Page 3 of The Duke and the Hellion Bride (Duchesses of Convenience #7)

Chapter Three

“W hy do I feel as if I am the only one left in this house with any sense!” Diana’s mother cried, wringing her hands in the air as if she was having a fit. “Has the world god mad? Or is it just my daughter who has lost her mind!”

“Perhaps you should look internally,” Diana said with feigned politeness as she continued to read her book. She was just about sick of her mother’s incessant dramatics and wasn’t about to give her the time of day.

“What did you say!”

“I think she was implying that you are the crazy one, Aunty” Evelyn chided from her perch on the couch’s arm, enjoying stoking the flames of the argument.

“I know what she meant!” Diana’s mother snapped at Evelyn before turning her rancor on Diana. “Just tell me this. What did I do to you? What have I done to deserve this!” She threw a hand over her brow as if about to collapse. “All I have ever wanted for you is what is best. I have slaved and toiled. I have crawled through hot coals. And this is my reward! A daughter who spurns me at every chance!”

“Mother...” Diana sighed, finally looking up from her book. “I think you are being a tad overly dramatic.”

“I am being no such thing!”

“She is right,” Evelyn agreed. “I think you have it in you to be far more dramatic than what you are. Perhaps some tears, next?”

That time, both women looked at Evelyn with annoyance.

“Evelyn, will you please not make things worse,” Diana said to her cousin.

“Worse!” her mother then jumped back in, sensing the moment. “How could things be any worse! I find for you a marquess of reputable esteem. Worshipped in the ton . Hounded by a plethora of young ladies who would tear out their own eyes for a chance to marry him. A man who, for reasons I struggle to grasp, wants to marry you!”

“Perhaps he is the crazy one?” Evelyn joked.

“And you refuse!” Diana’s mother continued hotly. “I do not understand it, Diana. Please, make me understand! What was wrong with Lord Herrod? He is handsome. He is rich. He likes you, although only the Lord knows why. What do I have to do? How long can this go on! Do you want to turn out like your cousin!” She waved a hand dismissively at Evelyn.

“Hey!” Evelyn cried.

“Because you will! If you continue down this path, that is where you are headed. So, please tell me. What is wrong with the marquess? And why on earth will you not at least consider him?”

It had been two days since the garden party, and the tenacity at which Diana’s mother pushed Lord Herrod on Diana had not lessened one single iota. If anything, it had only gotten worse.

Diana supposed that she should be grateful that her mother wasn’t completely ignoring her outright denial of the marquess. That she seemed at least willing to wait until Diana changed her mind. Even if in waiting she would carry on as if the ground was opening beneath her feet and might very soon swallow her whole if Diana did not change her tune.

Why does she not listen? And why does she take it so personally? I want to marry, she knows this. Just not to him. Why is the idea that I might wish to like the man who I am to spend the rest of my days with such a bizarre concept to her?

The truth was, Diana had thought little of the marquess these past two days. And if not for her mother, she might have forgotten him entirely. For two days now, Diana’s thoughts had been squarely on that of one man and one man only. A man who’s name she did not know. A man who she had not dared to mention to anybody. A man who had featured in her dreams often, ones which left her waking up hot and covered in sweat.

The embarrassment she had felt in the way she’d acted was still ever present, but with the benefit of time, Diana was able to put that aside and focus instead on far more tantalizing matters. For instance, how scrumptious he had been. There was a man whom she might have liked to have met in another setting. There was a man whom she wished her mother had organized for her to meet.

Surely too, if she had met him in a more normal situation, she wouldn’t have acted like such a fool. She was even willing to look past his churlish attitude, figuring that he must have been caught as surprise by her as she was by him.

“What are you smiling at?” her mother demanded.

“Huh...” Diana blinked herself back into the room, not realizing that she had become lost in her daydreams. “Nothing,” she then added quickly.

“This is not funny, Diana! And I would appreciate it if you treated it as the serious topic that it is!”

“I am, mother,” Diana sighed, putting her book down fully now and standing. She had retired to the library today to escape her mother’s incessant nagging. Now, she knew that plan to be folly. “In fact, I am taking it far more seriously than you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I wish to marry. You know this. But what I do not wish for is to be married to a prig like the marquess. For all your talk of how perfect he is, I saw nothing of the sort. I only wish you would listen when I told you.”

Her mother groaned. “Do not stake everything on first impressions, Diana. It is as I have been saying – look at your sisters. If they had been as stubborn as you, they would have left their husbands in the rain the day they met! But they listened to their mother. They persisted. And now, each is as in love as the last. And to dukes, no less!”

Diana rolled her eyes at the dramatic retelling of her sister’s marriages. Where it was true that each began their relationship with their respective husbands in less than desirable fashion, it was not true that their mother had anything to do with the successful outcome. At least not to the degree that her mother seemed to think.

And Diana decided to tell her mother just this. Or she meant to, only for the three of them to be suddenly interrupted by Miss White, one of the manor’s servants.

“My lady,” Miss White said from the doorway. “I am so sorry to interrupt --”

“Yes, yes,” her mother sighed, clearly annoyed. “What is it, Miss White? Can you not see I am in a conversation with my daughter?”

“Never mind me,” Evelyn said. “I am just a part of the furniture, am I?”

“Madam, it is...” She looked nervous. Dammed panicked! “An unexpected guest has just announced himself, asking to speak with you at once.”

“A guest?” Diana’s mother brightened at the same time that Diana wilted. Knowing her luck, it would be the marquess. “Who is it? Lord Herrod? Oh, it must be.”

“No, Madam,” Miss White shook her head. “It is His Grace, the Duke of Albury.”

All three ladies' jaws hit the floor.

“His Grace?” Diana’s mother gasped finally. “Are you sure?”

“I am, Madam.”

“But why? How – he is here? Right of this second?”

“He awaits you in the drawing room. He did not give his reason, but I thought it best to acquiesce to his request to see you.”

The room turned into a flurried panic. Diana’s mother half made as if to stride from the room without further delay, only to stop and then look down at herself. “This will not do! No, I cannot --” She turned back, then stopped again. Face stricken. “I cannot see the duke dressed as this – Miss White. Give the duke my apologies, that I will be with him in a few moments. I must change!”

“Of course, Madam.”

“Diana! Evelyn! Do not sit there, girls! And do not think for a moment that you will see the duke as you are! Quickly, upstairs the two of you. Your very best, thank you very much.”

“We are to see him?” Evelyn asked excitedly. “Are you sure?”

“No, I am not. But if he is here, it is for good reason. Best to present a united front – Diana! Why are you just sitting there!”

Diana was staring past Miss White toward the direction of the drawing room. Like her mother, she was shocked that the Duke of Albury was here. That he even knew of their existence. She had never heard of him before, knew nothing about the man. Which had her thinking, what did he want?

“What could he possibly want?” she asked curiously. “Miss White, he gave no indication?”

“None --”

“It does not matter why!” Diana’s mother screeched. “What matters is that he is here now. And waiting! Come girls!” She swept across the room and pulled Diana from the lounge. “Up. Up! We shall meet outside the drawing room in five – ten minutes. Miss White, please present the duke with tea while he waits.”

“It will be done.” Miss White offered a short bow and vanished around the corner.

With nothing else for it, Diana was ushered upstairs with her cousin, told in no uncertain terms that she was to dress in her very best or there would be hell to pay. And Diana, nowhere near as ecstatic as her mother, could not help but feel some sense of curiosity. Even excitement.

Is it possible that he is here because of me? No... of course not. Likely, this is some sort of misunderstanding. But still...

As she hurried up the staircase, she spared another look in the direction of the drawing room. And where she knew it was silly to think, she could not scrub the feeling that she was at the center of this most random appearance. Only why that might be? She would find out soon enough.

* * *

Diana had never considered herself a true beauty before. That wasn’t to say that she was unattractive, but she had not grown up to be one of those girls who relied upon their looks like some of the other ladies about the ton whom she knew.

Having said that, these last few days had seen a slight change in her self-appreciation. She might have hated Lord Herrod with all her heart but one could only be told so many times how beautiful they were before the words began to stick.

She looked at herself in the mirror before heading down to meet with her mother and cousin so they might greet the duke. She was dressed in an emerald pelisse with an open neck, the pattern was floral, the cut was longer on the arms and tight under her bust, while it flowed loosely down her legs. She had always been curvy, which made such garments uncomfortable to wear as she felt all ‘tucked-in’ as if the dress was struggling to contain her curves. But she was indeed pretty, ‘adorable features’ they had been described as, with big brown eyes that were a tad larger than what might be considered normal. She had never liked being called ‘cute’ before, but since coming of age she had come to realize how much men coveted it.

But why do I even care? It is not as if the duke is here for me.

Nonetheless, she could not escape the feeling that there was more here at play than she knew, and thus as she made her way back downstairs it was with extreme caution.

Surprisingly, her mother and cousin were not waiting outside the drawing room for her. She clicked her tongue at this, thinking them to have grown impatient and gone in without her. If she had stopped to think, she might have realized how foolish this notion was. But she did not stop, and thus she hurried into the drawing room without delay.

She froze stiff the second she stepped across the threshold.

The Duke of Albury was standing across the room, his gaze taken by the view of the grounds through the window. When he heard the door open, he turned around, saw Diana standing there, and smiled expectantly, not in the least bit surprised by what he saw.

Diana, however, was stunned speechless.

“Ah, Miss Goldsmith, I presume,” he said with a charming smile as he made his way toward her. “What a pleasure it is to see you again.” He reached her and took her hand, rising it to his lips and kissing the back without breaking his gaze from her own. “And under far less incriminating circumstances.”

“Y -- you!” Diana gasped, her skin prickling at his touch. “Wh -- what are you doing here?! How are you here!” She looked about as if expecting an answer. “How did you find me!”

“With great difficulty, I assure you.”

The Duke of Albury... he was the stranger from the garden party... who Diana had made an utter fool of herself in front of. What is he doing here? Did he come here to mock me? To tell my mother what I did?

Diana felt her mouth run dry. Embarrassment flooded her, that urge to turn and flee from the room. It didn’t help that he was just as ruggedly handsome as she remembered him being, perhaps even more so because he was enamored with a sense of confidence that contrasted mightily to Diana’s own.

“You look surprised,” he said.

“I...” She forced herself back into the moment. “Perhaps caught off guard is more accurate.”

“Is it not the same thing.”

“Why are you here?” she said sharply, again sensing that he was mocking her. “Did you come here to tell my mother of what I did?”

“What you did?” he frowned.

“Attacked you.”

“I thought you said that you didn’t attack me.”

“You know what I mean,” she snapped before she could catch her tongue. “I am sorry for the way that I behaved the other day. I was... I was not myself. But to come to my home like this is completely uncalled for.”

To that, the duke tilted his head, his frown turning into a smirk. “You are quite abrasive, you know. Do you always say what is on your mind? Or do I just bring that side of you out?”

“I am not abrasive. I am simply confused. And you are not helping the matter. I understand that you might be upset with how I behaved, but I assure you that is not who I am. You simply caught me on a bad day.”

“And what is this?” he chuckled. “A good day?”

Diana’s expression darkened. Gone was her initial shock and embarrassment. Now that she had time to readjust, she was reminded quickly of why she had treated the duke as she had the last time they spoke. He was significantly older than her by at least ten years, and perhaps the most infuriating man she had ever met.

“I don’t have time for this,” she said, standing herself up proudly. “Whatever it is you wish to speak of, you can say it to my mother. Good day.” She turned to leave, taking a few short steps.

“You misunderstand me,” the duke spoke quickly. “It is not your mother I came to see.”

She turned back, brow narrowed at him. “My cousin, Evelyn then? Ah, I see what this is. She caught your eye at the garden party, and you have asked around about her.” She scoffed and shook her head. “She is a bit young for you, is she not? Or is that what you like? Young, impressionable women whom you can take advantage of.”

“What I like is a woman who doesn’t let herself get walked over,” he said, refusing to rise to the bait. “A woman of strong character who can say no, even push back when she feels that she must. A woman who, to be perfectly honest, won’t balk the moment she does not get her way. Do you happen to know any?”

She rolled her eyes. “So, I was right, you wish to speak with Evelyn.”

“No, Miss Goldsmith. Again, you misunderstand me.” He took a single stride, putting himself right before her. So close that Diana felt a sudden urge to scamper back, but her stubbornness demanded that she stay put. She had forgotten how tall he was, and the way he looked down at her made her feel small and powerless in a way that she rather liked for reasons she didn’t understand. “I came here because these last few days, I confess, I have been unable to stop thinking about you.”

“You... you have?” Her heart began to race.

“As I said, I require a woman who is able to stand her ground. One who is strong-willed, capable, intelligent. I require a woman who --”

“What do you mean?” she cut him off. “Require? Require for what?”

“Oh, did I not say?” He chuckled and his smile was dazzling in ways that made Diana’s stomach drop. “I wish to marry you.”

“Your Grace!” Diana’s mother called suddenly from across the room. “I am so sorry to keep you waiting!”

Diana’s eyes were dinner plates. Her mouth hung open like a frog. The duke still smiled at her, but all she could do was gawk, stunned into utter silence by the duke’s offer. One which, to be honest, did not sound real.

“Lady Langham.” The duke turned from Diana to greet Diana’s mother. She came for him, and he took her hand, giving it a kiss. “My apologies for intruding on you like this. And without warning.”

“No apology required,” Diana’s mother assured him with a giggle. “It is I who must apologize for keeping you waiting. I see that my daughter has been kind enough to entertain you in my absence?” Diana’s mother looked warningly at Diana, no doubt assuming Diana had arrived early to sabotage whatever this was.

“And she has been doing a wonderful job,” the duke assured her. “We were just now getting acquainted.”

“I hope she has been behaving herself,” her mother chortled, again looking warningly at Diana. “I jest, of course.”

“She has been nothing but hospitable, I assure you.” The duke caught her eye and smirked. As for Diana? She continued to stare stupidly.

She must have misheard him. Surely, that was what happened? Diana racked her brain to remember everything said between the two at the garden party. And even just now. Nothing romantic that she could remember. Nothing suggestive. They had hardly even spoken! And what had been said was combative... even hostile.

This was a trick. An attempt to get back at her. That was all it could be. To turn up like this and simply expect her to say yes. No... there was no way the offer was real.

With that, Diana fixed herself and narrowed her eyes at the duke. She would not be played!

“Now, I see you are without beverage,” Diana’s mother said. “What on earth has my --” She turned about to call for a servant, only to find Miss White standing in the room.

“Ah, Miss White. I was just saying, why have you not offered the duke a drink! And where is Evelyn, while you are at it? That girl...” A shake of the head.

“I am so sorry, Madam, but I am afraid a messenger has just arrived for you.”

Diana’s mother frowned. “A messenger? From whom?”

Miss White looked awkwardly at the duke. “It is from...” She dropped her voice. “Lord Herrod.”

Diana’s mother’s eyes turned wide, as did Diana’s. That man is nothing if not persistent. “What? Now?”

“Yes. He is right outside.”

She sucked her teeth and looked back to the duke. Then back toward the door. Caught between thoughts, unable to decide upon what to do. Really, the timing could not have been worse. Or better, depending on how one looked at it.

“Your Grace, if you will just excuse me for one moment --”

“Think nothing of it,” the duke assured her. “I am quite certain your lovely daughter will be capable of entertaining me for a moment longer.”

Diana’s mother clearly did not wish to leave, and it seemed as if the effort to do so just about felled her. But she offered another quick apology and scampered from the room, leaving Diana alone with the duke once more. And not a moment too soon.

“Explain yourself,” Diana said the moment the door closer. “Now, thank you.”

The duke’s expression was placid. “I think the offer is rather clear, don’t you?”

“You wish to marry me?”

“That is right.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“But... but... but...” Diana felt herself becoming flustered. Surely, she was missing something. “But why? Did my mother reach out to you? Have you heard that I am currently looking for a husband – at my mother’s request, mind you. After the other day, I should be the last person you would wish to marry. It doesn’t make any sense!”

He smiled at how frantic she was becoming. “Are you always this excitable?”

“I am not!”

“From what I have seen, you are.” He took a quick step toward her; so sudden that she did not have time to move back. Perhaps he was not as close as he had been in the hedge the other day, but it reminded her of that same sensation, and Diana’s body began to flush as a result.

“You have simply caught me at inopportune times…” She looked away, feeling her face flush.

Silence for a moment as the duke studied her. She still refused to look at him, still felt her face turning red as he watched her. There was a tension which hovered between the two, and dammit if Diana didn’t feel the sudden urge to break it by doing something foolish.

“If you think about it, it makes perfect sense,” he said suddenly, breaking the tension. “I told you I wish for a strong-willed woman. And you, Miss Goldsmith, are certainly that. Yes, the timing might seem a little --”

“Rushed.”

“Strange,” he corrected. “But my intentions are pure. I am not trying to trick you, if that is what you think. Which, based on your reaction, I think it is.”

Diana still had no idea what to think. Her first inclination was to say no. After years of courtship, of meeting dozens of men, of turning them all away, it felt presumptuous of the duke to turn up like this and just expect her to say yes. That stubborn nature of hers almost wanted to say no on principal alone.

Yet in the back of her mind, she could not escape the feeling that this offer... that she would be a fool to turn it down. At this moment, her mother was speaking to Lord Herrod, a conversation which she did not need to guess at its purpose. The man was insatiable! A real pest. And he would not take a simple no for an answer.

“I see that you still need some convincing,” the duke sighed. “I will be honest with you, Miss Goldsmith, for I feel that you deserve it. You may not know this about me, but I have only recently inherited my title upon the death of my brother. Until most recently, in fact, I had no desire to marry whatsoever.”

“So, I am what? A trophy, because as a duke you simply must have a bride?”

He laughed. “Far from it. When my brother died, he left behind his two children. Girls of eight and ten. They are wonderful little creatures, and I love them dearly, but they need more than a father to raise them. They need a mother-figure.

“A mother?” she squawked.

“Not a mother,” he corrected. “A mother figure. I am their uncle, and the only family they have left in the world. But girls require a woman in their life to guide them in the ways that are expected. Ways I cannot possibly provide. If it was up to me, I would go about this process properly – spending the Season meeting with eligible young women, creating connections. But time is not something that I have and if I wish for them to be raised properly, as they deserve, then I must put my own needs aside and think about them.”

“You...” She blinked. “You wish for me to help raise your nieces? Why not hire a governess?”

“I do not want a governess. These girls need a family.” He sighed. “What I am suggesting is a marriage of convenience, nothing more. You will come to live with me. You will be both a wife to me and an aunt to the girls. Apart from that, I will not expect anything from you that you do not wish to give. Your life will be your own. Miss Goldsmith...” He took her hand suddenly and Diana felt a pulse radiate up her arm from his touch. “I do not ask this lightly. This was not an impulse. I truly do think you would be well suited to the role. All I ask is that you consider it.”

She was beginning to feel hot. Flustered. Was that the pressure of the situation she had been put in? Or was it the way that the duke was looking at her? Diana wasn’t sure.

A marriage of convenience. She had heard of such things, of course. Times were, she might have wanted one. As much as she wished to fall in love with the man whom she wed, Diana was beginning to understand how futile that dream was. How unlikely.

“What is that look?” he asked her, noting the way she was staring.

Her eyes turned wide. “Look? There is no look.”

He chuckled. “You are not thinking of attacking me again, are you?”

“As I said, that was an accident,” she snapped, glaring at him now. He matched her glare with a smirk, held it, refused to blink and that tension she had been feeling from earlier began to grow.

Oh, he annoyed her. So much that it almost seemed on purpose. And where she should have hated how much he did, for reasons that she did not understand, she enjoyed it. Dammit, she almost coveted it.

But marriage? Surely, such a thing could not work. Even if the thought of being married to the duke, all of a sudden, wasn’t the worst idea she had ever heard…

And then, as if to emphasize the point, her mother returned from dealing with the messenger sent by the marquess. Seeing her sweep into the room, the hardened look on her face, reminded Diana who she was dealing with – her mother, was her meaning. How insistent she had been. How persistent. The very real fact that if she did not choose a mate soon her mother would choose one for her. And that could only mean one thing.

“Yes,” Diana said quickly, before she could stop herself.

“Excuse me?” the duke asked.

“Yes,” she said, forcing herself to look up at him. Even forcing a smile. “To your offer. My answer...” She glanced at her mother who was frowning at the two holding hands. “My answer is yes.”