Page 22 of His Grace, the Duke
“The problem is that my mother has decreed that if Burke doesnotmarry Olivia Rutledge, then she will disown him... and me if I help him,” James explained.
“Holy hell,” Renley muttered. “This happened last night?”
James nodded. “Not to mention the fact that if Lady Olivia tries to wriggle free, my mother is prepared to ruin her.”
“Our challenges, as I see them, are two,” Rosalie announced. “First, we must get the duchess to change her mind. She must be made to see that this marriage is not in the best interest of either party. She must agree to let them part.”
“Hell will freeze over before she changes her mind,” James muttered, reaching for a bottle of wine.
Rosalie wasn’t ready to reveal the ace up her sleeve: She knew a salacious secret about the duchess. If the duchess refused to see reason, Rosalie was not above threatening her. She was willing to do anything to protect Burke... and by extension James. But all peaceful means of reason and request must be exhausted first.
“What is the second challenge?” Burke pressed.
“Umm... well, we must convince Olivia not to marry you, obviously,” she replied.
Renley and Burke both snorted.
“Done,” said Burke.
“She hates him,” Renley added.
“Well, she hates everyone. I’m not special—”
“It’s not that simple,” said James, still slouched in his chair. He glanced to Rosalie and she nodded, sure he understood her.
“Why?”
She turned to Burke and Renley. “What I say now does not leave the four of us. It was confided in me by Olivia in a moment of sincere vulnerability. If you bring it up with her, she will know I’ve told you, and she will hate me for it.”
Burke nodded, followed quickly by Renley. “I think we should all agree that whatever is spoken between the four of us is sacred,” Renley replied. “No secrets, eh?”
Rosalie and Burke shared a look before they both nodded.
James sat like a statue, his tired eyes focused on the flickering candles.
Renley glanced his way. “James? Are you in this?”
James turned slowly to face him. “Do I have a choice?”
“We all have a choice,” Burke replied, his voice firm. “But think carefully. If you mean to agree out of obligation to me, or out of some misplaced idea of protecting us, then just go. You stay because you want to stay.”
James set his glass aside. “I’m staying.”
He didn’t look at Rosalie as he said the words, but she felt some small fluttering of relief. Whatever else he thought of her in terms of her unsuitability, he would help her help Burke. It was enough. Ithadto be enough.
She took a deep breath. “Olivia is not in the position to be turning down eligible suitors,” she explained. “She is almost twenty-seven, and this will be her third engagement. She’s tired, angry, and scared. So scared, in fact, that she threw herself at the duke during the house party, offering him sex in hopes he would propose... but she lost her nerve.
“The duke kicked her out. James and I found her in the hall...”
“God damn him,” Renley growled, clenching his fist around his wine glass. “So... what do we do?” He glanced around at each of them.
James rubbed his temple with a tired hand. Burke just sat there with a face like he’d swallowed a lemon.
“There is only one thing wecando,” Rosalie said. “We must get Olivia to jilt Burke.”
James let out a dry chuckle. “Christ... you think you’re going to find someone better for her, don’t you?”
She lifted her chin. “Exactly. The only way to break apart Burke and Olivia, with minimal reputational damage, is to secure for her a better match. If Burke jilts Olivia, she will be ruined. And that we cannot allow. But the only way a lady jilts a man and gets away with it is if she marries up...”
