Chapter 4 #3
Ronan turned toward him.
“I require a bride. You offered repayment for the injury caused by Lady Augusta’s accusation,” Ronan said. “The most significant injury was the loss of my marriage.”
“If you believe I can simply provide another woman to take Lady Phillipa’s place, then you have mistaken both my authority and my character,” Duncan replied.
“I have made no such mistake.”
“What, precisely, are you asking?”
Ronan looked directly at Augusta, “Her hand in marriage.”
Charity’s fingers closed around the back of Augusta’s chair.
Duncan moved in front of the desk. “No.”
“I was speaking to Lady Augusta,” Ronan did not appear surprised by the answer. “She is capable of answering for herself.”
Duncan gave a short, disbelieving laugh. “You expect me to believe that Lady Augusta is free to refuse without consequence?”
“Yes. If she refuses, I will leave and make no public complaint against her, bring no legal action and ask nothing further of your family.”
Augusta looked at him more carefully. His expression remained severe, and his eyes rested upon her with an intensity that unsettled her.
He was waiting. That was all.
“But surely you understand that this is such an odd thing to ask, considering what has happened,” Charity moved beside Augusta. “Why her?”
Ronan answered without hesitation, “I need a wife, and Lady Augusta has made another match considerably more difficult.”
“That is not a reason to marry someone,” Charity said.
“I did not ask Phillipa to marry me because I was in love with her. Rather, I asked because I require a duchess who can manage my household and provide companionship to my daughter. Lady Augusta is educated, capable and accustomed to the responsibilities of her rank.”
“You know almost nothing about me,” Augusta said.
Duncan stepped closer to him, “This conversation is finished.”
“No,” Augusta said.
All three of them looked at her.
“Augusta, you cannot be considering this.” Duncan’s expression changed. “You need not repay him with your life.”
The proposal was absurd. Only days earlier, she had stood before society and called him a murderer. Now he offered to make her his duchess.
At the same time, her name had already been dragged through every scandal sheet in London. Marriage prospects that had once seemed plentiful might never recover. She had wanted a home of her own and a family, though she had imagined attaining them through affection rather than obligation.
Ronan was not what she had imagined. He was intimidating, severe, and still nearly a stranger. But he had not forced Phillipa to continue with the wedding. Even now, despite Duncan’s suspicion, he had made it clear that Augusta could refuse him as well.
“Would you expect me to obey you in everything?” she asked.
Ronan’s eyebrows rose slightly. ”No.”
“Would I be free to manage your household?”
“That would be among your responsibilities.”
“Augusta, think carefully. You do not know this man,” Duncan jumped in again. “You believed him capable of murder, remember that.”
Augusta looked at her sister. “Do you believe he would mistreat me?”
Charity studied Ronan before answering. “I do not know him well enough to say. But this is a big decision; please don’t be hasty.”
“If I agree, it will not be because Duncan owes you a debt,” she said to the duke. “It will be because I have chosen it.”
Ronan’s gaze remained fixed upon hers. “Understood.”
Augusta took a breath. “I accept.”
Ronan stared at her as though she had given an answer he had not expected. Charity was the first to recover. “Augusta, you cannot agree to marry a man after a single conversation.”
“I have a daughter,” he said again. “You understand that she is not an incidental part of the arrangement. Her welfare is the reason I sought another wife. Does knowing that alter your answer?” he asked.
A daughter?
Augusta considered the thought.
“You don’t need to be pressured into this,” Charity said again.
Augusta knew that she was making the most significant decision of her life, but pressure was not the right word to describe what she was feeling.
In earnest, even Augusta herself was unsure of how to describe how she felt in that moment. Excitement couldn’t be further from the truth. Surely, nothing about this arrangement was exciting.
Confused, or surprised. That might come closer, but at the same time, she felt rather calm about the whole thing.
Curious, yes, that was a word that was closer to what she felt. Intrigued, perhaps. How had she landed herself in a situation like this? Only God could tell. But was she curious to know how it would pan out, now that she was firmly agreed? The answer was yes.
“It doesn’t change my decision,” she said finally.
It occurred to her then that the feeling that she should have been experiencing the most intensely ought to have been fear. But that was not the case here. She was the furthest thing from scared.
As she spoke, everyone was stunned to hear the answer, but the duke was the quickest to recover.
“Good. Then, we shall be married in a fortnight.”