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“All is well, Papa.” She soothed her adoptive father’s concern before turning back to Alaric. “I simply wish to know why the Duke of Melborne has bothered to put himself to the trouble of learning who or what I am or am not, and then traveling all the way to Devon to confirm and impart that knowledge to me.”
There were two possible answers to this question, and Alaric had no idea which one Grace would be the least upset about, or if he should just say both of them and hope for the best?
Either way, his own fate was now in Grace’s delicate—and hopefully merciful—hands.
CHAPTERFOURTEEN
“Well?” Grace pressed when Alaric made no reply.
“Firstly, can I say that my actions were sincerely altruistic?” he stated softly. “I thought only of you and your future when it was pointed out to me that you might legitimately enter Society as Redding’s sister.”
She frowned. “Pointed out by whom?”
He frowned. “I believe Bristol was the first to realize it was a possibility, but Forbes also seemed to think that might prove to be the case.”
Her eyes widened. “You discussed my…situation with your friends?”
“You did not ask me not to do so,” Alaric defended. “In any case, I can assure you of their absolute discretion, in this and all other matters.”
Grace eyed him coldly for several seconds, but ultimately had to accept, now that she thought on it, that she hadn’t requested his silence on the subject. “I do not ever remember saying Iwishedto enter Society.”
“But you must do so, Grace,” George interrupted. “Penelope is so looking forward to introducing her new sister to Society and all of her friends.”
Grace blinked. “Lady Penelope now knows of our relationship too?”
Her brother nodded. “I know you originally asked me not to tell her, but after Melborne’s visit and the realization that there is no longer any reason to hide our relationship, I simply had to confide the truth to Penelope. She was a little cross with me at first for remaining silent on the subject for so long,” George added with a wince. “But she quickly came around. The two of you have met before at the charity home, of course.” He brightened. “She is excited, as are the children, to meet you as both sister and aunt.”
That acceptance was beyond anything Grace had ever hoped for, and it seemed that she had Melborne to thank for this further change in her circumstances. Although she still had no ideawhyhe had continued to take an interest in her once she had confirmed that George could not have been responsible for the murder of Alaric’s friend, Plymouth.
She had been, and still was, deeply shocked by what Alaric had told her had happened to the Duke of Plymouth during the chaos of that battle at Waterloo. She would be lying if she did not also admit to being relieved that George had been proven to be innocent of any involvement in that murder.
Which didn’t mean Grace didn’t still require Melborne to answer her question. “Why are you here?” she demanded of him yet again.
He sighed heavily. “As I’ve already said, I wanted you to be able to take your place in the world as Lady Grace Harper, if that is the choice you wish to make.”
“That did not require you to come to Devon with my brother.”
“No.”
She studied him through narrowed lids, but could read nothing from his expression. “You implied there was a second reason for your highhandedness?”
“There is.” Alaric straightened to his haughty height of several inches over six feet. “I wanted to ask your brother, and subsequently your adoptive father, for their permission to call upon you with the intention—hope—that the two of us might eventually marry. If you were agreeable, of course,” he added with a lack of confidence Grace had never heard or seen in him before.
Shewas struck dumb for several long seconds as she stared at him.
Alaric had asked—
He wished to—
Ifshewas agreeable?
“I assure you I have no desire to take a husband,” she recovered enough to snap. “Even if he is a duke,” she added scathingly. “Certainly not one who is only making the offer because I am now to be Lady Grace Harper and he is suffering feelings of guilt regarding his previous behavior toward me.” For this could surely be the only reason Alaric would think of burdening himself with a wife?
“What behavior?” George jumped in protectively.
“I sincerely hope you have not done anything untoward in regard to my darling Grace,” her mild-mannered father also defended.
Much as Grace appreciated this show of their love for her, she believed that perhaps it was time for her and Alaric to talk without having the other two men as an audience.
