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“Whatever is happening, Ell?”
Ellie let out a long sigh and mustered her courage. “I’ve been pretending to be you.”
Lizzy May shook her head.
“Yes, you went out as me to the garden party.” She cast the Duke a quick look. “Only to placate your mother. I felt awful about fooling her, but it seemed like the best way to avoid angering her.”
“But we didn’t fool her,” Ellie said, coming halfway across the room. “She knew it was me right away and we struck a bargain.”
The Duke’s eyes narrowed. “A bargain with my mother?”
Ellie winced, well aware of how strained his relationship with the Dowager was.
“She wanted to show off a compliant and caring new Duchess to her acquaintances. She helped me pretend to be Lizzy May, and I behaved as she asked, and I got more freedom and… and the chance to meet gentlemen without them courting me.”
Lizzy May gaped at her.
“Is that what she said you were getting out of this bargain?” the Duke asked, his anger returned.
Ellie nodded, a bit daunted to see the usually affable Duke of Aspen so irate.
“And you elected to be courted by a traitor, and to drag my wife’s reputation through the muck while doing so?”
The full import of what she’d done came crashing down on her, and Ellie burst into tears.
“Oh Ellie,” Lizzy May breathed.
“Indeed.” The Duke let out a sigh. “How did you fool people? Did you take Lizzy May’s gowns?”
Ellie shook her head, wringing her hands. She felt like a child, standing there before them, sobbing.
“T-the D-Dowager gave me g-gowns,” she managed. “And j-j-jewellery.”
“Oh Ellie,” Lizzy May repeated. “Matthew, dear, do give her your handkerchief.”
The Duke rose, not as tall as Samuel, but broader of shoulder. Certainly an imposing figure, but through the blur of tears, Ellie took in compassion on his face.
He crossed and held out a handkerchief.
She accepted the square of fabric with shaking fingers.
“Perhaps this is my fault,” the Duke said. “I should have warned you against trusting my mother. Her machinations are legendary.”
Ellie pressed the delicate fabric to her eyes.
“It-it s-seemed harmless.”
“I’m certain she made it seem so, yes.”
She looked from the Duke to Lizzy May and back. “What will happen?”
“I will put out the truth. You and Lizzy May will appear together in public, as soon as my wife is well enough.” He cast her a quick, worried look before turning back to Ellie. “You’ll tell anyone who asks that you thought it was a harmless lark and were always under the Dowager’s supervision.” He pressed a hand through his blond curls. “This would all go away a lot faster if you could simply marry Carmichael, but that’s out of the question.”
“Because he’s a traitor,” Ellie wailed and buried her face in the handkerchief.
A warm hand clasped her shoulder. “If he compromised you, traitor or not, I’ll make him do right by you, Ellie. Did he?”
Ellie shook her head, handkerchief pressed to her face.
