Page 16 of His Grace, the Duke
“Now?” He refilled his glass. “Now I am so goddamn tired I can barely see straight. And there is still Burke to deal with.”
“I take it you haven’t seen him yet?”
“No... they were gone by the time I returned.” He glanced up, meeting Tom’s eye. “How mad is he?”
Tom let out a slow breath. “On a scale from one to ten... I’d say a solid eight.”
“Damn... is that an eight like when I broke the ladderto the treehouse? Or an eight like when I promised him that new horse and kept it for myself?”
“He’s out for blood, J,” Tom admitted.
“I guess I deserve it.”
He sounded so dejected that Tom felt his own resentment fizzling away. His thoughts turned to Rosalie. “Is she alright?”
James nodded. “She will be.” He glanced up. “But I’m glad I caught you. We need to talk...”
Tom stiffened. “Is it my turn for an admonishment?”
“No admonishments,” James replied calmly. “I’m not your father or your confessor that you need a lesson in morals from me... But Idofeel obligated to ask about your intentions. Do you mean to compete with Burke to win her?”
“Win her?” Tom couldn’t help but laugh. “This is not a race, James, and she is not a trophy. Besides, she doesn’t want to get married.”
“What lady of sense does not eventually succumb to marriage?”
“Succumb? That’s quite a romantic word for it.”
James took another sip from his glass. “You know what I mean.”
“No, I’m not sure that I do.” Tom leaned forward, elbows on the desk. “Are you to imply we shouldn’t trust her at her word?”
“Trust a young lady who thinks of marriage as nothing but a cage? Hardly,” he replied with a dry laugh. “Marriage is a sound opportunity for advancement. It is social security. It can be an advantageous partnership. Surely, all these are merits in its favor.”
“Yes... to you. But James, you are a viscount. In your social circle, marriage is a convenient means of solidifyingtitles and estates. Of course you would see it as a useful business transaction... but Rosalie doesn’t.”
“You buy her nonsense, then, of marriage being a cage? I thought all you Renleys were meant to be romantics.”
“I buy her ‘nonsense,’ as you call it, because it is her lived experience,” Tom replied, struggling to contain his annoyance. “It is not nonsensical to a woman who has never seen anything but a bad marriage to assume that marriage has no redeemable qualities,” he explained. “I doubt very much that a rousing speech from you will change her mind... especially if you’re going to use words like ‘succumb’ in its defense.”
It was James’ turn to shift awkwardly, looking pointedly down at his glass.
Tom narrowed his eyes. “Oh, hell... you’ve already tried, haven’t you?” He leaned farther over the desk. “You gave her a James speech, didn’t you?”
James’ eyes flashed in indignation. “A James speech?”
“Aye, a declarative speech by James Corbin, whereby the listener feels wholly incapable of allowing any opinion to rest in the mind except the one James puts there. A James speech. You gave her one.” It wasn’t a question. Tom already knew the answer. “Well, how did it go?”
James was quiet for a long moment. “She yelled at me, if you must know,” he muttered.
Tom laughed deep, crossing his arms over his chest.
“So where do you fall, then?” James challenged. “No doubt you harbor romantic notions about marriage as a blessed union?”
He was quiet for a minute, considering all that had happened in the last days and weeks. “You know... I really thought I could do this,” he admitted. “I thought I could set my feelingsaside and marry out of obligation. And I thought I would find peace with it because it was the right thing to do...”
“And now?”
“Now?” He sighed, stretching out his legs under the desk. “Now, I believe that to marry without love would break me. I cannot live in such a way—to have someone so close, so intimately woven into my life, and not feel a deep and abiding love for them... it won’t do. I am resolved to find more than a wife.”
