Page 28 of Starlight and the Duke (Cherish and the Duke #5)

F iona was not certain how the ladies would respond to finding out Rob had spent a week in her home before this house party began. Would they chide her? Be disappointed in her behavior?

What she did not expect was their cheering her on. “What?”

“Hurrah!” Cherish said, hopping out of her seat and leading the round of “bravos” and cries of “well done.”

They had gathered in Cherish’s private salon with Margaret, Eden, Jocelyn, and Ailis, all of them now grinning at Fiona.

“But he’s a younger man,” Fiona sputtered.

“Who is obviously interested in you,” Eden said with an approving nod, and the others once again joined in. “Three cheers for you! That horrid betting book our husbands set up has put all eyes on him. They are calling him the next Silver Duke, even though he is ten years younger than the others.”

“Yes, very young,” Fiona muttered. “He is barely above thirty.”

“Thirty-two, to be precise,” Cherish remarked. “But who cares when he looks devilishly commanding and authoritative? He’s a born leader.”

“He is also quite handsome,” Margaret added. “And he does have that lovely dash of silver in his hair. Who wouldn’t adore those tiny threads among the gold? Not to mention, he is also a duke.”

The others nodded.

“Everyone is betting he will choose some silly, fresh young thing just out in Society,” Jocelyn said.

Fiona shook her head. “But should he not be seeking exactly this in a wife?”

Jocelyn frowned at her. “Absolutely not. The man clearly adores you, so what are you waiting for? Grab him up before some scheming ninny gets her claws into him.”

This had not been her aim in gathering them in Cherish’s salon.

She’d merely wanted to let them know Rob had spent a few days with her before the party started.

What they did together during that time was no one’s business, but she did not appear to have fooled anyone when claiming it was all innocent.

Her blush completely gave her away. “I have no intention of grabbing him up. How can I marry him when the problem he and I face is obvious?”

“What problem?” Ailis asked.

Cherish and Margaret edged closer to Fiona, now realizing what she was about to tell the others.

“I cannot have children,” she said, releasing a ragged breath.

“I cannot have them, and yet this is what is essential to carry on the Durham line. There are no other male heirs. Rob is the last of them. He needs sons, and this is something I can never give him.”

“Does he know your situation?” Eden asked.

Fiona nodded.

“And yet he still wishes to marry you?” Jocelyn asked. “Then you have been honest with him and he is fully aware of the consequences.”

Fiona shifted uncomfortably. “Yes, but this does not alter the fact that his line will extinguish upon his death if he does not sire legitimate offspring.”

“Even our royal lines have died out and England has survived,” Ailis remarked. “If the extinction of the Durham dukedom does not concern him, then why are you so troubled by it?”

Jocelyn hastily agreed. “I learned the hard way about marrying the wrong man… almost marrying the wretched cur. Fortunately, I came to my senses and fled the church before we exchanged vows. How foolish I looked, penniless and lost. But this is how I met Camborne. Despite his horribly rakish reputation, everything immediately felt right with him. I knew he was the one I was meant to love and marry.”

“Durham reminds me a little of my husband,” Ailis ventured. “Both of them are serious men who are not rakish at all. I think a man like this loves once and only. He loves faithfully and forever. If he has chosen you, then why are you so determined to deprive him?”

But would love not fade when faced with disappointment?

This was Fiona’s greatest worry, that Rob would start to have regrets as the years passed and he did not have children.

“We have gotten a little off the topic,” she said, clearing her throat. “It isn’t about the betting book, although all eyes are on Durham because of it. Nor is it about his affection for me. It is about cutting off Lady Cordelia before any scandal can spread.”

“Durham would feel honor bound to marry you if ever that happened,” Margaret pointed out. “He would insist on it, for certain.”

“That would put all of London in a frenzy,” Ailis muttered.

“I wonder what odds they have on your winning his heart? Jonas’s brother made a fortune off that betting book they opened on Jonas because no one else ever bothered to learn more about him.

They just assumed he would marry one of last year’s crop of diamonds and wagered on ladies who were obviously never going to be suitable for him. ”

“No odds on me,” Fiona muttered. “I doubt I am even considered in the running, since rumors are swirling that I have already rejected him. I’m sure everyone considers me too old, anyway.”

“Only a fool would ever rule you out,” Cherish said, raising her teacup in tribute to her. “Here’s to your success! All women of a certain age shall support you, I am certain. Three cheers for maturity.”

Fiona laughed. “I am impatient, outspoken, and definitely more childish than I ought to be.”

“All the better,” Cherish replied. “Durham has always been remarkably mature for his age. Even as a young man, he showed wisdom well beyond his years. Hooray to those of us considered on the shelf…and to the men clever enough to choose us.” She turned to Margaret, who was the youngest among them by several years.

“Do forgive me—I do not mean to disparage your youth and vigor.”

Margaret, who was the sweetest among them, although Ailis was a close second, smiled back at her. “Oh, Cherish. No offense taken. I am cheering just as fiercely as you are. Love must always triumph. Isn’t it wonderful that he cares so deeply for you, Fiona?”

Yes, it was.

But did Fiona dare reach for this temptation of happiness?

She hugged them all now that her mission had been accomplished. Cordelia’s malicious insinuations would be addressed if and when the time came. As for the possibility of her ever marrying Rob? She had agreed to give him a year. Fate and her wishes for a miracle would determine what happened next.

“Then we are of one mind? If Lady Cordelia casts any aspersions, you are all to simply feign boredom.”

Eden grinned. “Oh, yes. We shall yawn and dismiss any possible spark between you and that gorgeous man.”

Fiona headed back to her bedchamber to prepare for this evening’s dinner party, hoping her friends would not let her down. She was surprised by how supportive they had been about Rob, none of them considering him a mismatch for her.

In truth, this did cheer her.

“Take that, you miserable wasp,” she muttered, ready to swat the spiteful Cordelia if she dared to cause harm.

Also of concern were Bromleigh and Reggie, who considered her under their protection, since they were her closest male kin. Would they take the news of Rob’s visiting her as well as their wives had?

She had almost made it to the safety of her guest bedchamber when the pair walked up to her. “Fiona, come with me,” Bromleigh said, his voice deep and laden with ducal authority. Reggie also had a serious expression on his face.

“Go away, Gawain. You too, Reggie. I will not be lectured to by either of you,” she said, tipping her chin up in defiance. “What did Durham tell you?”

“Everything,” Bromleigh responded.

No, Rob was too discreet ever to do such a thing.

“Where is he now? What have you done with him?”

Bromleigh cleared his throat. “I have asked him to leave.”

“What?” This genuinely surprised Fiona. After all, Rob had been friends with all of them for many years, and a good and loyal one at that.

“He’ll join us for supper tonight, but has agreed to leave at first light tomorrow morning. I will not have him—”

“Ruin me? What am I, some sixteen-year-old ingenue? Good grief, I was married for almost twenty years. And who are you to dare pass moral judgment when it took you over forty years to get around to doing your duty, and your own behavior was reprehensible in the meanwhile?”

“It is not the same thing,” he attempted to argue, but she cut him off with an indignant gasp.

“I cannot believe you would do such a thing to him! Or ever believe Durham would use me ill! No one treats me with more respect than he does. If he leaves, then I will leave. And you can explain that to Cherish and Margaret.”

She shoved both of them into her bedchamber and shut the door behind them because she was not finished excoriating them yet.

“Of all the stupid, preposterous ideas you have ever had, Gawain! How can you think Rob was ever anything less than a gentleman? More of a gentleman than you ever were. Need I remind you of your reputation before you married Cherish? It was appalling . And then you were so stupid as to try to match Reggie with Cherish when all along you loved her but were too stubborn to admit it! And you think to control my life? My choices?”

She hardly drew a breath before continuing. “And you, Reggie.”

He held up his hands. “What did I do?”

“You are going along with Gawain’s foolishness. I’ll see you both sleeping in the stable with the horses,” she muttered, and then left them gaping at her while she walked out of her bedchamber to find Rob.

“Of all the gall,” she grumbled, marching down the hall to knock at his door.

After knocking louder when no one responded, she simply barged in. He wasn’t there, so she searched for him downstairs.

She grew worried when she did not find him in the house or garden or stable, but his carriage was still in the carriage house, so he could not have left yet.

She finally spotted him standing beside the stream where they had been fishing at daybreak this morning. “ You ,” she said, striding forward to confront him, too. “What did you tell Gawain?”

He arched an eyebrow and regarded her with obvious confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“He told me that he had banished you as of tomorrow. Is this true?”

Rob nodded.