Chapter 6 #3
Julia hesitated. She couldn’t very well tell Poppy about the deadline now, while she was in this state. So she chose instead to tell her the other reason why they needed to stay. “We can’t leave yet, Poppy. I have an offer from the Duke of Pridewell.”
“What?” Poppy exclaimed, her tear-stained eyes wide in surprise. “What on earth do you mean, Julia? You’re to marry the Duke?”
“No, no,” she hastily backtracked. “Not an offer of marriage. It’s difficult to explain, but he wants to court me - not for real, but in order to draw our father out of hiding.
It seems the Duke has his own score to settle with Lord Norish.
He thinks that if we pretend there is something between us, Father will contact me asking for money. ”
Poppy frowned, processing the information. “I don’t think he’s wrong about Father. In fact, I think it’s quite ingenious. But what does he want with him?”
“Something of sentimental value,” Julia replied, glossing over the details.
She didn’t feel comfortable sharing what the Duke had told her, remembering the catch in his throat as he had mentioned his old friend.
It seemed somehow too private, too personal, to share even with Poppy.
“So you think I should accept the offer? I’ll be honest, dear Poppy, I have been struggling to decide. ”
Poppy considered carefully, searching Julia’s face. “It would solve many of our problems if we could track Father down. I won’t deny it. But you don’t know anything about this man…the Duke. What if he’s wicked? What if he tricks you somehow?”
“I don’t think he will,” she said softly.
“I was worried initially, especially given how our first encounter with him went. But he genuinely seeks justice against Lord Norish and, as disagreeable as he can be, I don’t believe he bears us any ill will.
Beyond that, he also promised to secure our dowries if the plan succeeds.
After what happened tonight, more than anything, I want that for you, Poppy.
A real chance to find the happiness you deserve.
And-” She paused, but the cat was out of the bag now, and Poppy was calmer than she had been a few minutes ago.
“There’s something you don’t know. Lord Bendon - he won’t allow us to stay for the Season. ”
“What do you mean?”
“Aunt Violet tried, Poppy, but our uncle is worried about the effect the scandal will have on Georgia’s reputation.
He wants us to leave after this week.” Julia hung her head.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to put even more pressure on your shoulders.
But hopefully, now you know everything, it helps you to understand why I need to consider the Duke’s deal. It might be our only chance.”
Poppy looked down at her lap, her fingers twisting over each other. “When we were young, Father used to read to us, do you remember? Those fairy tales from the book he kept on the mantel in our bedroom.”
“Of course.”
“There was one particular story that I always remembered. There was a fish that wanted to climb trees. He loved the idea of sitting at the top of a tall tree, gazing out over the entire world below. He watched the monkeys day in and day out, clambering up and down, and so badly he wanted to climb, that he decided to pretend to be a monkey, too. He learned to move like the monkeys did, swishing his fins like arms. He would use his tail fin to propel himself off the bed of the lake, just as the monkeys would jump into the branches. One day, he decided it was finally his time to climb, so he leaped right out of the lake to be with the other monkeys. And, of course, as soon as he was out of the water, trying desperately to draw breath, he realized he was no monkey at all. He had spent his whole life pretending he could be something he wasn’t, and in the end, he pretended so much that he forgot what he really was: a fish. ”
Poppy looked at her sister seriously. “I’m not saying that you shouldn’t do this. But please don’t become the fish, Julia. When you pretend too much, the line between pretending and reality isn’t as obvious, and I don’t want to see you get hurt, not just for my sake.”
“When did you get so wise?” Julia asked fondly, ruffling her sister’s hair.
“Don’t worry about me, Poppy. I couldn’t ever fall for someone so disagreeable.
He’s rude, abrupt, difficult, and never says what he’s thinking.
It would be impossible for him to win my affections for real.
Nor, I might add, is he trying to. It’s simply a business arrangement, and I hope, one that will help solve everything. ”
“So you think you’ll do it, then?”
Julia sighed. The thought of spending more time with the Duke of Pridewell was daunting, but they were in a corner.
Lord Blackwell was not an option, and their aunt could offer them no more help.
If she turned down this third option, there would be no miracle savior.
They would be entirely and completely on their own, and that thought was much more unpleasant than whatever the Duke could subject her to during their short, pretend courtship.
“I must. It’s our only chance.”