Page 53 of The Lady Was Lying
“That doesn’t seem to be the case.”
She held up one finger. “Let me amend. Every woman wants to marry once she has met the right person.”
“And you think I’m the right person?”
“Yes.”
Her answer sparked something in him. What would it mean to be right for Belinda? “You’ve only met her once and spoken to her briefly.”
“I know you,” she replied. “Contrary to my recent behavior, your happiness is paramount to me, and I don’t need to know her better to recognize that she is the one you want. I could tell just by looking at you together.”
He couldn’t fathom what she’d seen. “Just because you think we are right for each other doesn’t mean I can have her. Life does not work that way.”
“You are a duke,” she stated, as if his title made any difference.
“I don’t think she cares that I’m a duke.”
“But don’t you see…that is how you know you can trust her.”
It made a strange amount of sense, but he wasn’t sure if it would be enough. After their inauspicious start, would Belinda ever allow herself to trust him? “What if I am not the one for her?”
“Then you convince her that you are,” she replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world. “She already knows about your father?”
“Yes. She believes that it would behoove me to marry sooner rather than later, just like you.”
“She told you that you should marry?”
“Indeed.”
“Without suggesting herself as an option?”
“The opposite actually.”
His mother’s eyes were in danger of popping out of her head. “You’ve already asked her to marry you?”
“Not at all. She told me she wouldn’t marry me before she told me I should marry sooner rather than later.”
“Hmm. You’ve had many conversations?”
“More than a few.” It was strange to realize he’d enjoyed them all, even the ones that had infuriated him.
“Well, that is encouraging. She wouldn’t talk to you if she weren’t interested, but since you haven’t managed to capture her heart yet, what is your plan to do so?”
He hated to admit it, but, “I don’t necessarily have a plan.”
She blinked once. And then again. “No plan?”
He winced at the judgment in her voice. “She doesn’t want to be courted. If I approach her directly, she will reject me.”
“Truly?”
He nodded.
“I will help you. Whatever you need.”
“What? No.” What did she think she could do?
“Yes. I have not been a good mother since your father’s death. Call it grief. Or fear. Or cowardice. I’ve fought with you and argued with you and blamed you for things entirely outside of your control. Let me help you convince Lady Belinda to be your wife.”
