Page 28 of An Offer for a Spinster
Alexander squeezed his eyes closed, swallowing hard.
“I’m not going to fall in love. I’m just going to have to choose someone, aren’t I? Choose someone or lose my inheritance. So will Henry. It all seemed so pointless. So, I went out and drank until I couldn’t stand up. Silly, isn’t it?”
William bit his lip. He wanted to say something comforting, of course, but there was nothing really to say.
For starters, Alexander was right. If he didn’t fall in love before the year was up, he would face a choice – marry somebody anyway, or simply forfeit his inheritance.
“All that alcohol is making you maudlin.” He said firmly. “You’ll feel better in the morning, I promise.”
“It is the morning, you absolute fool.”
“Ugh. Later today, then. Sleep through luncheon, and just pray that you’ll sleep tonight.”
Alexander smiled tiredly. “Good night, then. Good morning, rather.”
William slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind him.
***
Lunch was a somber affair. Katherine was clearly in a bad mood after the business with Lord Barwood – which William acknowledged was his fault – and the Duchess had got to hear of it, soshewas in a foul mood, too.
Alexander was naturally still in bed, and there was no sign of Henry. Of course not. Mr. Ruth had announced that he had left shortly after Alexander got settled. There was no talk of Alexander’s inebriation, thankfully. Maybe it could be swept under the rug and forgotten.
That would be William’s duty from now on, wouldn’t it? Sweeping things under the rug.
He swallowed hard, his cold chicken suddenly sticking in his throat.
“You won’t find a better man than Lord Barwood, you know,” the Duchess said suddenly, a clear sign that she’d been thinking it over during the painfully silent lunch. “You’re a fool if you think otherwise.”
“I haven’t turned him down, Mama,” Katherine responded shortly. “There was no proposal. I simply won’t be promenading with him today, that’s all.”
“You ought to encourage him now, young woman. You are a lady, and so you had better not take too much for granted. It’s alright for William – he’s a duke, so he can marry whoever he likes.”
William flinched. “Perhaps I want somebody to marry me for something more than that.”
There was a taut moment of silence after that. Katherine shot him a quick, searching look.
“Of course they will. You’re a wonderful man, William. Besides, we wouldn’t allow you to marry somebody who just wanted the Duke of Dunleigh,” she said slowly, as clearly as she could. “Would we, Mama?”
The Duchess made a littlemoue. “Young people these days are far too sentimental about marriage. It’s a matter of business.”
“And affection has no place in it?” Katherine shot back immediately. “I hope for a marriage that is based on more thanbusiness.”
“You ought to moderate your expectations immediately, my girl,” the Duchess snapped. “Because if you do not marry, we’ll be thrown into poverty, all of us. Far too much rests on you. I don’t know what your father was thinking, leaving it all on your shoulders. I always thought he was an intelligent man who knew the measure of his children, but now I think otherwise.”
Katherine threw back her chair, leaping to her feet. She stared down at her mother for a long moment, then turned on her heel and marched wordlessly out of the room. The Duchess stared after her, then followed, leaving William eating alone.
He sat in silence for a moment or two, staring at the now unappetizing-looking mess on his plate.
Once again, the attention had been neatly directed from him to Katherine. Not that he resented it, of course. It just felt that the only time anybody ever paid attention to William, the oldest, was to find fault.
He did not have the luxury of going abroad and recanting his fortune, like Henry planned to do. He did not have the luxury of drinking himself silly and worrying about love, like Alexander. He had to marry. The Duke of Dunleigh could not be penniless. He couldn’t afford to lose his portion of the fortune, and therefore he simply could not afford to let Katherine go unmarried. The sooner she was married, the better for them all.
It was not going to make him popular with the others. Katherine’s chances of getting a good match relied directly on how properly her family behaved. If Henry was acting surly and aloof, and Alexander getting drunk and playing the fool, Katherine’s prospects would suffer.
And so, the responsibility for making them behave rested squarely on William’s shoulders.
For himself, he’d better look around for a suitable lady, someone to marry as soon as possible after Katherine’s marriage.
