Page 65 of The Duke's Last Dance
“I know it hurts to hear it, but if you want to rectify everything, you must act fast,” Lord Radcliff said. “They will be wed by the summer, at the Duke’s request.”
“By summer! Is he mad?” Nicolas put a hand to his head. “No one in his right mind could fashion a proper wedding by summer when ‘tis already spring.”
“He is certainly capable of trying. The only hiccup may be the dress, if he has his way,” Lord Radcliff continued. “But never mind all of that, Nicolas. The Countess of Camberton will be holding an engagement dinner for Catherine. Tonight.”
“Tonight? So soon? When did they become engaged?” Nicolas could only field the questions before they left his mouth, and even that was not entirely capable of stopping all the questions as they tried to fall out of his mouth.
“They have been engaged a week. ‘Tis not common knowledge yet; ‘twill be after the engagement party,” Lord Radcliff said. “Nicolas, my boy, you have gone quite pale. Are you all right?”
“I… I have heard of this man, served with him, Lord Radcliff,” Nicolas said, his voice almost constrained by how tight his throat felt. “I know what he is like, and I know he is not the man who will keep Catherine happy all her days. I must do something to stop this wedding.”
“Well, there is the engagement dinner tonight. Though ‘twill be busy, Catherine will be there,” Lord Radcliff suggested.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I am, and I believe ‘tis the only thing you can do now, Nicolas. Your father will cost you everything if you do not have the courage to crash this party.” Lord Radcliff smiled mischievously. “’Twill be like you coming to Camberton when you were younger, attempting to see Catherine when your father had instructed you to practice your piano.”
Nicolas laughed a little. As much as he wanted to crash the party, he did not feel it was something he ought to do. He was in mourning.
“But what about mourning? I am meant to mourn…”
“Forget what society expects of a mourning man, Nicolas,” Lord Radcliff said. This was the last thing he had expected from Lord Radcliff, who had insisted he mourn properly just a few months earlier regardless of what happened between him and Miss Alexia. “If you are going to marry my sister, you must let her know what has happened and how you feel. It may be your only chance to talk her out of the engagement before it gets to the stage where ending it would mean that she loses her respectability.”
“You are right, Lord Radcliff,” Nicolas replied. “I must crash this party to have any chance with her… but if she does not believe me, I will be seen as a gate-crasher and a jealous man.”
“I will see to it that no harm is done to your reputation,” Lord Radcliff promised. “If Catherine wants to slander you, she will have to go through me first.”
“Thank you for that, Lord Radcliff, but I do not know if I could handle having her slander me…I most likely would deserve it for what my father has done,” Nicolas said. He then sighed and stood up. “But thank you for filling me in on what has happened.”
“Of course. Will I see you tonight?”
“Yes. I will be there, but I may not talk to you. If I am going to crash this party, I do not want to be escorted out before I can speak to Catherine,” Nicolas replied. “I am sure you understand that.”
“Yes, yes I do,” Lord Radcliff said, nodding. “Now, go and get ready for the party. I am sure there are plenty of things you must do to get ready for a party since you have only arrived in Town recently.”
Nicolas nodded, and then excused himself from the room.
As he walked out of the law firm, he could not believe what he was about to do. Was he really about to crash an engagement party? As much as he wanted to believe that he could find another way to talk to Catherine, he knew Lord Radcliff was probably right. She would be so busy trying to get everything ready for the night that she would be in Camberton Manor all day, preparing.
He would have to crash the party. It would be his only chance of talking with her before she was too publicly known to be engaged to the Duke of Hestina.
He took in a deep breath. As much as Nicolas knew he could not blame his father for what had happened, as he had only wanted the best for Nicolas and had realized that what he was doing wasn’t right, he wanted to blame his father.
If his father had only let those letters go to Catherine, or had let him read Catherine’s letters to him, then perhaps this would not have happened. He may have been able to come home to Town and have Catherine waiting for him when his father died. But now, he had to fight to make things right because his father had not come to his senses until it was almost too late.
Nicolas wondered if his mother would have told him if his father had not. It did not seem likely as his mother was loyal to his father to a fault sometimes, but she may have noticed more easily that he did not get along with nor did he like Miss Alexia.
Since he had had his father’s blessing to court and marry Catherine, he had written to Miss Alexia and let her know that he was no longer interested in seeing her. He had not told her the real reason, but he did tell her that he did not believe the match would work, as he could not give her the kind of attention she wanted.
That seemed to have been enough for Miss Alexia, as he had only received one letter from her since then, and it was to thank him for letting her know before they were too attached to each other.
That, at least, made it easier to go forward and reclaim Catherine’s affections. He knew they were probably still hiding somewhere in her heart, but he had to find them and bring them out again. He had to.
Otherwise, Catherine would be making one of the biggest mistakes of her life, and that was something that he simply did not want to have to worry about. He did not want her to ruin her life, nor did he want her to worry that she had done something that she should not have.
Crashing a party…
Nicolas scoffed to himself softly. How could he get away with this? He would have to address either the Earl of Camberton or the Countess of Camberton to get in, and if they had already given their blessings to the Duke of Hestina, then he was going to have a hard time getting in…
