Page 121 of The Scandalous Love of a Duke
He shrugged. ‘They may not. The only way we will know is if we try.’
‘And if they do not?’ Now she showed her insecurity. He lifted his hands and she slipped into his arms.
‘Then we will come home without making a fuss, but we will have made our point.’
‘This is important to you, is it not?’
He kissed her temple. ‘It is, yes. I have state duties to fulfil which will be hard to do if society rejects you and it will affect our children too, Katherine. I want to fight. If Devonshire lets you in, it will set the precedence for others.’ Of course the same applied if Devonshire did not. ‘I want you accepted. Do you agree?’
She nodded against his chest as he stroked her hair. He knew she was terrified.
44
Katherine held the firm muscle of John’s arm through the fabric of his evening coat as they queued, awaiting an introduction to the Devonshires, gradually moving up the stairs.
‘Set your smile and keep it,’ John advised.
‘That is easy for you,’ she whispered back. ‘Sadly not for me.’
John’s Uncle Richard and his Aunt Penny stood behind them, and beyond them were all John’s influential aunts and uncles. The family was showing its solidarity.
The autumn night was chill and the fires in the huge hall in which the stairs were set had failed to chase the cold away. Katherine shivered. They climbed another two steps and John’s hand covered her fingers as they lay on his arm. The door to the grand hall was only feet away. Her heart was pounding. She prayed she would not faint.
A few moments, and a few steps more, and they were there. The Duke did not hide his discontent, while the Duchess of Devonshire’s cold accusing gaze fell on Katherine then lifted to John. Katherine felt John’s Uncle Richard, the Duke of Arundel, step closer behind her.
‘Devonshire,’ John stated to the duke, holding out his hand.
The duke hesitated.
Katherine lowered into a shallow curtsy, one that was appropriate for someone of equal status.
The duke looked at his wife, then back at John and then over Katherine’s shoulder at John’s Uncle and his other family beyond.
Her fate and that of their children depended on what happened next. In or out. Katherine could feel the moments ticking by even though she could hear no clock.
The duke glanced back at his wife and then… ‘Your Grace.’ He accepted John’s hand. Relief washed over Katherine as her fingers returned to John’s arm.
John passed the duke and bowed to the Duchess.
She visibly bristled while Devonshire clasped Katherine’s hand for an instant and bowed over it.
Katherine bobbed the slightest curtsy at the Duchess who did not respond and then John swept Katherine away over the threshold and across the ballroom, smiling in a self-congratulating way.
Whispers passed about the room in a wave but no one turned their backs. Katherine understood that because the Devonshires’ had accepted her, if people cut her now they would be insulting their hosts.
His Uncle Richard caught them up and set a hand on John’s shoulder then whispered something to John’s ear.
The first notes of a waltz reached above the gossip.
‘Come,’ John said to her, and walked on towards the centre of the room, claiming the ground they had won.
She had never danced with him.
Her heart raced, and she felt light-headed as he made the frame of the dance. His expression was set as he faced her, his ducal armour in place. It gave her no comfort. She felt isolated by it. He was shutting out the opinions of those in the room. Only it also meant he was shutting out her and she had grown unused to it. Over the past week he had been himself at home, not the duke. He had told her story after story of his adventures abroad. He had been attentive, even amid his family. He had been open, never blank and cold. She had convinced herself he had changed.
He had not changed.
As they danced, he held her gently, but formally, as her gaze roamed about their audience, darting from one group of people who were staring to another.
