Page 34 of A Duchess Bound (Dukes of Dominance #2)

T he next day, Dorothy sat with her embroidery in the drawing room.

Bridget sat in the chair across from her, sketchbook open, but nothing had yet been drawn.

With a sigh, Elias joined them and slumped into the sofa beside Dorothy.

He looked as though he had aged overnight, and the gray shadows beneath his eyes confirmed that sleep had been scarce.

After they returned from the ball, Elias had demanded answers from Bridget.

Their young sister had been silent in the carriage on the way back to the townhouse, but in the face of Elias’s frustration, she had burst into tears.

Dorothy had tiredly suggested that they discuss the matter in the morning, and Elias joining them in the drawing room confirmed that the time would come.

“I will kill him,” Elias said, breaking the silence.

“You will not,” Dorothy said.

Elias tipped his head back and met her gaze with a rueful expression. “If he does not marry Bridget, I will challenge him to a duel, and I will win. He has dishonored her, and I expect that accursed man to behave with honor!”

“He is not accursed!” Bridget exclaimed, jumping to her feet. “And you will not need to duel him. Lord Fourton will come to call today and agree to marry me.”

“How can you know that?” Dorothy cried. “Do you realize the severity of what you have done? How could you let a man dishonor you? You wanted to do whatever you pleased, and now, we shall all pay the consequences for it!”

“No!” Bridget argued.

Dorothy cast aside her embroidery and surged to her feet as well. “Yes! He has ruined your reputation and abandoned you, and now, Elias must challenge him to a duel!”

“If I can find him,” Elias said dryly. “If he has not already left.”

“He would not leave!” Bridget snapped, raising her voice. “He loves me, and I love him!”

“If he loved you, he would have already come to see you!” Dorothy exclaimed.

“He will!”

“We shall see,” Elias said placatingly. “I will admit that I have my doubts, however, for Lord Fourton is a notorious rake. I wish I had known that you were so close to him.”

Dorothy clenched her jaw and looked away from them both.

Guilt twisted in her chest. Worse, the stifling sensation was accompanied by the soft memory of Gerard, his gentle face framed in the silvery moonlight.

He had looked at her and told her that it was not her fault, and the man did not even realize how much that meant to her.

Maybe he never would.

“You have made the worst mistake of your life,” Dorothy said, her voice shaking.

“No,” Bridget said. “No, falling in love would never be a mistake! Not that you would know! You have never loved anyone and never will!”

“Do not speak of things that you know nothing about!” Dorothy snapped. “You have no idea how much I have loved!”

Bridget inhaled sharply, her eyes wide. She put a hand to her chest, as if to force air back into her lungs.

No one said anything.

A light knock came from the door. Dorothy drew in a sharp breath, her eyes snapping to the door. Was it he, Lord Fourton? Had he come?

“Yes?” Elias asked.

Their butler bowed. “You have a caller, the Duke of Greenway.”

“The Duke of Greenway?” Dorothy asked.

Why would he be here? Her pulse jumped.

He has come for me was her first, impulsive answer to that question, but she knew it was impossible. They were nothing to one another. He did not love her.

Perhaps, he had come to apologize or make amends? Dorothy could not decide if that would be for better or worse. What would his apology be worth if nothing changed between them?

Bridget let out a high-pitched, strangled sound. Dorothy heard the rustle of fabric and suspected that her sister had collapsed into her chair.

“Send him in.” Turning to Dorothy, Elias added, “Do you have any idea what he might want?”

He knew. Elias knew.

Dorothy forced down the lump in her throat and shook her head. “Why would I?” she asked. “It is not as though we are well-acquainted.”

His eyes narrowed. It was clear that he did not believe her.

“Well,” Elias said dryly. “I suppose we shall see soon enough.”

Gerard entered the room, and Dorothy, still standing, realized that he was just a short distance away. If she wanted, she could reach out and touch him. Had her siblings not been present, she might have.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, before anyone else could speak.

“I—I have…” He swallowed and fixed his gaze upon the floor. Every line of his body was taut with tension, and the longer Dorothy looked at him, the more worry twisted in her stomach.

“What have you done?” she asked, trying to sound gentle.

She had never before seen him look so uncertain about himself.

Gerard nodded, his dark eyes fixed upon her face with such intensity that her breath caught in her chest. “I have come to ask for Lady Bridget’s hand.”

Dorothy’s jaw nearly dropped. “B—Bridget’s hand?”

“Yes. May I sit? I will explain the situation as I see it.”

“Please,” Elias said.

“I do not wish to marry you,” Bridget said. “I will marry Fourton. I know that he will return for me, and this—this is all just a misunderstanding. He will do as he said he would!”

“That is enough,” Elias said quietly. “Let us hear what Layton has to say.”

Gerard lowered himself into the chair. Dorothy remained frozen to the floor, her mind working and failing to make sense of the situation before her.

A small, hysterical part of her wondered if she ought to offer him tea and biscuits, but another part wanted to scream and rage at him.

What could he possibly mean by coming into this room and offering to marry her sister ?

Had he always fancied Bridget? Had their entire affair been just a trap for him to—to?—

Had he engineered this with Lord Fourton? Dorothy dismissed the thought as soon as it formed, for that was ridiculous. Gerard was a good man. Even if he did not love her, he would not betray her in that terrible way.

“Perhaps you should also sit,” Gerard said, his face soft and gentle.

Dorothy did as he suggested, feeling vaguely as though her body was not her own.

“I did not expect this,” Elias said. “Why do you wish to marry Bridget?”

Elias sounded as though he truly wished to ask something else, perhaps something akin to Why do you not want to marry Dorothy ?

“I assume that you have already tried to find Lord Fourton,” Gerard said.

“Indeed,” Elias said, sighing. “I went to his residence this morning, and I was told that he was out, attending to an appointment.”

“Obviously untrue,” Dorothy muttered.

“I left a man to watch, in case he returns.”

“He will not,” Gerard said. “I also felt compelled to help you with your dilemma, so I decided to enlist some of my men to search for the villain.”

“He is not a villain!” Bridget exclaimed. “None of you know him like I do!”

Dorothy lowered her head and heaved a great, uneven sigh.

Bridget was young and had been led astray by a cold and callous man.

She truly believed that Lord Fourton would come to her.

Dorothy wanted to believe that, too. She found that she could not, however, for if the man had truly wished to marry Bridget, he would have arrived already.

“If he is not a villain, the timing is most unfortunate,” Gerard said, his voice very gentle. “It seems as though he has found some business on the continent to attend to.”

Elias swore quietly and leaped to his feet. “I knew it!”

He began furiously to pace behind the sofa, while Bridget let out a little wail of despair. “It must be just—just a rumor! Someone is spreading gossip about him in the hopes of keeping us apart!”

“For your sake, I wish that were true,” Gerard said. “However, I have heard this all from a very credible source. I fear that it is true.”

“Of course, it is,” Elias said, his voice tight with fury. “Do you know where he has gone?”

“Regrettably, no.”

“We must learn,” Elias said. “I will chase him all over Europe if I must!”

“A foolhardy endeavor, my friend, and one that I would discourage you from,” Gerard said. “Will you truly abandon both of your sisters to chase a man who will doubtlessly make every effort not to be found?”

Elias did not answer right away, and the air slowly filled with Bridget’s uneven, hitching sobs.

Dorothy bit her lip. She looked at her poor sister, curled over in her chair.

Bridget’s face was uneven and red, her eyes bloodshot from her tears.

The poor girl looked as though her world was falling apart, and Dorothy, knowing what heartbreak was, ached to go to her.

But would comfort be appreciated? Dorothy did not know. Of late, she had begun to feel as though she and her sister were both strangers to one another. She curled her fingers into her skirts and thought instead of holding her sister’s shoulders to keep her steady.

“And that is why you have asked to marry Bridget,” Elias said, halting behind the sofa. “Why would you do something like that?”

“It is the best way to preserve the young woman’s honor. Your family’s honor. I fear that you will be unable to find Lord Fourton, which means that he will not marry Lady Bridget. But I will.”

Elias raked his hands through his hair. “That is uncharacteristically generous of you.”

Gerard’s lips twitched into a hesitant smile, which did not quite meet his eyes. “You could do worse, Leedway. I know that I have a reputation, but I am still a duke. My fortune is more than adequate.”

Although Gerard spoke to Elias, it was Dorothy whom he looked at. And Gerard seemed as though he was not really justifying himself, but rather asking Dorothy for her permission.

Her chest ached. Dorothy’s mouth was dry, and she hated how quickly and perfectly all the pieces of this plan were coming together in her mind. She wanted to hate him for this. She wanted to demand that he leave. What right did he have to offer himself to her sister?

“But Fourton…” Bridget whispered brokenly.

But Fourton would not come back. At least, Dorothy knew that Gerard could be a good man. She trusted that Bridget would be safe with him. Sometimes, she might even be happy.

If they married, Dorothy would be condemned to a life spent with this man so near her and yet so far away. She would see his eyes across ballrooms and dinner tables, and she would know that he could never be hers.

“We need some time to think about your proposal,” Elias said.

“No,” Dorothy interrupted. “No, Bridget accepts. She will marry you.”

Gerard nodded. “Very well, my lady.”

“Dorothy,” Elias said.

She tilted her head back to look at him. Elias looked exasperated, uncharacteristically so.

“Do you not see how perfect this solution is?” Dorothy asked. “Do you not understand what Gerard is offering us?”

“Oh, I see it,” Elias said. “I see all of it.”

“All of what ?” Bridget asked, still sniffling.

Elias curled his fingers into the wood that ran across the back of the sofa. “Come to my study, Layton. There are some details that we need to discuss.”

Gerard stood, his eyes lingering still on Dorothy. “Of course.”

Dorothy clasped her hands together in her lap. He was going to marry Bridget and save them all from dishonor. It was a selfless, noble act, and with a cold wash of dread, Dorothy realized that it only made her love him more.