Chapter 6 #2
“Your Grace, I—” She stopped and took a deep breath. The next part came out fast. “Thank you. For what you just said to him. You did not have to. Truly. Thank you.”
He held her gaze.
“That must be the first time you have thanked me for anything, My Lady.”
“It might be.” She sighed. She lifted one hand and gestured, in a precise small motion, to the space between them. “But please, Your Grace. I am talking about this. What do you think you are doing?”
“I am collecting my debt.”
“Your what?”
“Lady Alice, I need a wife. I need one who will agree to my conditions. You needed me, and I helped you. You will help me in return. I am also protecting my sister’s reputation as well as your own, so by my count, everyone wins.”
“I think not.”
“I think yes.”
“Your Grace, I just wanted to make my sister happy. I did not… I did not want to be stuck with the Ice Duke.”
“You wound me.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Lady Alice.” He was not teasing now. “If you refuse my offer, what is your plan? Did you simply intend to kiss someone and die a spinster?”
“I…”
“What?”
“I had not thought that far. I wanted my sister to marry for love, and I…”
“You what?”
She did not answer.
He waited.
She had begun to pick at the hem of her glove. She did not, he thought, want to tell him whatever she had nearly said.
“Lady Alice.”
“I wanted love in my life as well,” she said quietly, her gaze dropping back to the carpet.
He felt a chill skitter across the back of his neck. It was the closest thing to recognition he had felt in twelve months, and he hated it because he could not afford it.
“Well…” His voice came out the way he had wanted it to—even, cool. “You seem to be unlucky in that case. I have only a title to offer you. But I can assure you that, after you have been publicly kissed by the Duke of Langton, no one will ever pay much attention to you again, let alone love you.”
“From the ton, probably not.” Her voice was very small. “You are right.”
“I often am.”
She rolled her eyes. He watched her do it.
The fire was back. He was relieved.
“It will not be so bad, Lady Alice. Being my Duchess. You will become sisters with Joanna. You will have all the freedom and respect my title can provide. Your own sister will never feel guilty for stealing your fiancé.”
“She did not steal him. I offered him to her.”
He did not answer that.
“Fine,” she sighed. “Let us say I half-accept your proposal.”
“Half?”
“We shall have a convincing betrothal. I do not care that you want a quiet duchess. I do not care that you want a hasty wedding. We shall have the banns read for three weeks, as is customary, and for these three weeks, we must convince everyone, especially my sister, that we are madly in love. You must properly court me. You must visit me at least once a week. We must be seen out together. You could give me gifts, I suppose, but I do not really care about those unless they are a puppy or something sweet.”
“I want no animals in my home.”
“No, I suppose you don’t.” She bit back a smile.
He saw it happen. The corner of her mouth did the thing it had done the night before, and she pressed it flat. He had to remind himself that grown men did not look at the corners of women’s mouths in the middle of marriage negotiations and find them interesting.
“But that does not change my rules,” she went on. “If we cannot convince everyone that we are in love, and that affects my sister somehow, we shall find a reason to break off our betrothal at the end of three weeks.”
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“But if everything goes according to plan, you will be mine. And follow my rules afterwards.” He held out his hand.
She looked at his hand, then his eyes, then at his hand again. She put her hand in his and shook it once. “Agreed.”
The door opened.
Lord Westbury looked at the two of them, standing far enough apart for propriety’s sake and close enough that he had clearly noticed, and sighed. “Are we done?”
“Yes, My Lord.” Cassian did not let go of her hand at once. He let it drop a fraction of a second after he should have. “We shall have the banns read for the next three weeks. I shall take care of it this morning.”
“Excellent.”
“Now I would like to take my leave.”
“Should I expect to see you again soon, my beloved?” Alice batted her eyelashes at him with a perfectly straight face.
He held her gaze a beat longer than was civil. “Of course, My Lady. I would not dream of staying away from you for too long. In fact, how about a small dinner tonight to celebrate our betrothal? I shall invite a few friends.”
Alice gave him a brittle smile.
“Of course,” said Lady Westbury, who had appeared in the doorway behind her husband. “Of course, we shall come. What an excellent idea, Your Grace.”
Cassian turned back to Alice and bowed over her hand. “Until this evening, my beloved.”
“Until this evening, Your Grace.”
“You will wear blue, I hope.”
“It is improper to make requests of one’s betrothed regarding her dress, Your Grace.”
“You will be improper too in time, Lady Alice. You will get used to it.”
He turned and walked out of the study before she could reply.
In the corridor, he heard Joanna rushing toward Alice.
“I cannot wait to hear everything,” his sister hissed.
He did not, at any point during the long walk to his waiting carriage, allow himself to think about what he had just done. He thought about it the moment the carriage door closed.
He thought, with a quiet sense of dread, that he had never in his life looked forward to an evening so much. And that was bad.