Chapter 17
I was wearing the locket again, still worried I might lose it, but confident that the work Alec had done on it would keep it safer this time.
As we rose from the lunch table, Alec said, “I have a meeting scheduled for this afternoon, so I will take my leave.”
“You’re not staying for morning calls?” Disappointment weighed me down more than it should.
He studied me for a moment, his gaze slipping down to the locket. “I’m afraid you’re on your own.”
“Not on her own,” Aunt Maude said, lifting her chin as she moved toward the door, her back to us. “Never on her own. I will be with her.”
Alec smiled at his aunt’s retreating form and then his face grew serious as he regarded me. “I wish you all the best today. No doubt you’ll be as charming and gracious as ever. You won’t need me.”
I would have protested, but he was right. I didn’t need him. I wanted him. And that was why he shouldn’t stay.
With a slight nod, he left the dining room, and I followed Aunt Maude to the front drawing room, where we would have a view of Buckingham Palace Road.
“Last night was a magnificent beginning,” Aunt Maude said as she took a seat in a mauve-colored wingback chair near the fireplace. “But we will not know if you were truly successful until your callers appear.”
I closed the drawing room door behind me and walked to the window, wondering if anyone would even come. My hand went to my locket, both for reassurance that it was still there and comfort, knowing my mother had thought enough about me to send it with my aunt and uncle.
“What is the history of that lock—” Aunt Maude’s words were cut short when the drawing room door opened and the butler, Rodgers, appeared. He presented a calling card to Aunt Maude on a silver salver.
My pulse escalated as I turned toward Rodgers and then Aunt Maude.
She did not look pleased as she read the name, but she nodded. “You may show him in.”
I wanted to ask who had come, but I refrained. I would know soon enough.
As Rodgers left the drawing room, I became so nervous, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. I touched my hair, but every strand was in place, thanks to Gallagher. I looked down at my day dress, but there wasn’t a wrinkle in sight.
“You look beautiful, Clara,” Aunt Maude said with a regal air. “That’s why I chose you, remember?”
I did remember, and while I wished I had been chosen for reasons other than my beauty, it was the thing that had drawn Aunt Maude and given me this opportunity.
Footsteps echoed outside the room and then the door opened again, and Rodgers entered with a familiar man in his wake.
“George!” I was so relieved and pleased to see him, my voice rose higher than I anticipated. “How lovely to see you.”
George grinned, clearly pleased with my response. But before he formally greeted me, he walked over to Aunt Maude and gave her a slight bow. “Good afternoon, Mrs. Hill.”
Aunt Maude did not look pleased. “Hello, Mr. Vanderbilt.”
I walked away from the window and extended my hand to him. “It’s so good of you to come.”
He accepted my hand and bowed over it, his eyes shining. “I just arrived in London last night, but I couldn’t wait to call.” He shook his head with appreciation. “You look lovelier than I remember, Miss Hill.”
“Thank you, Mr. Vanderbilt.”
“Won’t you have a seat?” Aunt Maude asked him, though I suspected she would have preferred if he left.
“Thank you.” He waited until I sat on one of the sofas and then he sat across from me, his gaze never leaving my face. “How have you found London? I wish I could have been here to see your first glimpse of it.”
“It’s—” I paused as Rodgers opened the door again and presented Mrs. Hill with another calling card.
This time, her face lit up with excitement and triumph, and I knew exactly who had arrived.
“You may tell His Grace he is more than welcome to come in,” she said, nodding at Rodgers as she stood.
George and I also stood as George’s curious, and a little disappointed, gaze slipped to the drawing room door.
My heart beat so hard, I was afraid George might hear it.
It only took a few moments for the Duke of Severton to appear. His handsome looks took my breath away all over again, and my cheeks were so warm, I was certain they were bright pink. I tried to pretend like his arrival hadn’t had such an impact on me, but it was almost impossible.
Did he realize what his presence did to people?
His expression was just as hard to read this morning as it had been the night before while he scanned the room, his gaze falling on me.
“Your Grace,” Aunt Maude said, “how good of you to come. We were just saying our goodbyes to Mr. Vanderbilt.”
George blinked in surprise and then his jaw tightened as he tipped his head in my direction. “It was lovely to see you again, Miss Hill. I hope our paths will cross again while we’re in London.”
Disappointment and embarrassment tightened in my chest as I tried to apologize with my eyes. “I, too, hope we’ll see each other again. Thank you for coming, Mr. Vanderbilt.”
George nodded at Aunt Maude and then walked past the duke, no introduction being offered by Aunt Maude, who would have been the person to do it.
How could she be so unkind to George, especially after using him to further her own cause in New York? My gut burned with anger and disillusionment. If this was how I was supposed to behave once I married and joined the upper echelons of society, I didn’t want any part of it.
The duke didn’t appear to be insulted that the two men were not introduced. On the contrary, he seemed a little relieved.
He stepped forward and Aunt Maude extended her hand. He took it, bowing slightly. “Thank you for receiving me, Mrs. Hill.”
“Of course.”
The duke then turned to me. I also extended my hand. Last night I was wearing gloves, but this morning I was not, and neither was he. When his hand touched mine, a shiver ran up my spine. He bowed a little deeper. “It is good to see you again, Miss Hill.”
“And you, as well, Your Grace.”
When he stood straight, he didn’t let his gaze waver.
Of all the women he’d met at the ball last night, what had made him choose to come here? Would he be visiting others this morning? Or focusing his sole attention on pursuing me? Because that was the only reason he would be here.
How much money had Lady Mandeville told him was in my dowry? Surely others could offer him more.
“Won’t you sit down, Your Grace?” Aunt Maude asked, indicating the sofa where George had been sitting a few minutes ago.
The duke released my hand and took a seat on the edge of the sofa after I sat across from him.
“Could we offer you some tea?” Aunt Maude asked.
Tea wasn’t often served for a gentleman caller, unless the hostess was eager for him to stay longer than the fifteen-to-twenty minutes usually allotted for a call such as this one.
“That won’t be necessary,” the duke said.
“I have come to inquire if Miss Hill would like to accompany me to the opera on Tuesday evening. Lady Mandeville has invited me to her box at Her Majesty’s Theatre and told me there are several empty seats.
Of course, you would be invited to attend with us, as well, Mrs. Hill. ”
“How lovely,” Aunt Maude said with a gentle smile, as if this hadn’t been the plan all along.
Though she was acting calm, I knew she was eager to accept.
Being seen at the opera with the duke so soon after meeting him would send a clear signal to the other debutantes this season.
The duke was staking his claim quickly and decisively. “We would love to accept.”
“Then it is settled.” The duke nodded, though his facial expression didn’t change and I couldn’t tell if he was pleased or resigned. “I will arrive at seven to take you to the theater.”
“Wonderful.” Aunt Maude nodded and then said, “It was so nice to meet you last night, Your Grace. How fortuitous that you would choose this season to come to London when our dear Clara is just debuting into society.”
I offered a small smile, but he didn’t take the bait to engage in conversation, or pay me a compliment, as most gentlemen would.
His aloofness irritated me in ways I couldn’t understand, and I wanted to draw something out of him, even if it was negative.
“Why don’t you like London society?” I asked him.
“I don’t like any society.”
“Not even in Ravenscar?”
“No.”
“You live alone? Doesn’t that get boring and tedious?”
“I don’t live alone.”
“Who do you live with?”
“Clara,” Aunt Maude said, chastisement in her voice. “The duke hasn’t come here to be interrogated.”
“If I may be so bold,” I said to the duke, ignoring Aunt Maude, “you’ve come here to court me, is that correct?”
Aunt Maude’s eyes grew wide, and she opened her mouth to protest, but the duke’s gaze didn’t waver.
“Yes,” he said. “That is the only reason I’ve come to London. It doesn’t pay to pretend. I need a wealthy wife, and you are looking for a title.”
“Really, Your Grace,” Aunt Maude protested, her voice feeble.
“It’s true,” I agreed. “And if you find me pleasant and amiable, I assume a proposal will be forthcoming.”
“Clara!” Aunt Maude fluttered her hand.
“That is the plan,” the duke said.
“Then I must know more about you. You have given me so little information. I cannot make a lifetime decision without all the necessary questions answered.”
Aunt Maude appeared to have given up.
The duke’s eyes sparkled with the challenge.
“Ask me anything you’d like. I will not withhold the truth.
But—” he hesitated for only a moment—“I assume you cannot get all the answers you need in one short visit. I believe that is what the courting ritual is all about. We will get to know each other over the season.”
“And if we don’t like what we find, I don’t want to waste your time,” I told him. “It’s better to know sooner than later so you could court someone else.”
“Clara!” Aunt Maude said again, and I imagined she saw her well-laid plans evaporating before her eyes.