Page 6 of A Spinster to Reform the Duke
“Oh, do you wish me to believe I saw you dancing with a ghost rather than a real person?” she questioned, raising her eyebrows. “You did not take your eyes off your dance partner the entire way through the cotillion.”
“She was an interesting partner. That is all.”
“Interesting?” She sounded far too hopeful for his liking.
“Not this now, Mother,” he begged, lifting his hand to pinch his brow.
“Timothy, one of these days you are going to have to stop rebuking my pleas,” she said tiredly with a sigh. “You were the one who promised to marry.”
“I know I did.” He lowered his hand and looked to the ceiling for a minute, distracting himself with the evergreens that draped the chandeliers.
“Do you not want an heir?”
“Of course, I do.” He lowered his gaze back to his mother.
“Then you need to marry to provide an heir.”
“Believe me, Mother, the lady I was just dancing with was not my future bride.” Despite his words, he found himself looking across the room, seeking out Lady Rebecca again. “She is not what I hope for in a wife.”
“You have rather foolish expectations of a wife, that is your problem, Timothy.”
“A quiet and dutiful one? No indeed. It is simply the recipe for a peaceful life.” Yet Timothy couldn’t take his eyes off Lady Rebecca now he had found her again.
She was talking to her parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Birkston. She had no smile, and her eyes were missing life or spark. She appeared rather bored, not at all like when he had danced with her.
As interesting as Lady Rebecca was though, she was certainly not what Timothy had decided upon in a wife. His rakish days were done, and he was determined to marry. Yet he needed a peaceful life with a quiet wife, one that would hopefully not dislike him too much for his rakish past.
“Well, if the young lady you have just danced with does not give you hope, let us look elsewhere.” Catherine took his arm and steered him in a circle, forcing him to drop his gaze from Lady Rebecca and follow his mother. “What about Lady Esther?”
“Who?”
“Lady Esther Baxter? Could you marry her?”
“Mother!” Timothy felt his body tighten as he was drawn by his mother toward this very woman across the room, with the question burning a mark on his mind.Could I marry Lady Esther Baxter?
Chapter Three
“Mama, please, not this again.” Rebecca stuffed the papers she had been working on to the back of the writing desk and looked up to her mother across the room. Beside the Marchioness, Eliza was dancing all by herself in the drawing room, as if with an imaginary partner. “Concentrate your efforts on Eliza instead of me. She is currently dancing with an imaginary person. I’d say that is much more concerning.”
Eliza abruptly stopped, though she still giggled with a great smile on her face.
“I was simply reliving last night,” she said with joy, before promptly starting to dance again, humming a soft tune under her breath.
“Two dances with one gentleman,” Rebecca muttered, turning her eyes back down to the quill in her grasp. “Do not become too excited, sister.”
“Rebecca!” Amelia said, placing her hands on her hips. “Can you not give your sister some encouragement? Some hope?”
“To be fair, Mama, my words have not hampered her in the slightest,” Rebecca said softly with amusement, gesturing toward Eliza with the quill. Eliza appeared not to have heard her, still dancing by herself, humming away. “I merely wish to offer caution. I am protective of my sister. With my experience, can you blame me?”
She flicked her eyes to her mother’s face, seeing those same dark blue eyes somewhat downcast.
“Dearest… it took us all by surprise, you know that, don’t you?” Her mother’s sad voice made Rebecca push the quill away, giving her mother her full attention.
“I know, Mother. The only person to blame is myself.”
“That is not true!” Amelia strode forward, reaching for the chair beside Rebecca and sitting down. “It washisfault. No one else’s.”
“It is good of you to think that, Mama, if it gives you comfort.” Rebecca patted her mother’s hand warmly. In truth, Rebecca knew who was to blame.I should have been more careful. I should have seen the warning signs.“Most men only wish to marry for the sake of earning a dowry. It is simply a shame that he purported to care for me rather than the money attached to my name.”
