Chapter 3
Agnes’ pleasure and pride lasted until breakfast the next morning, when the scandal sheets arrived, and she saw her name at the top of the page.
Lady Agnes Langford Engaged in Illicit Tryst with the Duke of Bellmoor
Her breath caught in her throat. Who had reported this? Who even knew that she had been there? The duke had never seen her face. He hadn’t known that it was her.
But he knew now. Her heart sank. He would be able to exact revenge.
She forced herself to read what was written, her heart pounding like a drum.
The spinster sister of the Duke of Greystone was spotted leaving Bellmoor in a rush yesterday afternoon.
Well-wishers who have wondered about His Grace’s marriage prospects will be disappointed indeed to learn of his poor taste in ladies—that he would give his time to such a well-known spinster is shocking indeed.
She put the paper down quickly, not wanting to read any further, reluctant to hear such negativity about herself. She had known this might happen. It shouldn’t have shocked her as badly as it did. She should have been prepared for something like this to happen—but she hadn’t been.
And now what? What was she going to do?
Her appetite left her. She rose from the table without eating a bite of food and went into the sitting room to ponder.
Agnes could handle the idea of harm to her reputation. She was prepared for that. She wasn’t highly regarded anyway. But what about the duke? The trouble was that, now, he knew who had been in his house. Not only that, but the report in the scandal sheets made him look bad.
She thought it might have been to his benefit to let her go yesterday. But would that still be true? Maybe he would want to have her arrested just to reclaim control of the situation.
Agnes didn’t fear gossip. Jail was another story altogether. Her heart pounded so hard that it hurt.
Should I run? I could go to Reeves. She had no doubt that her brother would do all he could to protect her.
But what if going to Reeves would mean making trouble for him? She didn’t want to drag him into this mess. She needed time, time to think about what she was going to do—but there was no time. The word was out now. Her actions were known, and that was likely to mean trouble for her.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been in the sitting room, pondering all this, when the knock on the door came. One of the maids poked her head in.
“Forgive me, my lady,” the girl said. “The Duke of Bellmoor is here asking to see you.”
Already. Dread shot through her, but her mind latched onto one detail. “It’s just the duke?” she asked. “He doesn’t have…anyone with him?”
“No, my lady, he’s alone.” The maid hesitated. “Shall I show him in?”
“Yes, bring him, and bring one of the footmen as well,” Agnes said. “You’ll stay with us too. This visit ought to be chaperoned, I think.”
“Yes, my lady. Of course.”
She left the room and went to fetch the duke. Agnes rose to her feet and began to pace. She wanted to present a veneer of calm for the duke. She didn’t want to let him walk in here and see just how rattled she was. But she wasn’t sure she was going to be able to hide it.
He came through the door and stood by the wall, facing her, studying her carefully. This was, she realized, the first time he had seen her face. She lifted her chin. Whatever happened now, she would not allow him to humiliate her.
“So it’s you,” he said.
“It’s me,” she agreed.
His face was stony, his jaw set, and Agnes felt a sudden rush of admiration. He was so handsome. It was easy to see that he was used to being obeyed—of course, he was. Of course, people would want to give this man whatever he demanded.
Wait. No. Why was she thinking in those terms? She wasn’t going to give him whatever he wanted. That was a terrible mindset, and if she couldn’t break out of it, she risked losing everything. She had to keep her guard up, not get swept away by those piercing blue eyes.
“We have some things to discuss,” he said. “May I sit down?”
She hesitated. If she let him sit, she might lose what little control she had of this situation. “Are you planning to involve the law?” She might as well be blunt about it. “If you are, I don’t feel the need to play hostess to you before you do it.”
“No,” he said. “I don’t think there’s going to be any need for that.”
Her muscles unclenched, although she wasn’t entirely sure yet whether or not she ought to believe him. She nodded in the direction of a chair.
He sat down and watched her expectantly until she took the seat opposite him .
“The truth is,” the duke said, “you’ve done me a bit of a favor.”
“I…” Agnes frowned. “I did you a favor? What do you mean?”
“I’m sure you read the scandal sheets.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “By the sound of things, your own reputation may be tarnished more than mine.”
“And I can’t tell you what a true relief it is,” he said fervently.
“You see…I have a niece who will be ready to marry in a few years, and in order to ensure her prospects, I must continue to attend society events myself. But for my own part, I have no interest in marriage whatsoever. And the unfortunate thing has been that other members of society don’t realize that.
Every time I step out of my house, I’m surrounded by mamas looking for prospects for their daughters.
I’m tempting to them, I know that. How could I not be?
Who doesn’t want to see their daughter married to a duke?
And yet, no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to make them see that I’m not the person they’re looking for. ”
“And…I’ve helped you with that?”
“Very much,” he told her. “When I went out this morning, on my way here, everything was different. As my carriage passed through town, people turned away. No one wanted to speak to me. For once—for the first time, really—I was left in peace, and that’s just what I’ve wanted.
Agnes didn’t know what to say. She nodded slowly.
“What were you doing in my house, Lady Agnes?” the duke asked, leaning forward. “Surely you’ll be willing to give me a straight answer now.”
That surprised her. “Do you not know?”
“How could I? You didn’t tell me when I caught you there.”
“I assumed you would know because of my letters.” She frowned. “Didn’t you receive my letters?”
“I didn’t read any letters you sent me.”
“You didn’t? Why?”
“Well, why would I?” he asked. “I receive letters from ladies looking for courtship or marriage all the time. It would be improper to open them, even more so to begin any sort of correspondence. I burn them unopened, and you ought to be thanking me. You ought to realize the harm it could do to you to be writing to a man like that. What if I had been untrustworthy? What if I had opened those letters and shared them with people? Are you foolish?”
She lifted her chin. “Of course not. I knew I was taking the risk that you might not be an honorable man.”
“But you risked it anyway.” He shook his head. “And then you broke into my house.”
“I did it to get a book that I knew you had.” There seemed to be no more reason to keep this a secret from him. “Venus in the Cloister. I wanted very much to read it, and it’s not available in any of the shops.”
He squinted at her. “You broke into my house to steal a book? If this book is so hard to come by, what made you think you would find it there?”
“I heard from a friend that she had seen it in your collection.”
“Which friend?”
Agnes shook her head. “I’m not willing to get anyone else in trouble here,” she said. “Let it be enough that I was the one who actually took the book. But it was always my intention to give it back to you after I had read it.”
“And why would you want to read this book so badly that you would break into a stranger’s home to acquire it?”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Agnes sighed. “I have a list.”
“A list of books?”
“No. A list of…oh, why am I telling you this?”
“You broke into my home,” he reminded her. “You might as well deal honestly with me now. You might as well tell me the truth behind why you did it.”
“It’s a list of…things I’d like to do,” she said. “I call it my List of Improper Ideas.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound very ladylike.” His lips twitched in obvious amusement.
“That’s the point,” she said. “I don’t want to be very ladylike. I can’t think of a bigger waste of my time than to spend my whole life trying to be ladylike.”
“I see,” he said. “And this book you took from me…it’s improper?”
“You haven’t read it?”
“No, I haven’t read every book in my library.”
She scoffed. “I bet you wouldn’t even have missed it. If you hadn’t caught me in the library, you would never have known that I’d taken it at all.”
“Perhaps I wouldn’t,” he mused. “Be that as it may, however…I did catch you. And now I think you and I might be in a position to help one another.”
“How can we do that?”
He fixed her with his gaze. “You can help me by agreeing to court me.”
He couldn’t have shocked her any more if he had burst into song. “What—why would you want me to do that?”
“It’s as I said. Too many people are too interested in me, and they won’t let go of the idea of trying to secure a match.
You’ve bought me a reprieve with this little scandal, but it will blow over soon enough.
If people think that you and I are engaged in a proper courtship, thought, they will be forced to give up on the idea of me as a romantic prospect. ”
“And why would I want to do any of that?” she asked him.
“If you do, I’ll help you complete this list of yours,” he said.
“I can see it’s important to you, if you’re willing to break into my house over it.
You’ll return my book to me, but I’ll allow you to come over to my estate whenever you’d like to read from it.
And whatever other items are on your list, I’ll help you complete them as well.
We’ll court for a couple of months, and then we’ll end things in such a way as to make me look like the villain.
No one will think any the less of you.” He rose to his feet.
“You might be the only person who can help me. You have nothing to lose by doing so, and I’m willing to offer you the thing you appear to want most.”
Agnes was jarred by his request. Court him? Publicly? She had never dreamed that any man would ask such a thing of her. It was the last thing she wanted, and her first instinct was to turn him down outright.
But she paused.
He could help her complete her list. That did matter. She needed help.
Oh, I must be out of my mind.
“All right,” she said slowly, hoping very much that she wasn’t going to regret this. “We’ll try it.”