
Still, seeing the Duke today had been nothing but pleasant. “Are you going to be in London for a while?” she asked him. “There’s a ball taking place in a few days’ time. The Marquess of Sutherland is hosting it, and I’m sure you would be welcome. You ought to come, if you’re able.”
“I did receive that invitation, now that you mention it,” the Duke said. “I didn’t think anything much of it at the time because I didn’t realize it would align with my trip to London. But as it has, perhaps I will attend.” He smiled. “Will you be there?”
“Naturally,” she said. “Even though I’m engaged to be married, Father wants me to make social appearances—and besides, it will give Marina an opportunity to dance with her gentleman, and someone has to escort her.”
“And I’d like the chance to meet that gentleman,” the Duke said. “The man who has Marina in such a state—he must be an interesting fellow, to say the least.”
“I like Gilbert,” Susan agreed. “I’m sure you will too.”
“You call him by his name? It’s as if he’s already a part of the family.”
“He nearly is.”
“You should probably use my name, too, then,” the Duke said. “Otherwise, it will make people question why you feel closer with your sister’s suitor than the man you are engaged to wed. Presumably you and I ought to share the closer bond, since our engagement is set.”
Susan’s heart fluttered again. “You want me to call you by your name?”
“For the sake of appearances,” he said quickly.
“If you call me Your Grace, it seems as if we have a wall up between us,” he said.
“We’ve worked hard to create the impression that we’re a successful couple on the verge of falling in love with one another, and this ball will be our opportunity to showcase that—maybe the best opportunity we’re going to get.
So call me Norman, and I’ll call you Susan—if that’s all right. ”
She nodded. “It’s all right.” Her voice trembled slightly. Hearing him say her name like that had shifted something inside her, little though she wanted to admit it. They were closer than she had meant them to be. She had come to genuinely like him, to enjoy his company.
If he’s in business with Father, maybe we’ll be able to remain friends when this is all over. She could hope, at any rate.
They walked along, the conversation shifting back to the Duke’s—Norman’s—business investments, and Susan found herself genuinely moved by his insistence that he wanted to create opportunities for his tenants and his servants.
In spite of her initial impressions, she understood now that he was a good man.
If I did want to marry, I could do worse than someone like him, she mused.
But her mind hadn’t changed. Marriage still seemed one of the worst fates that could befall her.