Prudence felt as if she was falling.No. This was the last thing she’d wanted.
Her father’s face registered shock, but after a moment, he nodded slowly. “I think that’s quite right, Your Grace,” he said. “I think that’s the best way you can make up for what has happened here and the best way to protect all of our interests. I will allow a marriage between yourself and my daughter.”
“Don’t act like you’re doing me a favor, Highgate,” the Duke warned. “I concede this is not an ideal situation for me, but it’s a far more precarious one for you. I expect your gratitude for this.”
“Of course,” Prudence’s father agreed, backing off quickly.
“Your Grace, no,” Prudence said. “We don’t have to do this. This is going too far. You must see that.”
“What I see,” the Duke said, “is that, largely through your own actions, Lady Prudence, you and I have found ourselves in an unmanageable situation, and this is the only way out of it. I must marry you. It is the only way forward. And I expectyouto stop being obstinate and naive and to accept that this is the way things are. After all,” he added, meeting her eyes, “you are to be my wife. And what I expect from you should matter to you more than anything else.”
CHAPTER 4
Prudence gritted her teeth.This couldn’t be happening.
She had been so close! So close to escaping the oppression of this day, to returning to the life she wanted to lead. And now, she found herself right back where she’d started, facing yet another marriage she didn’t want.
She had to do something. She couldn’t allow everything to be decided without her so much as getting a word in about it.
“Your Grace,” she said, “may I speak to you?Privately?”
He raised his eyebrows. “You seem to have an unfortunate habit of trying to get gentlemen on their own, Lady Prudence.”
“If we are to marry, you could give me the dignity of a conversation,” she retorted. “We need not even leave the room. But I would like to go somewhere we can talk without beingoverheard—without others contributing unwanted thoughts and opinions.”
She turned away from him and walked off toward the corner of the room, desperately hoping that he would follow her but afraid to look back to make sure that he was. Only when she had reached the corner did she dare to venture a glance backward.
And there he was, standing closer to her than he had so far.
Now, for the first time, she picked up his scent, a sandalwood musk that was like nothing she’d ever smelled before. Was this what all men were like? She knew plenty, of course, but it was rare for her to be in such close proximity to one. A part of her suspected she ought to step back, to put more distance between them, but she felt drawn to him for reasons she couldn’t quite describe.
“Well?” he asked. “We don’t have all day. Whatever it is you wish to say, I suggest you say it quickly so that we can get on with things.”
She took a deep breath. “Your Grace, I understand that you are concerned with appearances, but I think you are being hasty,” she said.
“And I think you are denying the reality of the situation once again, just as you did before. It’s vital that we marry for both our families’ sakes.”
“And you think that you have the right to make that decision on my behalf?” she asked him. “Without even speaking to me about what I want? I didn’t want to marry your brother, Your Grace. What makes you think I would want to marry you?”
He sighed. “Lady Prudence, I say this with as much respect as I can. What you want is not a factor here. Neither of us can afford to think about what we want right now. The situation is too dire. We must act for our mutual benefit. If you were so concerned about doing what you wanted to do, you should have remained indoors that night instead of going out onto a balcony with my brother. You made your choice.”
“I didn’t go out therewithhim. Didn’t he tell you what happened?”
The Duke folded his arms across his chest and surveyed her passively, saying nothing.
“I was out there on my own,” she said. “I’d gone out for some fresh air, and he joinedmeon the balcony. I never meant for anything to happen between the two of us.” She paused, wondering whether she ought to share the aggressive moment she’d witnessed between Peter and the other lady, but she decided to keep that to herself. It wasn’t likely that the Duke would respond well to hearing something negative about his brother, even though he must know the kind of man Peter was.
“You should have been chaperoned,” the Duke said. “If you had been, none of this would have happened. You have totake responsibility for the things you cause in this world, Lady Prudence.”
“What isthatsupposed to mean?”
“Everyone knows you’re a rebellious one. Everyone knows you ran out on one wedding already and that your parents have found it difficult to make you a match.” He shook his head. “People know this about you, and you cannot expect it to be overlooked.”
Anger spiked within her. “And what of your brother? Getting into fights at the pub?”
“What would you know about that sort of thing?”
Prudence could have bitten her tongue. Of course, there was no way she could know about the fight at the pub—no way she could explain to the Duke, that was. “I hear things,” she said evasively.
