Dubois was watching him with a thoughtful expression. He still looked skeptical, but he also looked intrigued.
“I only came back because Dredford offered to pay my debts for me. But in return, I am his lackey now, and I must do his bidding whenever he asks me something. It is humiliating for me, a duke, to be at the beck and call of another duke. But what choice do I have?”
“What does this have to do with Lady Leah?” Dubois snapped.
Dorian sighed and shook his head. “He asked me to help find her a husband. To avoid marriage to you, of course. So now I must go around London trying to get the girl married, which is a waste of my time and quite a humiliating use of my skills. Not to mention that it cheats you of your rightful claim to her.”
Dubois sat back in his chair, observing Dorian. “It does not surprise me that Dredford would treat you thus,” he observed. “He is very arrogant and thinks that others live to serve him. But the way you defend Lady Leah tonight…”
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“I have to, don’t you see?” Dorian leaned forward, looking deeply into Dubois’s eyes. “I have to defend her in public or people will tell Dredford I did not. But it makes my skin crawl. The girl is rightfully yours, and I see no reason why Dredford should try to stand in the way of the match. Except for his arrogance, I suppose.”
“I see,” Dubois said, leaning back in his chair and smiling with satisfaction. “Then I see we share an opinion of him. He is deeply arrogant, which he has proven by refusing to honor the agreement that his father and I came to. ”
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“It is lucky, then, that you have a contract for her hand in marriage,” Dorian said. “Not many would be able to boast such a document !”
He signaled for the bar maid to bring them more rounds of pints, and once she brought them, he raised his pint.
“To good luck!” He said.
Dubois cinked his glass against Dorian’s and drank deeply, but when he set it down, his eyes glittered.
“It is not luck, though, ” Dubois said, and Dorian’s heart leapt. Was Dubois about to admit that he had faked the document? “I was very strategic in convincing the late Duke of Dredford to agree to the marriage. I knew I would need a backup in case my wife died without producing an heir. She was such a frail, sickly thing, especially by the end. I was right to take such precautions, she died last year, and now I am without an heir. Lady Leah will achieve that end for me.”
“And the girl? Does she want to marry you?”
“Oh, who cares what she wants,” Dubois said dismissively. “She is just a girl. She will do as she is told.”
Dorian had to work hard to keep himself from exploding with rage at the man. The contemptuous way Dubois spoke about Leah made him feel particularly violent.
Instead, however, he took a calming breath. “She is very beautiful,” he admitted. “But do you really want to be married to a woman who doesn’t wish to marry you? That seems like such a headache.”
Dubois shrugged. “All women are headaches. At least Leah is a young and beautiful one.” He sniggered and raised his pint of ale. “You are a rake! Surely you understand what I mean.”
“I do indeed,” Dorian forced himself to say, and he clinked his pint again against Dubois’. “To young and beautiful women!”
Dubois threw back his head and began to chug his pint. While he wasn’t looking, Dorian swiftly emptied his pint onto the floor. Fortunately, in an establishment such as this, it was made of dirt, so it wouldn’t be obvious to Dubois that Dorian had poured it out.
Then he pretended to finish off the last little bit before slamming it down on the table.
“Another!” he cried, and he signalled to the barmaid. “Bring us two more pints!”
“Oh thank you, Your Grace!” Dubois gushed , and Dorian saw that all his skepticism was evaporating. Dorian knew why, too: Dubois was a famous social climber, and he was flattered by the attention of a duke. It was making him un-cautious, especially after a few pints, and Dorian knew exactly how to use that . “I am very grateful for your generosity, and for your interest in my plight.”
“I am always interested in those who stand up to the Duke of Dredford,” Dorian said with a smile. “He may be a duke, but he is not above the law!”
The barmaid arrived with two more pints, and Dorian watched with glee as Dubois began to gulp down this one as well. He had to be strategic in how he dumped his own out, but as the man grew drunker and drunker, he seemed to take less and less notice of what Dorian was up to.
“You know, the truth is, the father was just as bad as the son,” Dubois said, after he’d drunk about half of the pint down. His eyes were becoming unfocused, and his face was slack.
“I thought he was your friend,” Dorian said carefully as he pretended to take a sip of his pint.
“My friend!” Dubois cried incredulously. “Oh, that man wanted me to believe he was my friend, but only so that he could use me--like everyone else has. He wanted some of my lands, you know. They bordered his, and he pretended to like me, but really, he was just trying to manipulate me into selling them. No,he was even worse than his son is now. Even more proud and arrogant. Even more obsessed with his pitiful family.”
“What a scoundrel,” Dorian said, contorting his face with rage, while inside, his heart had begun to race. If the late Duke of Dredford hated Dubois, then why would he have signed over his daughter’s hand in marriage to him? It didn’t make sense. “I am not surprised to hear that, though,” he invented. “ I heard he ? was always a cruel, selfish man . No wonder his son has turned out to be just like him.”
