Page 16 of Her Wolf of a Duke (Dukes & Beasts #1)
CHAPTER 16
T he carriage ride home was silent.
Emma waited for it, the barrage of insults that would come her way once her father felt like it was time for it. She tried to press herself into the back of her seat, as if it might make her disappear altogether.
She did not see the Duke before they left. It had been a blur after the incident, with her being whisked away to her room and talks of duels had. No such thing happened, in the end, as her father was not willing to risk his life for her. She was pleased with that, as it at least meant there would be no blood on her hands.
Her father cleared his throat, but still there was nothing. Emma looked to Sarah, wanting to apologize, but that only would have caused the explosion from her father and she wanted to avoid it for as long as possible.
It happened the second they were in their home.
“Are you satisfied now?” he asked, in a menacingly quiet tone. “Are you at last pleased that you have destroyed everything?”
“Father, you must know that I had no intentions of doing that.”
“Did you not? What did you think would happen? You act in such a disgusting manner with a man, one that you knew to be a rake, and then you are surprised that it hasn’t ended well. I am not a fool, I know that this was deliberately done so that you could ruin your sister.”
“I would never do that!”
“Yes you would. You knew that I had found a match for her, a wealthy suitor that was willing to marry her quickly so that I could be done with it, but you hated that. You couldn’t stand that you had no hand in it, and so you did what you had to do to destroy it. Do you suppose Sarah is grateful for that?”
“She doesn’t like the Viscount, so she may well be, but that is not why I– what use is it trying to explain myself to you? You do not care. You only wish to admonish me.”
“And I have every right to! What did you expect would happen?”
“I was not thinking at all. I do not know what came over me. I would never have done what I did if I thought it might affect Sarah, you must believe me!”
“I cannot even look at you,” he scowled. “Go to your bedchambers and do not leave them. Am I clear?”
She nodded, leaving at once. She could not argue with him any further, not when she knew that he was right. She had been reckless, and she had been caught, and it was entirely her own fault.
After some time passed, there was a gentle knock on her door. She opened it, and Sarah shuffled in quietly. Her eyes were red, as though she had been crying, and Emma felt a wave of nausea overcome her. It was not just her own reputation that she had ruined, but her sister’s too, and that was unforgivable.
Then, she noticed that her sister was smiling.
“I wanted to thank you,” she whispered. “For doing all of this for my sake.”
Emma faltered, reaching out to embrace Sarah but pausing at her words.
“What do you mean?”
“I am not so easily fooled as the ton, Emma. I know that you would only do something this scandalous if it meant saving me, and given what Father has said it may well have! The Viscount shall want nothing to do with me now.”
Emma refused to pretend that what she had done with the Duke was because she wished to rescue her sister. In truth, it was partly the drinks Cecilia had given her and partly because she wanted to do it. She wanted to do something that was for herself alone, something selfish, as she had never dared before. If kissing a rake and not needing to marry was what she wanted, then that was what had to be done. The fact that it helped her sister was merely a welcomed addition.
“But what of Lord Rosendale?”
“If he truly meant what he said about me, then he shall come for me. He knows where I am, after all. Now that the Viscount will see me as damaged goods, Father shall have no other choice but to accept the match if he wants to be rid of me.”
“Do you truly believe that shall work?”
“It has to. Emma, I finally have a chance at happiness, and it is all thanks to you. I cannot believe this has happened so suddenly. I thought that my life had ended!”
“Well, I am pleased that you have at least found some good in all of this. Our father certainly has not.”
“We cannot care what he thinks. We have only ever done our best for him, and he fails to ever show any gratitude for it at all. If you ask me, we should have rebelled years ago. Besides, with how angry he is with you, he is yet to mention my own little rebellion.”
Emma thought back to Sarah dancing with Lord Rosendale, and how happy she had looked as she did. She must have known the trouble it would go on to cause, or would have had there not been a far greater issue at hand by the end of the night. Could they really be blamed, she wondered, for needing to do something for themselves for the first time?
“You certainly appeared quite proud of yourself.”
“Oh, I was. I thought, if I were to be engaged within mere days after our return, I had to have one final good memory. Now, thanks to you, I may be able to make more.”
Emma felt lighter from their conversation. In truth, the only person whose fate she cared about was her sister, and if she was happy, then there was truly nothing sad to be taken from it. Emma herself had always planned to be alone, after all, and so what could the loss of reputation do to her?
She was, of course, in disgrace. The day passed, a maid bringing her lunch to her as she had not been allowed to leave her bedchambers, but by the afternoon she was summoned to her father’s study. The second earful that she received would not matter as much to her, partly because Sarah had already made her feel better about it and partly because it wouldn’t be anything that she had not already heard from him before.
“You seem well for a ruined lady,” he scoffed when he saw her.
“Father, I–”
“No, I believe you have done enough. You may not have noticed, but your sister is yet to receive any callers today. She had not one, but two suitors vying for her hand, and now thanks to you she has none at all. Have you no shame? You simply had to bring her down with you, didn’t you? Had to prove that, if you could not have exactly what you wanted, then we could not have anything at all.”
“That isn’t true! I had no intentions of hurting Sarah, and I never have. Besides, we have barely been home for a day. Give them time, and they will come.”
“You do not know that. You do not know anything. You have ruined your sister, and all for a rake, and now I shall never be rid of you.”
“I shall be living with my Aunt–” she began.
“As if that matters! I shall always be looked at differently because of what you did, and all because you had to fall for the oldest trick in the book. At least now you shan’t pretend you are some intelligent thing.”
“But I–”
“I have heard enough from you,” he shouted. “Now, before I lose my patience with you entirely–”
“That is no way to speak to a duchess,” came a deeper voice.
Emma turned quickly to see the Duke standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with a complete disregard for his surroundings.
“Your Grace,” her father stammered. “You must know that I–”
“I have heard quite enough from you,” he continued walking toward Emma.
“But this is not what I expected at all.”
“Then you ought to hold higher opinions of others, especially when those of you yourself are so low. Now, are you going to act as chaperone or not?”
“It is rather too late for that,” Emma whispered.
“I told you I have heard enough from you,” her father snapped.
“Do not make me do something I shouldn’t,” the Duke said firmly, looking her father in the eye.
He was a tall and foreboding man, one that would intimidate almost anyone if necessary. He certainly frightened her father well enough, as he simply straightened and said nothing more.
“Your Grace, what are you doing?” Emma asked, bewildered.
“Asking for your hand, of course. That is typically what comes from situations such as these, is it not?”
“In normal circumstances, yes, but you… well, you said you do not wish to marry.”
“I also told you that, had I been seen with Miss Winston, I would have done the honorable thing and married her. Did you not believe me?”
“No, in truth I did not. Now please go, at least for now. My family is in turmoil enough for the moment.”
“Unfortunately, it is not as easy as that. This is what must now be done, and I will not leave until I have an answer from you. Will you be my duchess?”
“She will,” her father replied, but the Duke simply looked at him with disgust.
“I do not recall asking you, and you will not accept on her behalf.”
He looked back at her, and she was lost for words entirely. He was not the worst possible suitor, of course, and they had formed a friendship in the short time they had known one another, but that did not mean that she wished to marry. It would mean leaving Sarah behind, for one, and that left her at the hands of a father that was furious as it was.
“You need not accept,” he whispered, “no matter what he says. I am not here to force your hand, only to do my duty. I thought of you, and how your sister might be affected and how that would harm you more than scandal ever could,, and nothing else mattered to me. If you do not want this, then I will go.”
“No, stay,” she said quickly. “I– yes, I will marry you.”
“Wonderful!” her father announced, smiling brightly as if he hadn’t been storming at her moments before. “We shall arrange for the ceremony to be held in a week’s time. We can acquire a special license for it, I assume.”
“I will do what I can,” the Duke nodded, though he did not give her father the courtesy of looking him in the eye.
Instead, he looked straight into Emma’s.
“I shall call on you tomorrow.”
“There is no need, Your Grace. A courtship is not necessary, in such circumstances.”
“It is not, but that does not mean I wish to not see you until our wedding. I will see you tomorrow.”
He did not give her a chance to argue, instead simply leaving the room. She turned back to her father, expecting him to make a comment to her of some kind, but he simply waved her away. She did not doubt that her sudden engagement would have destroyed his argument, but that did not make him happy with her. She had still caused so much damage that there was hardly any saving it, but the wedding would help, it had to.
Emma went to find Sarah in an instant. She was in the library, hiding away with a book and smiling softly.
“I am engaged,” Emma announced bluntly. “To the Duke, of course. I am to be the Duchess of Lupton.”
Her sister looked at her in amazement, then cast a glance over her bare left hand.
“Did he not think to bring a ring?”
“He may bring it tomorrow. I do not believe that he expected me to accept it. He did not seem to mind either way, if I am being honest.”
“In any case, you did,” Sarah nodded, before narrowing her eyes at Emma. “Why did you do it? You could just as easily have left for Aunt Megan by morning and be done with all of this.”
“I could have, yes, but that would have meant leaving you behind. Granted, I shall have to do so regardless, but I would much prefer to stay nearby, at least until you are married.”
“You cannot pretend that it is only for my sake. Emma, when will you at last admit to yourself that you like this gentleman? You kissed him, for Heaven’s sake!”
“I would never fall for a rake! I simply was not thinking, and Cecilia had been handing me alcohol, and what happened, happened. What matters now is that I find a way through this for you.”
“You need not worry for me. I shall be completely happy as things are, and I can always visit you in your illustrious Lupton Estate, can’t I?”
“Of course, you shall always be welcome.”
It felt strange giving such an open invitation to a home that was not even hers, but there was also a sense of satisfaction in it. She would be going from a spinster to a duchess, and though she was not a spiteful person she could not help but think back on how Miss Winston spoke to her, and the things she called her, only for it to have ended in the way it had.
Suddenly, Sarah took Emma’s hand in hers, looking at her with hope.
“You will be a marvelous duchess!” she beamed. “I couldn’t be happier for you. You deserve this and more after all that you have done for me.”
“Sarah, I did not do that for your sake. I told you, it was simply because I was not thinking properly.”
“I do not mean the scandal, I mean everything else. You were practically my mother, and you never asked for anything in return. You were prepared to remain a spinster all your life if it meant finding me the best possible match. I cannot, and I will not, allow you to go a second longer without realizing just how much you have done for me.”
“Well, I suppose that I never thought of it that way. I simply wished to take care of you, and so I did. I never expected any acknowledgement for it.”
“Well, now you have it. Come, we must call upon the modiste with much haste!”
She rose to leave, and Emma followed, but as they left the library they were met by the butler, who could not seem to meet their eyes.
“Your father wishes to see you, Miss,” he said to Sarah. “It appears a gentleman has called on you.”