Page 31

“Di,” Colin said gently, “perhaps Samantha has simply changed her mind?”

“Colin, you do not understand. It has always been this way. Samantha has never ever wished to marry. This is out of her control, I assure you.”

She hated that her sister was right.

“You see…” Samantha said slowly. “Oh, I do not even know where to start. Diana, do you remember when we were girls, and there was a thunderstorm, or father was particularly… like himself?”

“And you would come to see me, yes,” she nodded. “It happened at least twice a week.”

“Well, I may or may not have had my fill of alcohol and assumed the room across from mine was yours.”

Diana covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide.

“Please tell me that is not true.”

“I am no happier about it than you are!”

“Oh, Samantha, you compromised yourself? Has your reputation truly been destroyed?”

“Not at all. The worst that has happened is that I received two threatening notes. That is all.”

“But you… you are engaged.”

“Yes, to the Duke of Gloryfield. He believes the culprit to be his brother, and so to mitigate the issue, we shall marry before word can spread. That is all there is to it, and I am perfectly happy to go along with it.”

“But you should not be. You should be angry, angrier even than I feel right this moment. You seem so content with it.”

“Believe me, I am anything but happy, but it is not all too terrible, you know. The Duke says that he will try to get me accepted into university once we are married.”

“That is practically impossible, you know that.”

“Yes, and so if a Duke tries, and they refuse to listen even to him, then I shall take it as a loss and give it up once and for all. It is, if anything, the best chance that I could possibly have to know whether or not I truly am good enough, and so I have to try.”

“So, you are marrying this man simply to attend university?”

“I am marrying him because I will be ruined if I do not. Make no mistakes, I do not want this, but if it means I might finally be able to do something that I have always dreamed of, then that makes it a little easier to come to terms with.”

“Samantha, there are other ways around this. Do not forget that you are the sister of a duchess, and so there is no need to be the wife of a duke. Colin and I can try to arrange something for you, and we can make it so that whoever has been blackmailing you receives punishment.”

“Diana, you are a duchess, but you are not all powerful. If I am married, my chances are far greater. Besides, the Duke is a goodman and does not expect a great deal from me. It is in my best interests to do this.”

“But —”

“Diana,” Colin said gently, resting his arm around his wife’s waist, “if Samantha has decided that this is what is best for her, you cannot force her to change her mind. All that we can do is support her which I believe is exactly what she wants from us. Am I right in saying that, Samantha?”

Samantha nodded, and at last her sister seemed to quieten. It was evident to all three of them that Samantha was not happy, but she did indeed need their support.

She needed someone, amongst it all, to understand.

CHAPTER 11

Wedding preparations were never going to be anything that Samantha looked forward to, but at least with Diana insisting on taking them over from their father, she knew that she would have something that she liked.

He had not taken it well, of course, and accused Diana of meddling, but upon being told that he could take the credit for it regardless, he settled in his room with a bottle of whiskey and did not come out for several hours. Fortunately, it being just Diana and Samantha in the room, they both felt much more at ease in speaking their mind.

“That stuff will be the end of him one day,” Diana sighed.

“Do you suppose that one day might be soon?”