Page 34 of The Duke’s Sworn Spinster (A Duel and a Wedding #1)

Chapter Two

“ H e was the strangest priest to whom I have ever spoken,” Lady Vanessa Langley said, watching her lady’s maid in the mirror as she pinned up Vanessa’s curls. “I almost thought he was trying to tell me I should tell my father I refuse to marry Lord Langdon.”

He did kind of say that, she added to herself. Even though Elaine, her lady’s maid, had always been a friend to her, she felt the words as forbidden.

“How very strange,” Elaine said, her brow furrowing. “And you are sure he actually was a priest?”

“Of course,” Vanessa said, frowning at herself in the mirror. “He was in the confessional at St. George’s.”

Elaine shook her head. “It was very early in the morning. Perhaps the night prior he had been… indulging.”

They looked at each other in the mirror then both began to giggle.

“You think he was drinking spirits?” Vanessa whispered. “That is very scandalous, Elaine!”

“No more scandalous than a young lady sneaking out of the house alone in the early morning,” Elaine said, shaking her head.

Vanessa sighed and looked down. “It did strike me halfway through the conversation that I had done something terribly foolish. If anyone had caught me, I could have ruined my entire family!”

“Although then you might not have had to marry Lord Langdon,” Elaine pointed out, making a face, but Vanessa shook her head.

“No, I could not do that to my family,” she murmured. “My worry is not worth their misery and ruination.”

Elaine pursed her lips together, as if she were trying to keep herself from retorting, but before she could say anything, there was a knock on the door, and Vanessa’s mother, The Countess of Forthwell, bustled in.

“Ahh, good, you are almost ready,” she said, looking approvingly over Vanessa’s hair and gown. “Good, good, because I have a very special surprise for you tonight at dinner.”

Vanessa’s heart sank. She could tell from the giddy smile on her mother’s face exactly who this surprise was.

“It is Lord Langdon!” Her mother cooed. “He is dining with us this evening, and, if everything goes well, I believe that he will officially ask you to marry him tonight.”

“Tonight!” Vanessa saw her face pale in the mirror, despite her best effort to keep a neutral expression. Her mother, she knew, thought it was an excellent match, and she did not want to disappoint her.

“Yes, tonight!” Lady Forthwell affirmed, smiling superciliously.

“I heard rumors from the jewelers that he even procured a ring! Is it not romantic, my dear? And my, how pretty you look!” She reached out and touched Vanessa’s cheek.

“That blue gown suits you perfectly. Lord Langdon will not be able to help himself! He will have to declare himself.”

Vanessa was thinking hard and fast. Lord Langdon could not propose tonight.

She hadn’t had enough time to think of a way out of this match.

The encounter with the priest two days earlier had only confused her more.

She had wanted to discuss it with Elaine earlier but had been afraid someone might find out if she told her maid.

But now, her confusion was so strong she had to talk about it with someone.

“Why do you not look pleased?” her mother asked, frowning as she let her hand drop. “This is excellent news; you should be overjoyed.”

“I—” Vanessa could feel the panic rising inside of her.

“Now that I think about it, perhaps the blue does not suit you,” Lady Forthwell said, her eyes sweeping over the gown.

“It makes you look like a sour grape. Really, Vanessa, why can you not try harder to keep your appearance fresh and pleasing? You are not so young anymore, and if you do not keep your countenance beautiful, you will miss this one opportunity to find a match.”

“It surely is not my only opportunity,” Vanessa said, her heart hammering.

Her mother scoffed derisively. “Of course, it is! My darling, you know I love you dearly, but you have always been rather… shy. Always clinging to the walls at parties and refusing to make conversation. You are very lucky, you know, that you have caught Lord Langdon’s eye; you have no idea what kind of ladies tried to get his attention. ”

Vanessa’s cheeks heated as humiliation spread over her. Her mother, she knew, was only speaking the truth, but it still filled her with shame.

“I know you don’t mean to, my dear, but you are sounding ungrateful and stubborn.”

“Never,” she smiled at her mother—at least that she knew was not a lie.

“After all,” her mother continued, “you debuted three years ago! Do you have any idea how that has reflected on me, Vanessa? The other mamas talk, you know. And they say that I have not prepared you for Society—that I did not teach you how to be a proper young lady.”

Guilt flooded Vanessa’s chest. The last thing she wanted was to cause her mother any humiliation in front of the other marriage-minded mamas. She had already disappointed her parents so much merely with her existence…

“You are right, Mama,” she said, lowering her eyes. “I am sorry. It is just my nerves speaking. I will change into a different color dress, and then, I will ensure that I look lovely tonight for Lord Langdon.”

Lady Forthwell’s face relaxed, and she smiled.

“Perfect,” she said, smoothing down her dress. “No, no, keep the blue dress, dear. I was right to begin with. And thank you, Elaine—her hair really does look lovely.”

She patted Vanessa on the shoulder and then, after a short hesitation, leaned forward and kissed Vanessa on the forehead.

Vanessa’s mouth immediately dropped open, and her eyes filled with tears.

It had been a very long time since her mother had shown such gentle affection, and it meant more to her than she could say.

“I’m proud of you, my dear,” Lady Forthwell said. Then she turned and swept from the room. When she was gone, Vanessa looked up again to meet Elaine’s eyes. Her lady’s maid sighed and shook her head.

“Something tells me you should have listened to that priest of yours,” Elaine observed as she pinned the last curl into place.

Half an hour later, as Vanessa sat at the dining room table next to Lord Langdon, she wondered if she should have listened to him as well.

Lord Langdon was tall with pale blue eyes and even paler blonde hair. His face was sharp and proud with a long, aquiline nose, but there was something cold about it, in Vanessa’s opinion, almost skeletal, as if the skin was pulled too tightly over the bones.

But he was considered handsome by most ladies of the ton , and who was she to argue with the general consensus? There was nothing objectionable about his appearance, she knew, but as she stared across at him, she felt nothing but repulsion.

His was the face that had tormented her for so long. At least she was not sitting across from him, so she did not have to look directly at him throughout the meal.

Not that she was eating. She was so nervous that she had barely even touched her soup. And as the footman whisked it away, replacing it with pheasant, she felt her stomach turn.

He is going to propose tonight, and I still do not know if I am going to accept him.

Every instinct in her told her she had to refuse, but how could she in front of her parents? They would never speak to her again. They might cast her out of the house. Perhaps it would even ruin them if Lord Langdon made good on his threat to drag her name through the mud should she displease him.

“Why are you not smiling?” Lord Langdon hissed at her now, while her father and mother were speaking to his parents, the Marquess and Marchioness of Pedington.

“I am eating, my lord,” she murmured, her lips barely moving.

“You can smile and eat,” he snarled. “My future wife should look happy to be marrying me.”

Vanessa forced herself to smile, even as anger and humiliation bloomed inside of her.

Will he harm me more once we are married? The thought twisted in her stomach. She had heard of those wives whose husbands left bruises on them in places where the rest of the ton could not see. She did not want to become one of those women.

“Lord Langdon!” her father, the Earl of Forthwell, called out at that moment, and he immediately let go of her thigh and straightened up, affixing a smile to his face.

“Yes, Lord Forthwell?”

“You must try this excellent vintage,” Lord Forthwell said with a rosy smile. “I had it specially uncorked for this happy occasion. It is a rare vintage from France, and I wanted you to have the very best.”

“You are too kind, Lord Forthwell,” Langdon said with a heartfelt smile that made Vanessa’s own heart sink.

He is such a good actor. He could fool anyone into thinking he was the most charming, generous man in the ton.

“But you did not need to go to such lengths. Just being in the presence of your lovely daughter is special enough for me.”

“That is so very chivalrous of you to say,” Lady Forthwell tittered, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at Langdon. “You flatter our dear Vanessa.”

“Indeed, it is not flattery,” Langdon said, beaming at Vanessa. The butler, meanwhile, had moved over to his side and poured him a large glass of the wine. “I speak the honest truth.”

“Vanessa, darling, thank Lord Langdon,” her mother said, casting her a long sideways look.

“Th-thank you,” Vanessa stammered, and her mother’s expression darkened. She was going to be in trouble later for not showing more enthusiasm.

This did not, however, deter Lord Langdon.

“In fact,” he said, and he stood up, taking his knife and tapping it against the side of his wine glass as if he were getting the attention of a large group of people instead of just the five other people seated at the table.

“There is something that I am eager to ask your daughter, now that we are all gathered here together and drinking such excellent wine.”

Vanessa thought she was going to cast up her crumpets.

This cannot be happening. You must say no, Vanessa.

You have the power to say no. The priest would tell her to say no.

But as she turned to look up at Lord Langdon, all her will seemed to evaporate.

She had not been raised to have will of her own.

She had been raised to fall in line, to do her duty, to do as she was told.

“Lady Vanessa,” Langdon said, turning to her.

“As you know, we have been friends for a very long time. And during that time, I have come to feel an affection for you that is unmatched by any that I feel for anyone else. You are, without doubt, the most beautiful—” Her mother let out a little squeal of excitement.

“—and accomplished young lady of my acquaintance. Furthermore, I believe that I have shown you just how loyal and protective of a husband I will make.”

His eyes gleamed, and Vanessa’s stomach jolted. Even in his proposal, he was alluding to the ways in which he would control her once they were married.

“Lady Vanessa…” And to Vanessa’s horror, he got down one knee right in front of her, and took from inside his jacket pocket a small box that undoubtedly held a ring.

She was going to pass out right in the middle of dinner.

Vanessa gripped the side of her chair and tried to breathe.

Her stays felt too tight. Everything was turning white.

Langdon’s self-assured, smug face leered up at her. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

No. No, no, no, no, no!

But before Vanessa could say anything—before she could even react—there was a loud bang from the front hallway and the unmistakable sound of someone throwing open the front door of the house.

“What the…” Her father stood up, his brow creased, as all of their eyes snapped in the direction of the doorway.

From the hall outside came the slow, deliberate, but unmistakable sounds of a man’s footsteps approaching.

“Your Grace—” they heard a footman say, and then a man’s response, too low to distinguish but deep and resonant. Seconds later, the door to the dining room was flung open.

As one, they all stood up. All of them except Lord Langdon, who remained on his knees, his mouth gaping open as he stared at the intruder.

Vanessa also had to work to keep from the gaping.

Not just because the man who stood in the doorway had otherworldly good looks—tall, dark, and wild-looking with long dark hair and a bulky, brooding frame that made him appear almost terrifying—but because he was staring right at her, deep into her eyes, as if he could see all the way to her soul.

“There you are,” the man murmured, and his rich, dark voice sounded starkly familiar. “I have been looking for you.”