Page 32 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
He chuckled, shaking his head. ‘You should. Not every man is a dilettante like my brother. You are far too young to take the veil.’
‘Take the veil? What can you mean?’
‘If you do not wed, what will you become? A nun? Or close to it.’
The picture he painted was hardly enticing. But the alternative was less so.
‘I expect I will remain in my father’s household, for the time being.’ At least until she managed to sell her jewels and found a place to live. She had hired an agent to find her something far from London and given him an idea of her budget. Now all she could do was wait and avoid being coerced into marriage in the meantime.
‘And you will be his hostess, influencing politics while you sit at his table, perhaps? I know you have an interest in what goes on in the world. But will he allow that?’
Unlikely.
She certainly did not trust her father to have her best interests at heart. Like most men, he cared only for himself.
So many times she had pinned her hopes on her father and been let down. She never wanted to have to rely on him or anyone else again.
She gave him a cheerful smile. ‘Who can foresee the future? Are you in London to seek a wife? An heiress, perhaps?’
‘I cannot deny Helmut left things in disarray and that I am hoping to set things to rights. If I must marry to do it, I suppose I will.’
‘I am sorry,’ she said.
She was. Her husband had been a spendthrift and a bit of a blackguard.
‘I shall come about, never fear.’ He frowned. ‘It seems as if you have committed some sort of faux pas. You have everyone looking daggers.’
‘Do I?’ She forced herself not to smile.
Charles gave her an enigmatic stare, held a second too long. ‘What sort of game are you playing, my dear?’
‘Game?’
‘I know you to be an intelligent and socially astute woman. You could hardly be otherwise with a papa like yours, yet here you are committing some sort of folly like a gauche newcomer.’
He was right, she was already drawing frowns and dark glances. It seemed it did not take much to break London Society’s rules.
She briefly toyed with the idea of letting him in on her plan, but that would require giving him her trust.
The very idea sent a cold chill down her spine.
‘You aretalking in riddles.’
Charles gave her a knowing smile. ‘As you wish. Would you care to dance?’
‘Only if it is a waltz.’
He gave her a quizzical look. ‘Have you been approved to dance the waltz?’
It seemed even he had been briefed about what was acceptable. ‘I have.’ More was the pity.
Perhaps if Charles danced with her more than the proscribed two times, it might help her cause. Unless he knew about that rule also.
On the other hand, perhaps she had done enough? Certainly, there were no other men seeking to ask her to dance.
‘Then waltz we shall,’ Charles said. ‘If they play one. And I shall take you to supper, if it is permitted?’
‘I shall certainly permit it.’
