Page 6 of What's a Duke Got to Do With It
“I took you on with a stain on your name, didn’t I?” the woman demanded.
“Well… yes, I suppose you did—”
“And did it bother me one bit that you had a scandal attached to you?”
“I suppose not—” Katrina replied. Or, rather, tried replying, as Lady Tesh continued as if she had never spoken.
“I am well aware that men can be utter idiots when their cocks are involved.”
“Lady Tesh!” Adelaide gasped, her face as red as a strawberry. “There are unmarried women present.”
But Lady Tesh waved one heavily beringed hand in the air impatiently. “As if Miss Athwart here wasn’t providing you with the books and pamphlets to educate yourselves on the human body and all the intimate things it’s capable of,” she scoffed. “And I know she is doing so because I am the one who has funded such an endeavor. One of the greatest sins men have committed against females is keeping them blithely unaware of the sexual acts. No doubt,” she continued in a dark tone, “because if we were aware of just how horrible the vast majority of them are in bed, no woman would wish to lie with them. Your own husband, of course, is the exception,” she said to Bronwyn with a sly sideways glance. “That Ash looks as if he knows what he’s about.”
Katrina was vaguely aware of the strangled laughter around her. But she had no time to react herself before Lady Tesh’s piercing eyes were once more settled on her.
“You are not at fault for what that man has done. And I will not allow anyone to disparage you. As my companion, you are under my protection, and I do not take that duty lightly. And so I will hear no more talk about you leaving.”
Warmth filled Katrina until she thought she would weep with it. Lady Tesh was not an affectionate woman. More often than not she was rude and outspoken and gave no care to what others thought.
Such a speech coming from her, as aggressive as it had been, was as good as a shout to the heavens that she cared.
Even so, it would not be right to let the woman take on the full burden of this. It could not have been easy for her to hire such a person—Katrina recalled all too well the chilly reception she had received from much of Synne before Lady Tesh had stepped in and set everyone straight. But it would be doubly difficult now, with the old scandal resurrected in such a violent manner, and not only resurrected but also compounded upon. “If my brother insists I return home,” she managed around the lump in her throat, “I will return to him, and save you from whatever repercussions might arise from this.”
For the barest of moments, Katrina thought she saw pity darken the woman’s heavily lined face. But in a second it was gone, replaced with a gentleness that Katrina had never seen from her employer.
“Very well, you may write to him. But if he refuses, you shall stay with me. Is that understood?”
Swallowing down tears that burned her throat, Katrina nodded. “Yes, Lady Tesh.”
Though as the woman shuffled back to her bed and Katrina’s friends helped her back to her own, she didn’t know which she dreaded more: returning to her brother or having no recourse but to remain a burden to these people she loved.
Chapter 2
Sebastian Thorne, Duke of Ramsleigh, paused at the bottom of the steps leading up to the Grosvenor Square town house. No, he didn’t pause; rather, he froze, his feet seemingly unable to move farther. He just stopped himself from letting loose the string of profanities that knocked at his lips and would have no doubt had every curious lady and gentleman—of which there were a prodigious number walking up and down the street at this time of the morning—dropping into dead faints.
What the devil was wrong with him? Once he secured Miss Bridling’s hand, his family would be saved. And not just his family, but every family who relied on the Ramsleigh title for their livelihoods. He would be given the means to fix their roofs, put food on their tables, expand their flocks, and see that their fields were properly sown. Not to mention repairing Ramsleigh Castle’s own leaking roof and crumbling plaster and broken windows. And he would be able to provide his sisters dowries of their own. Ones that would not be as large as they should be, of course, considering they were daughters of a duke, but enough to ensure they secured respectable husbands, as well as providing them with a safety net should they ever find themselves again in a position of looming poverty.
Yet even with all this hanging in the balance, their salvation finally within reach, he found his feet unable to propel him forward to claim it.
Expelling a harsh breath, he gritted his teeth and forced his legs to move. One step, then another, then another, until, finally, he was before the shining black door. He raised a disturbingly heavy hand, let the brass knocker fall.
Before the sound died down the door was thrown wide. Lord Cartmel’s dour butler stood there, as if he had been waiting for Sebastian the whole while.
And no doubt he had been. It was no secret that Sebastian had been courting Miss Bridling nearly from the moment he had met her two months ago. And he’d made no secret that he’d intended to make her an offer this very afternoon. He cast a glance back at the people milling about in the square, which had become a veritable crowd since he’d arrived. Every eye was turned his way and remained on him, though they had been caught blatantly staring. He heaved a sigh and turned back to face the butler. No doubt they did not want to miss the commencement of the match of the season. It really was too bad the possible groom-to-be was wishing he was anywhere else but here.
The butler bowed. “Your Grace. Shall I let Miss Bridling know you are here?”
As if the man didn’t know very well that Sebastian was not here to see Miss Bridling at all. Keeping his face impassive, he just stopped himself from tugging nervously at his jacket. “Actually,” he said as he stepped inside the cool, cavernous front hall and the door closed behind him, blessedly leaving the gawking crowd behind, “I am here to see Lord Cartmel. If you could inform him of my presence?”
“Very good, Your Grace,” the butler intoned, not a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “If you will have a seat in the rose sitting room, I shall see if the baron is home.”
Before Sebastian could acquiesce, a soft voice sounded behind him.
“There is no sense in falling on ceremony, Curtis. Father is expecting you, Your Grace. I shall show you to the study.”
The butler bowed and backed away. “As you wish, Miss Bridling.”
Sebastian turned to face his future wife. It was not ego that made him so certain her father would accept his suit, or that the lady would accept his proposal. No, he knew what Lord Cartmel was after: a dukedom for his beloved daughter. No matter that the dukedom had been besieged with scandals and creditors in the past years, no matter that not many families would wish to take on the immense burden of bringing the dukedom back to what it had been—not to mention that of its soiled reputation—there was still much a title could buy. Including the only daughter of one of the richest men in England.
