“I had made up my mind to marry you,” she said at last. “I came here to have one last try, to convince you that we would make an excellent Duke and Duchess together.”
He glanced down. “I think you would make an admirable duchess, Miss Bainbridge. You would do a far better job than I am doing as a duke. You are clever, logical, straightforward, and hardworking. You are a fine woman, and you deserve better than… than this,” he made a vague gesture which he hoped encompassed all of what had gone on between them. She gave him a wry smile.
“How kind. I sense that you are about to add abut, though. So let me hear it.”
He closed his eyes. “I am in love with Miss Brookford.”
She gave a long, slow exhale. “Yes. Yes, I thought you were. It makes sense, I suppose. She has a… a vibrancy that I do not. Of course, I have money, a great deal of it, and breeding, whichshedoes not, but that is neither here nor there.”
“I ought to have been forthright with you,” he repeated, forcing himself to meet her eye. “I… I did not expect to fall in love. I did not plan for it. Frankly, I intended to keep my heart clear of the marriage business altogether, as I thought that using only my head would make for a better decision. We discussed this, I know.”
“I am inclined to agree.”
“And indeed, here I am,” he shrugged tiredly. “I love her. My heart is gone, and I cannot take it back.”
Miss Bainbridge lifted her eyebrows. “She has refused you? What a surprise. I rather thought she was fond of you, too. At the very least, yours is an offer she should not pass up.”
“No, no, I haven’t asked her. How could I? You and I are… ahem. I would never make a proposal of marriage to a woman while I was engaged to another. To you, in point of fact.”
She eyed him with those cool, beady eyes, waiting for him to finish, as if she knew it all already. “I have upset her quite badly,” he finished at last. “Hardly surprising, considering my behaviour over the past weeks.”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m sure you can smooth it over,” Miss Bainbridge remarked, lifting an eyebrow. “A little honesty, a few sincere apologies are all it will take, yes?”
“I… I don’t know.”
Almost without thinking about it, William reached for the small, muslin-wrapped parcel on the desk. He hadn’t taken the locket out to look at it for quite a while. Odd, considering how important the trinket had become to him recently.
“You won’t know until you try,” she said, offering what might have been a smile. “I bear you no ill will, your Grace. I’m not even angry at Miss Brookford. Iwasangry at her, I think, but perhaps you and I would not have been so ideally suited after all.”
William blinked, glancing up. What was she talking about? They were betrothed. They were committed to each other. He had told her that he would engage into matrimony with her.
“I take my promises seriously. I will try my best to make you happy, Miss Bainbridge.”
She gave a wry smile. “Bless you, your Grace, but I don’t leave my happiness in the hands of others. I choose for myself whether to be happy or not.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Miss Bainbridge suddenly looked very tired. “I release you from our betrothal, William. Such as it was, at least. If you wish to pursue Miss Brookford, you are free to do so.”
“I… I don’t know what to say,” he stammered.
She chuckled. “There is nothingtosay. I am simply informing you of this change in circumstances.”
Abruptly, she rose to her feet, extending a hand. It took him a second or two to bounce to his feet as well, and he realised that she was not holding out her hand for him to take. She held it with the palm to one side, fingers straight. She was inviting a handshake, frank and open.
After only an instant’s hesitation, he took it. It was like a huge weight had lifted off his shoulders. He felt almost shaky.
“I wish you all the best, Miss Bainbridge. I wish you might find love, as I have. I hope you’ll manage it a little better than I have done.”
She chuckled, reaching up to adjust her spectacles. “Perhaps I shall, perhaps I shall not. I hope we’ll meet again, your Grace. I look forward to meeting your duchess under better circumstances.”
He could only manage a smile in response. She dropped his hand, offered him a wry smile, and turned to leave.
William was left standing behind his desk, hands hanging by his side, listening to Miss Bainbridge’s footsteps retreat, her maid scuttling behind.
He was still standing there like a statue when the butler came bursting in, out of breath.
“Your Grace, I am terribly sorry to interrupt you, I just… well, I thought you should know, seeing as everybody is out of the house, including her Grace the Dowager.” The man was panting, sweat beading on his forehead, and it was fairly clear he’d run at least from one side of the house to another.
