Page 15 of The Replacement Duchess

Both ladies fell silent. Diana willed her sister to maintain her composure and to politely ask what he meant, lest it devolve into a screaming match within seconds.

“What?” Samantha asked finally.

“Do not speak to me that way.”

“My apologies, Father, but what do you mean? I am not even being courted. How can I be engaged?”

“Ah, it is not exactly the sort of proposal you shall wish to tell your future children, but I can tell you if you wish. After we returned home, I went to White’s. There was a gentleman there, and he approached me and asked if I had a daughter. I may or may not have forgotten you, Diana, but that does not matter. What matters is that I said yes and that her name was Samantha.”

Diana was unsure of whether or not to be grateful to have been forgotten.

“Then what happened?” Samantha asked carefully, the color drained from her face.

“Quite simply, he asked me if you were married, and then I told him that you were not. He said that was all he needed to know, and that he would marry you. I accepted. You will now be a wife, and my work as your father is done. You are most welcome.”

Both ladies remained quiet. Diana wondered what exactly was going through her sister’s mind, but she knew that the only thought in her own was that some gentleman was clearly looking for the first lady he stumbled upon. It just so happened to have been Samantha, and their father could not care less about what had led such a gentleman to make such a request.

“Who is he?” Samantha asked softly. “The gentleman I am to… marry.”

“That is not the correct way to show gratitude, young lady. Have I taught you nothing?”

Yes, Diana thought,yes, that is precisely it, you have taught her nothing.

“Thank you, Father,” Samantha sighed. “Now, might you answer my question?”

“In truth, I do not know who he is, but it is no matter. He will be a husband, in any case, and he seemed quite desperate for you. Now, the two of you must finish quickly and put your finest gowns on. He shall be here soon.”

Neither one of them dared tell him that they were already in their finest the night before. They finished eating within seconds and ran out of the dining hall.

“The one time that he joins us,” Samantha said coldly when they reached their bedchambers, “and it is to tell usthat?”

“Oh, Samantha, I am so sorry. Try not to think about it. Perhaps he will not come at all. Perhaps it was nothing more than two drunkards talking to one another and not meaning a word of it, or maybe Father imagined it and it did not happen at all. That has happened before!”

This was true, but her sister shook her head all the same.

“He spoke with too much conviction for that,” Samantha sighed. “You heard him, he was completely sure of himself.”

“There is still hope,” Diana promised, taking their second-best gowns and dressing herself in her own.

Their hopes were soon dashed, however, when they approached the drawing room and heard the voice of a second gentleman. Diana froze, realizing that she recognized the voice, but Samantha continued on.

“Well, there is no time like the present.” Samantha laughed emptily. “Come, let us meet my husband.”

Diana wanted to pull her sister away, realizing all too late that she did not wish to come face to face with the suitor. Samantha had already walked through the door, and she had already followed her.

Right into the drawing room. Right in front of the man she had kissed.

CHAPTER 4

It had been his first week in town, and upon receiving an invitation to a ball he almost declined, but he decided that he had been through quite enough and deserved a moment to himself, not that such events typically permitted time to oneself.

He almost did not attend. He knew what the rumors were, and that he did not wish to hear of them. However, he was also quite aware that no appearance would be even worse, only further provoking suspicion. It was better if he simply put on a brave face and suffered through it.

And then he met her.

She was not the sort of lady to be prim and proper. She spoke to him as if he were a friend of hers or more so her enemy, but that was beside the point. What mattered was that she was speaking with him and that she seemed to be the one person in the room that did not know who he was, and he craved more of that.

Perhaps that was why he followed her out into the garden.

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