Page 100 of The Replacement Duchess

“I did not leave,” she replied, puzzled.

“You did. I saw the letter Samantha left you, telling you to join her at the monastery. I was going to take the both of you there in the morning.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because it is clearly what you want. That is why you are here, is it not?”

“Goodness, no!” she gasped. “No, the thought did not even cross my mind, not for a second.”

“Then why?—”

“I had to talk some sense into my sister.”

In the moonlight, she swore she could see Colin start to understand, but she couldn’t risk him not fully grasping her motives.

“She did not know what to do,” she continued. “She told me that our father is now insufferable, and he is pushing her to marry sothat she will be out of the way for our wonderful and perfect half-brother’s arrival, and so she did not know how else to be.”

“Frightened out of her wits, I can imagine,” he said gently. “I believe that your father would have gladly handed her to the first willing gentleman no matter who it was.”

“That was precisely the issue, but most of all, Samantha does not want to get married. She would have preferred to be a nun, of all things, and—oh, there is something I must confess to you.”

“Of course. You may tell me anything. I will not be angry, what has happened has happened.”

“I invited Samantha to stay with us because I thought that you hated me and that our marriage was doomed. I should have spoken with you, I know, but I could not bring myself to, and then Samantha disappeared before I could tell you, and I had to find her and bring her back, even if she was kicking and screaming.”

“She does not appear to be doing so now.” He chuckled. “I understand why you did what you did. I should have made sure that you had the space to talk to me without being afraid. It is no matter now, we can simply make sure that it never happens again.”

“I would like that very much,” she whispered.

“Now, am I to take your sister to the monastery tomorrow, or were you successful?”

“Well, she does not truly wish to become a nun, I know that much,” Diana sighed.

“I feel as though you are about to say something contrary to that.”

“It is only that she does not know what else to do. I have promised her that I will find another way out for her, but what can I do? It is not exactly unfair for our father to want to marry her off—plenty of fathers do that—and in spite of everything, I believe that she would be a good wife should the right gentleman come along.”

“But you do not want her to marry now?”

“I want her to marry for the right reasons. Not simply because our father says so.”

“I understand completely. Leave it with me, I shall have the matter settled tomorrow, and we shall find a way through this.”

“Are you certain of that?” she asked. “I do not mean to doubt you, only that there is no clear way to handle this matter. My father is not exactly the easiest man to make see sense.”

“Well, if he knows what is good for his precious son, he will.”

“Are you going to threaten my father?”

“Would it be so terrible if I did?”

Diana laughed softly. “No, I do not suppose it would be.”

“Then I shall bear in mind that it is not an impossibility.”

“And then what about us?” she asked gently, leaning back into his chest. “When all of this is over with, what will we do about you and me?”

“Well, there shall no doubt be a grave scandal that the Duke of Abaddon’s footmen were scoundrels, so we shall have to deal with that matter. Then again, it may be a good thing to have that be the main story for once, rather than it being my murderous tendencies. Or it could well add to the rumors. What do you suppose will happen?”

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