Page 41 of Five Nights with a Rakish Duke
“What?” Asher said, whipping his head around in surprise to find Dorian watching him with a rather curious gaze. “No, of course not.”
“No?” Dorian repeated in disbelief. “So… it has nothing to do with wanting to spend your time with Lady Penelope and no other lady.”
“It is five nights, Dorian; that is all. Remember?” Asher said with a curt tone that seemed to bring humor to Dorian’s face. “Stop looking at me like that.”
“I was just wondering if you’ll be tempted to break your five-night rule at last.”
“No. Never!” Asher’s abruptly strong voice seemed to surprise Dorian as much as it did himself. He rubbed his hands through his hair a few times before he returned to his seat and pinned his gaze on his friend. “I will never break my rule. You know that.”
“Hmm…” Dorian did not look convinced.
“I will not,” Asher repeated, needing it to be heard.
“Why won’t you marry Lady Penelope? She would be an eligible bride.”
“I cannot do that,” Asher said with firmness.
“Why not?”
“Because if I marry, I do not wish to feel anything for the woman.” The words hung in the air for a minute, unanswered. Dorian was the first one to break the silence by shifting uncomfortably.
“Just because my experiment at love did not go well, it doesn’t mean yours won’t either.”
“Won’t it? Then what of my father’s attempt too, hmm?” Asher said. Dorian knew very well why Asher had no wish to entertain a relationship. It was something they didn’t talk openly about. “I do not wish to go through what you went through, or what my father went through. I was there – I saw what it did to him. No, if I marry, then I do so purely to fulfill my promise to my father. I will not risk caring for the woman.”
“And if you married Lady Penelope, it would mean marrying a woman you care for?”
“I…” He thought long and hard about the answer. “I am fascinated by her, yes. As far as I’m concerned, that could lead to caring, and I won’t allow that to happen.”
“Then why are you delaying courting another woman?” The perceptive question made Asher’s jaw slacken, for he had no answer to give.
I do not know.
“I… I am not delaying,” he stammered out eventually.
“Well, I am pleased to hear it though you will forgive me if I do not quite believe it.”
“Nonsense. Dorian, you’re causing trouble on purpose.”
“I’m not,” Dorian said with feeling, gesturing down to the letter. “I am being your friend. You wanted to marry to fulfill your promise to your father, and now your stepmother is about to arrive to check up on the same matter. What do you wish me to do? To remind you of the promise you made or to brush it under the carpet and pretend it doesn’t exist?”
“I know; I know!” Asher said loudly, cutting off his friend before he could say anymore.
“Then who will you marry? Who will you court?”
“I…” Asher paused, thinking long and hard. He reared forward and buried his face in his hands, thinking of the options. He’d met many ladies at recent events, some more eligible than others. None quite had the spirit that Penny did, nor did they cause the fire he currently felt, but he didn’t want to care for his future wife, did he? He wanted someone to marry that he could never be attached to.
Being attached to a lady is too great a risk to take.He needed a lady he could court, marry, and could stir no emotional attachment whatsoever.
“I know,” Asher repeated, looking up from his hands to find his friend’s gaze. “Remind me of the ladies’ names you introduced me to.”
“There was Lady Josephine Garson, the young debutante with a healthy dowry,” Dorian started his list. “Miss Rose Waters too, no title and the dowry is not so great, but she’s a beauty.”
“Lady Josephine thinks far too highly of herself, and Miss Rose Waters was much more interested in you than I.”
“Then there was Lady Margaret Larson, Lord Larson’s sister. Fine lady, very proper.”
“Very proper; her main point of conversation seemed to be the pianoforte.”
