Page 43 of A Most Improper Duchess
That lick of freedom… how delicious it had been. While Hamish chafed at the lack of trust and responsibility, Arley hated its consistency. That small week had opened just a shard of possibility, and he’d been drunk on liberty, Absinthe and Paris sunshine. Now, he was engaged to a ballerina with a complicated past that threatened to darken everything he’d worked for since the day Cecil had first called himyour grace. Had Winton been waiting all this time for him to slip so he could exploit some opportunity? Like all of them—the press, his fellow politicians, the society gossips, all searching for a chink in his armour. For him to let his guard down. To care about others and show himself vulnerable.
Lawrence slumped into a seat at the table. His brandy glass knocked against the wood. ‘Wilhelmina has banished me from the house. It’s a sign she’s close. Any day now.’
‘What number is this?’ Hamish asked.
‘Ten,’ Lawrence said without hesitation, and a broad, proud grin. He always counted the lost babe, no matter how many questions were asked. He seized his glass and took a swig. ‘I think it’s a girl.’
Phineas eased himself into the last vacant chair. Since when had Arley drawn so many people to him? It had all started that day last year. He’d had a well-ordered life, a plan, and routine. He was a duke and knew his place in the world. Now everything seemed to be unravelling.
‘Ten,’ Hamish said, then silently mouthed the word a few times, his eyebrows arching and frowning alternatively. ‘Iris is reluctant to think about one. How on earth… ten? I was so lonely as a child. God, I’d love ten.’
An uncomfortable silence settled around the table, but whether it was for Hamish’s confession, or Phineas’s arrival, Arley didn’t know. He tried to imagine his life with a string of following siblings. If he’d had a legitimate brother, would the fellow have despised him his luck as much as Winton did? Or, like Hamish, would he have revelled in the freedom, even if it came with a hefty amount of invisibility?
‘The most incongruous character came into the bank today,’ Phineas said as he leaned forward to pick up his glass. ‘Wanted to open three bank accounts. Absolutely outrageous. Can you imagine the ruling margins required for such an extravagance?’
A different discomfort settled around the table as the threat of a potentially boring conversation loomed. Hamish moved first.
‘I best head home. Iris will be wanting help. And Albert loves to talk about when we were younger. He thinks I’m my father.’ He chuckled, then gave an awkward wave. ‘Good evening, gents.’
Lawrence rose as soon as Hamish turned away. ‘And I need to secure my bed for this evening. Hopefully the hotel has something available. It would be embarrassing if I have to reserve a room with the competition.’
Lawrence took one last sip, then followed Hamish out.
‘Trust you to clear a table,’ Arley said.
‘Not everyone shares my passion for ledgers.’ Phineas took a sip of whiskey. ‘Your brother is causing issues.’
‘Half-brother. How did you know?’
‘It’s my job to know. Do you want me to sort him for you?’
‘Sounds a little extreme.’
‘I’m not going toexterminatethe man. What do you think I do?’
‘I have no idea what you do. We are both happier that way.’
‘I don’t dothat.’ Phineas leaned back in his chair, his head tilted toward Arley, although his eyes darted at some action over his shoulder. ‘What has he tried his hand at? Art? Investments? A stint in the dragoons?’
‘Skipped out on service. Twice.’
‘Perhaps it’s time he learned to finish something he started?’
Arley spun his glass in his hand. ‘Do you think I’ve made a mistake with Vivianne? Been too rash?’
‘Are you asking me if becoming engaged to a woman you knew for a week was a hasty decision?’ The words could have been sarcasm, but from Phineas, Arley could never be sure. ‘Many a man in this room has been just as hasty, and for more mercenary reasons. Personally, I find marriage itself a ridiculous institution. You tie yourself to another for life. You change, they change. You both become different people, yet there you are.Tethered.’
‘That’s what I like best about her. I felt different. Like a whole new person I didn’t know I could be. But what if she doesn’t have what it takes to be a duchess? What if her history hurts my bid, or the company?’
‘You don’t have to marry her. She’d accept less. We could quietly announce a termination of the engagement, and she could move out to the estate. It’s been done before.’
She’d wanted a garden. And a little cottage. He could give her both, and a washerwoman, and her own space. She could come up to the main house any time she wanted to dance. Perhaps it would be best. But how could he forget the sparkle in her eyes when they’d spoken of children, her delight as she stroked the fabric for her gown, and above all, the way she saidI love you? She would accept less. Be a mistress and not a wife. But how could he? He didn’t want her in a room across town, or away in a little cottage in Suffolk. He wanted her in his home, in his life, in his days.
And if he sent her away, the endless parade of daughters would only start up again. And he would not be a father to another Winton or be wed to a compliant woman while he loved another so completely.
‘Everything was easier in France,’ he mumbled into his glass.
‘Everything usually is,’ Phineas quipped. ‘I can make some enquiries, about Winton. Find out what’s driving him.’
