Page 35 of An Arranged Betrothal with an Icy Duke
Henry let out a slow breath and closed his eyes. “I do not know what to say to these questions, Eaveswood. I thought the same about Rachel and yet – ”
“Do not think that one mistake means that you are fated to repeat the very same one again,” his friend stated, firmly. “You know very well, just as I do, that the lady is most considerate, careful in her manner and yet, despite all that has been thrust upon her, eager to do all she can to please you. And I will say that I have seen her looking upon you in tenderness.”
This last remark made Henry sit up straight, his glass of whiskey sloshing about wildly in his glass. “I beg your pardon?”
Lord Eaveswood chuckled. “You do not think that she could care for you?”
Henry shook his head. “Of course she could not! Do you not know what sort of ogre I am?” Sitting back, he let out a long breath, his gaze once more finding the lady in question and gazing at her steadily. She laughed at something Lady Eaveswood said and Henry found himself smiling. “I am an ogre,” he repeated, as his friend shook his head. “You may disagree with me all you wish, but I know that it is true. I have spent many a month hiding in this house, pretending to be no-one and wishing not to know anyone. I have lost myself in cold melancholy, in hot anger and I have attempted to forget everyone and anyone I have ever known… and that includes my own brother.” His lips pulled to one side for a moment, his eyes still clinging to Miss Tidemore. “I have no kindness in me, I am sure.”
“That is nonsense.” Lord Eaveswood snorted. “Your care and consideration of the orphanage speaks against that.”
“But is it enough?” Feeling himself suddenly vulnerable, Henry fought the urge to remain silent, to hide himself away and pull back from what he was saying. He had done that for the last few years, had refused to let himself show even a single momentof vulnerability to anyone. Was he going to hide away from it now? “I have a great deal of awareness as to just how cruel I have been, how cold and distrustful I have become. Even in this engagement – thisfoolishengagement – I have not thought for a moment about what it must be like for the lady herself. I have thought only of myself.”
Lord Eaveswood tilted his head. “Why do you call it foolish?”
“Not in the engagement itself but in the way I went about it,” Henry explained. “I was rash and went without thinking but, despite that, I appear to have been granted a great boon in Miss Tidemore.”
A smile began to spread across Lord Eaveswood’s face. “Yes, I think that you have been,” he agreed. “That is just what I have been saying. Though that must mean that you have every intention of proceeding with the marriage, then?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Henry nodded. “Yes,” he said, feeling a great sense of relief begin to overwhelm him. “Yes, I think that I shall. She has proven herself, has she not? She does not flirt with anyone, has not given long looks to any other gentlemen and, from what she has told me and from what has been confirmed, it seems that she does not have even the smallest bit of interest from any other gentlemen – not because she is not worthy of such attention but only because she was not given opportunity.”
“Quite.”
Henry managed to smile at his friend, aware that he now felt a good deal more exposed in his thoughts and emotions than he had been before. “You are right, I do have an… interest in her.”
“An interest?” Lord Eaveswood laughed and shook his head. “My dear fellow, it is a good deal more than that.”
Henry frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It is anaffection,” Lord Eaveswood answered, his eyes dancing with evident mirth that Henry had not been aware ofthis beforehand. “I know that you closed your heart to such things once you found out what had happened with Rachel but it appears as though your heart has other considerations.”
A wry smile crept across Henry’s face. “You are quite right, old friend. It appears as though it does. The only question I have now is what I am to do with it.”
Lord Eaveswood chuckled. “If I were you, I would start by telling Miss Tidemore that you fully intend to marry her.” His smile faded. “That would bring her some relief, I am sure.”
“Yes, it would.” A little embarrassed that he himself had not thought of the lady herself and what she would be feeling, Henry took a sip of his whiskey so as to hide his red face. “I think you are right, Eaveswood. I shall do so at the very earliest opportunity.”
***
Henry scowled as his mother walked into the study without so much as a knock. “Mother, I am rather busy.”
“With what, might I ask?”
Taking in a deep breath, Henry set down his quill and then arched one eyebrow. “I am preparing a list for those I wish to invite to the wedding.”
Something like shock rippled across his mother’s expression, making Henry frown.
“Then you… you have decided to wed the lady?”
Henry nodded. “Yes,” he said, crisply. “I can see no reason not to do so. She has proven herself to me, I think.”
“But she is not suitable for a Duchess!”
Something like pain stabbed into Henry’s heart and his brows instantly knotted together. “Whatever do you mean by that?”
The Duchess threw up her hands. “She ismuchtoo generous and much too improper with those who call themselvesimpoverished – though you know very well that I have a very different idea about such a thing.”
Henry’s scowl returned quickly.
