Page 123 of A Troublesome Circumstance

“Let me worry about Parliament,” his father said sharply. “If I were you, I would acquire a special license and be married as quickly as possible.”

Jude’s mouth twisted. “If only it were that simple. Josie refuses to marry me. She says she is trying to protect me.”

“She isn’t wrong.”

Jude tipped his head back, staring at the ceiling. “My whole life, I have been burdened by who I must become. But with Josie… I’m simply Jude. Not an earl. Not an heir. Just a man.”

“Then you must fight for her.”

He huffed. “I am fighting.”

His father raised a brow. “No, you are here talking to me. You should be telling her these things.”

The truth of that struck Jude like a blow. But he still had one more question he had to ask. “And what if she still refuses me?”

His father leaned back in his chair. “Did you know your mother turned down my first proposal?”

Jude’s head snapped towards him. “No. I didn’t.”

A wistful expression softened his father’s features. “She had no wish to become a duchess. She was much like your Lady Josephine. She was fond of books and wary of attention. It took a great deal of begging on my part to convince her she was all I desired.”

Jude absorbed that, surprised.

“Your mother became a magnificent duchess,” his father continued, his voice thickening. “Kind. Compassionate. Fearless when defending those Society overlooked. She defied every expectation, and she carved her own path.”

Jude rose, needing movement, and wandered towards the mantel. “Mother was beloved by many.”

“Yes,” his father agreed. “But not at first. Do you know what the Society pages said? That I had married a quiet little debutante. That she was unremarkable. That she would fail.” He paused. “She proved them wrong.”

Silence filled the space between them.

Finally, Jude asked, “Do you think… it could be the same for Josie?”

His father let out a slow breath. “I don’t know. Eloping with a man⁠—”

“She was abducted.”

“Does it matter to Society?” his father asked. “She was still alone in a coach with a man who was not her husband.”

Jude closed his eyes against the unfairness of it.

But when he opened them, the firelight caught something new in his father’s eyes—something like belief.

“And yet,” his father said quietly, “I have seen the way you look at her. If anyone can survive the gossip… it may well be the two of you.”

Before Jude could respond to his father’s last confession, the study door creaked open. Glover stepped inside with his customary immaculate posture.

“My lord,” the butler intoned, “Lord Rupert has requested a moment of your time.”

“Send him in,” Jude ordered.

His father rose slowly from his chair. “And that,” he said, “is my cue to leave.”

“Thank you, Father.” Jude hoped that those three words carried even a fraction of what he felt. Gratitude. Relief. Love.

The duke rested a hand on Jude’s shoulder, his grip warm and steady. “Choose wisely, Son. Life is hard, even when you have the right woman by your side.”

Jude swallowed. “I will.”