Page 13 of The Duke's Gamble
Samuel’s hands balled into fists. “You would even go so far as to threaten me to achieve your aims?”
Lady Florentina stepped closer to him, her eyes narrowed slits, her voice hissing out at him. “I would doanythingfor them.”
“Anything?” His anger boiling over into animosity, Samuel glared back at her. He wanted to wound her, wanted to show her that her courage, her supposed strength was nothing more than a sham.
An idea hit him and he grasped at it, heedless to how ridiculous it sounded. This, he knew, would not be something she would ever accept. “What would you say if I promised to give up this houseonlyif you were to marry me?” A dark smile crossed his lips as her eyes widened, no quick response flying from her lips. “I put that to you, Lady Florentina. If you,here and now, declare that you will marry me—that you will be my bride—knowing how I live, knowing my character, and understanding how I will treat you, for I will not change myself to suit you—then I shall return this house to your brother. Would you agree? Would you subject yourself to that and the future that such an accord would hold?” He watched as her eyes rounded, saw how the strength drained out of her frame. Chuckling darkly, he lifted his chin. “You see? You are not as strong as all that. You are not as devoted to your family as you believe.”
Lady Florentina’s eyes flooded but Samuel turned away, the conversation now at a close. “I do not want to speak of this matter again, Lady Florentina. The situation is as it stands and—”
“I—I will.”
Samuel stopped dead, a sudden trembling running through him. Swallowing hard, he turned around to see Lady Florentina wringing her hands, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. “I beg your pardon?”
Closing her eyes, Lady Florentina took in a shuddering breath, visibly shaking now. “I will.”
All of the triumph that Samuel felt shattered in a single moment. His anger and frustration had led him to say something foolish but his confidence had been strong, believing that she would never agree to such a thing.
Except now, she had.
“The house will return to my brother and I will be your wife,” Lady Florentina continued, tears running like streams from her eyes. “I consent.”
“I… I…”
“Florentina! You cannot!”
The surprise of Lady Miriam rushing out from behind a rose trellis had Samuel stumbling back. He half fell, half sat ontoa bench below the roses, his fingers grasping the edge of the bench, struggling to comprehend what had just taken place.
“I must,” he heard Lady Florentina say, though her voice appeared to come from very far away. “It is the only way.”
“I—I do not accept your agreement.” Rasping, Samuel shook his head. “No, I do not—”
“You must.” Lady Florentina wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief, then drew herself up. “You have already promised, Your Grace. And I have a witness.”
Samuel opened his mouth to disagree, to find something to say that would refute what Lady Florentina had said, only for him to snap it shut again, fear now beginning to cloud his mind. What could he possibly say to undo this?
He groaned.
Just how foolish have I been?
“No!” His head lifted and he shook one finger in Lady Florentina’s direction. “You are to go to the Season! You and your sister! You are to find husbands there,thatwas the agreement.”
“It was, but you have overruled that by your foolish promise,” came the response, though Lady Florentina’s eyes were still full of tears, her hand holding tight to Lady Miriam’s now. “We are engaged.”
“No.” Samuel shook his head, rubbing one hand over his eyes. “No, Lady Florentina. I will not have it.”
Lady Miriam tilted her head. “But you must.”
“I—I will not.” Gasping for air, Samuel put one hand to his chest, struggling against the tightness that constricted his breathing. “You will go to the London Season. You will seek a husband, Lady Florentina. That is what we agreed.”
Lady Florentina came closer to him, lifting one eyebrow. “Your Grace, we are now betrothed,” she said, with such asadness in her voice that Samuel could not help but feel it reach out towards him also. “And the house will return to my brother.”
He could not speak, could not fight against her words. He had acted in idiocy, he knew, but had never truly believed that she would accept him, given that her view of him was so dismal.
And yet now, as Samuel watched her walk away, he realised just how much of a fool he had been. Perhaps he had underestimated her strength or her love for her family but either way, hehadto find a way to escape this.
“I must find a way to break our engagement,” he hissed to himself, leaning forward, his elbows on his knees, his face hot. “And the blamemustbe her own… else I will lose everything.”
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