Page 6 of The Duke’s Indecent Scandal (Indecent Dukes #1)

Chapter Five

T iffany

The moment her brother reached her, he plucked her from where she was still lying atop the Duke of Clarence. She hid her face behind her hands, her cheeks hot against her palms.

“How dare you?” Her brother roared. “I told you to stay away from my sister!”

He had?

The Duke of Clarence had talked to her brother about her?

Tiffany peeked through her fingers. The Duke of Clarence was getting to his feet, brushing himself off, while more people crowded around them, leaving them in the center. It was a circle of Society that cut off any avenue of escape.

“You also told me she was plain,” Clarence said, shaking his head and giving her brother a scornful look. “If you had told me not to kiss any pretty girl who looked nothing like they did when I met them, I might have been more careful.”

Even though she knew it was true, hearing that her brother had spoken so of her sent a pang through Tiffany’s heart, which was immediately followed by shock and warmth as what Clarence had said pushed through that hurt.

He thinks I’m pretty?

She did not have time to ponder any of this because as soon as Clarence was on his feet, her brother surged forward and punched him in the face, knocking him right into the people behind him. They caught him as he fell backward, keeping him half upright.

“Sebastian!” Tiffany jumped forward, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him back so he could not do again, as he appeared to be ready to do. “Stop!”

“He ruined you!”

“He… we… it was just a kiss!” Even as she said the words, Tiffany knew it was hopeless. Alone in a library with a rake? Kissing a rake? And then being caught by an entire multitude of witnesses. She was thoroughly compromised.

The ruining had been rather nice, if she was being honest about it. It was the aftermath that she did not enjoy so much. If half the ton and her brother had not come bursting through the door, she would have thoroughly enjoyed being ruined.

And now she was having to keep her brother from punching his best friend for a second time because of her.

Clarence got to his feet with the help of those who had caught him, his expression darker than before. He rubbed his jaw where Sebastian’s punch had landed.

“One,” he said in the most dangerously serious voice she’d ever heard. “You get one because she is your sister, but I will have you remember that I did not know she was your sister, and your description of her was wholly inadequate.”

“I…” Sebastian’s voice trailed off, and he turned his head to look at her. Bafflement suffused his expression as he stared at her, almost like he’d never seen her before.

“She need not remain ruined.” Hereford pushed his way through the crowd and gave Clarence a stern frown. “Remember, Bolton, I wanted to speak with you about her before. This has changed nothing about my offer.”

He had? He’d said he wanted to speak with her brother, but Tiffany had not realized that she would be the topic of conversation. The Duke of Hereford had been going to ask her brother for her hand? After one short meeting? When he could have any beauty with a dowry?

Clarence said I was pretty.

“You are not marrying her,” Clarence said irritably, tugging at the sleeves of his jacket as he glared at Hereford. “I compromised her. I’m marrying her.”

They both want to marry me?

There was no gossip about Clarence’s finances. He certainly had no need of her dowry. So, why was he suddenly set on marrying her? Except… was it sudden? She was so confused and was starting to feel lightheaded from all the shocks.

Her first ball and she had been compromised, caused a physical altercation, and received two offers of marriage. What on earth could happen next?

Caterwauling in the hallway happened next before any of the gentlemen could say another word. Tiffany winced, her grip on her brother’s arms tightening—she recognized her mother’s shrieks.

“Oh, dear,” the Countess of Spencer said from her position by the door in a drawling tone, turning away from the hallway to continue watching what was happening in the library. “It seems the Duchess of Bolton is having hysterics. Someone should probably attend her.” The Countess did not make a move to do so herself. She smiled and looked around, as if she were enjoying the entertainment immensely.

Thankfully, several other older ladies moved quickly, including Lady Jersey, who shook her head at the Countess of Spencer as she passed. The Countess beamed at her. Tiffany had heard the woman was an eccentric, but goodness.

“Go, see to Mother, and take her home,” Sebastian said to her, interrupting her thoughts. His voice was cold, but she could tell that coolness was directed at his friends, not at her. “I need to speak to Clarence. And Hereford, you might as well come, too, just in case.”

Casting one last glance around—still baffled by the way Clarence was glaring at Hereford and the way Hereford was glaring back at him—Tiffany went to collect her mother. It was going to be a Herculean task and one she did not look forward to, but at least she would no longer be here in front of all the gleeful watchers.

She’d sparked enough gossip for one night.

Gregory

Why on earth was he insisting he marry Sebastian’s sister?

Especially when she had another offer that would salvage her reputation just as much as marrying him would? Not only that, but marrying her would solve Hereford’s money problems. It was a sensible solution for everyone involved.

Except the moment Nathanial had stepped forward with his offer, every part of Gregory’s body had rebelled at the idea of anyone else marrying her. He was the one she’d kissed. The kiss that had set him aflame.

While she was not as plain as Sebastian had described, it was true that she was not as fashionable or as glorious a beauty as some of the other debutantes. She was still trained to run a household. She was still very shy, though she had spoken to him easily enough once he’d revealed himself. And she was passionate.

A wife who would be faithful, was not so beautiful that all the rakes would be chasing her relentlessly, but still passionate in bed… Tiffany was perfect. And pretty enough that he would not need to darken the bedroom. He was very attracted to her. What on earth had her brother been thinking?

Plain.

Ha.

The Duchess of Richmond, having clearly been informed that there was some drama in her library, had come to clear away the onlookers, and she gave permission for them to stay there to have their conversation. Tiffany and her mother were already gone, her mother wailing the whole way about the ignominy of having a ruined daughter.

He wished she and Sebastian would stop using that word.

Tiffany had not been ruined. She’d been compromised. If she’d been ruined, this tedium would be far more worth it, and he would not have to put up with Nathanial attempting to poach his bride.

“What on earth were you thinking?” Sebastian exploded as soon as the door was shut behind the Duchess of Richmond.

Gregory glared right back at him, still rubbing his jaw. It was a fair shot. He would have given the same to any man who caught Gregory kissing his virgin sister. But it was not as though Gregory had known she was Sebastian’s sister.

“I was thinking there was a pretty girl alone here in the library, one who did not know who I was and therefore was not attempting to leg-shackle me and that it might be fun to flirt and steal a kiss.” He shook his head. “If I had known she was your sister, obviously, I would not have done any of that. If anything, this is all your fault for your uncomplimentary and inaccurate description of her!”

“If you told him she was plain, he does have a point,” Hereford said reluctantly, frowning at Sebastian. “She is not at all plain.”

“Plain and dull was how he described her,” Gregory told him before Sebastian could reply. “He was lamenting how difficult it would be to find her a husband, despite her rank.”

Nathanial stared in astonishment at Sebastian, who now appeared decidedly uncomfortable that both his friends were in obvious disagreement with his assessment of his sister’s charms.

“Plain? Dull? She’s very pretty, and I found her quite charming, though your mother is a bit overbearing.”

“My mother…” Sebastian’s voice trailed off, and he sighed, dropping the defensiveness. “My mother can be a bit difficult at times, it is true, but she is still my mother.”

Holding up both hands in a gesture of surrender, Nathanial nodded. “We all have difficult family members. I do not mind adding another one to my own family, and I truly did intend to talk to you about offering for her.”

“I know.” Sebastian looked over at Gregory, still frowning. “He does have a prior claim.”

“Yet, I am the one who ruined her,” Gregory retorted. While he might not agree with Sebastian’s use of the more dire term, in this instance, it served his cause. “It is my honor at stake if I do not make it right. Besides, I offered for her before him, and you rejected my suit for reasons that are now moot, as I am the one who kissed her. She is not going to get a love match either way. I promise I will be a good husband and endeavor never to hurt her in any way.”

All the wind went out of Sebastian’s sails, and he sagged where he stood. Leaning back against the bookshelves, he ran his hand over his face, looking rather distraught.

“I wish my father were here to deal with this,” he admitted. “He would know what to do. He was the one who was supposed to oversee Tiffany’s debut and find her a husband. I am mucking it all up.”

“I think I might be the one mucking it up for you,” Gregory admitted, his heart going out to the other man as he moved to stand by his side. He slung his arm around Sebastian’s shoulders. Nathanial came up to Sebastian’s other side, leaning against the shelves with them. None of them had been ready to take up this mantle, and with a debutante sister, Sebastian surely had the roughest lot of all. “Let me make it right. I will marry her. I will try to make her happy. I will do my best not to hurt her. That is about all a man can hope for when finding a husband for his sister.”

Eventually, he would have to do the same for his half-sisters. An endeavor he was not looking forward to but one which he hoped he met with as much care as Sebastian was trying to.

“I let her be compromised at her first ball.” Sebastian covered his face with his hands. “I should have been watching her more closely. I thought my mother had things under control. I was not paying attention.”

“Gregory is right,” Nathanial said gently. “He is the one best suited to make it right. Though if he were not, I would happily marry her, and not just for her dowry. None of us were ready for this. We are all doing the best we can.”

Sebastian took a deep breath and slowly let it out, leaning his head back against Gregory’s arm.

“Very well,” he said after a long moment, turning his head to look at Gregory. “You will marry my sister. You will do your best to ensure her happiness. And if you ever hurt her, I will punch you again.”

“Fair enough.” Gregory looked back at him. “I have to ask though… she’s plain?”

“Are you blind?” Nathanial chimed in from Sebastian’s other side.

Straightening, Sebastian threw his hands in the air in resignation. “Apparently! She was plain, and then, at some point, she grew out of it, and I suppose I did not notice. I am her brother, after all. I was not paying particular attention.”

“Well, I am getting a pretty wife out of it, so I suppose I cannot complain,” Gregory teased. It felt very odd to say ‘wife’, yet he was pleased to be able to do so.

Married. And he found his wife at the first ball of the Season. It was truly quite an accomplishment. Now, all he had to do was get through the wedding, ensure his bride was happy enough with being married to him—and why would she not be?—and beget an heir.

Considering how easily the first step had fallen into his lap, there was no reason the rest should be any more difficult. Though, he did wonder how Tiffany was dealing with her mother. Hopefully, his soon-to-be mother-in-law would be satisfied that her daughter was marrying a duke and her son’s friend and not hold the manner of how the proposal happened against him.