Page 2 of The One With the Wayward Duke (The One With the Wanton Woman #5)
A WEDDING WAS THE last thing Tobias, Duke of Vagenale, wanted to do today.
The entire carriage ride had been one dreaded sense of obligation.
If he didn’t have to pass along that special license to Lucas, he wasn’t sure he would be attending at all.
Though that felt like a bit of an exaggeration.
He had enough friends in attendance that if he didn’t show up, the prospect of the significant aftermath of their concern was enough motivation to incentivize him to show up.
He didn’t need more sympathetic callers.
He didn’t need more unsympathetic callers.
And least of all he needed more pitying glances.
The last few weeks had been one exhausting conversation after another. The gossip was out of hand, and he no longer cared to correct anyone.
A ragged sigh led him out of his carriage and in front of the church. Fortuitously, Lucas had just arrived as well. Patting him on the back, Lucas said, “Good to see you out.”
“Right. And what a place to be.” Twisting the signet ring on his finger, Tobias scoffed while Lucas chuckled in return.
“Not like they’d be getting married elsewhere.”
Tobias dug into his pocket and pulled out the envelope.
It had been easy enough to secure the blank special license for his friend, but if he had needed a favor, he knew he could have called upon the Wayward Dukes’ Alliance.
The Duke of Cranbrook would have surely lent a hand if he had encountered any trouble.
“Here. As per your request.”
Lucas slapped him on the back. “Thank you. I didn’t have time to do this myself, and I know you needed something to do this week besides lick your wounds.”
“Ha. Ha.” The outward caustic remark was a betrayal of the gratitude Tobias actually felt toward his friend. He had needed something to do other than tend to his scars, but he wasn’t about to admit that aloud.
“Are we going in?” Lucas threw him an encouraging smile. “Our friends will be waiting. Broderick, Henry, Gregory, Jonathan—”
“Are you just going to stand there listing all our duke friends?”
“I thought I might remind you who’s here. On your side.”
Begrudgingly, he muttered a thank you, hoping Lucas would drop the subject. But of course he didn’t.
“Listen, I can go in ahead of you and prepare the way. Just call me John the Baptist.”
“Not sure that’s an applicable analogy here.”
“Doesn’t matter. If you don’t want anyone to mention…the incident…I’ll go in and tell our friends not to talk about it and to shut it down quickly if anyone dares to bring it up.”
“I’m good. I don’t need you to treat me like a colicky baby, Lucas. I’m a grown man. I can handle my own affairs.”
“Oh, I see how it is. You’re going to lash out at me and try to insult me, suggesting I can’t take care of my own affairs?” Lucas waved the envelope in the air.
“That’s not what I meant.”
Lucas merely raised his eyebrows in response.
“I’m a grown man as well. And I can see when I have a hurting friend who needs help, even if he’s not willing to ask for it.
Word of caution though, not everyone is going to be as gracious as I am if they feel they’re being attacked.
So I hope you use discretion when considering who to disparage next. ”
After another twist of his ring, Tobias responded, “I will deploy with only the most discerning discretion.”
Lucas slapped him hard on the back. Twice. “Good man.” With a grin, he added, “Now, I’m off to prepare the way. I’ll tell everyone to stick to conversations about politics and religion around you. Those should be safe topics considering the alternative.”
If he wasn’t so damn irritable of late, Tobias would have laughed at his friend’s jest. Instead, only a small curl of the lips was permitted.
He watched Lucas enter the church and a few other guests filed in.
Soon, the street was empty, indicating all the guests had arrived and taken their seats.
Knowing Lucas would save him a spot both encouraged him to enter and stay put.
He knew he would have a seat, no matter how late he chose to go in, which meant he could linger.
But realizing how many friends were in attendance was still of great concern.
He could imagine the pitying glances—or the suppressed pity.
Which was worse? They were equally awful.
And the whispers. All the damn whispering, accompanied by all the curious glances.
This wedding was going to be horrendous.
In fact, it was the very reason he was now standing, hesitating, to go inside.
He should have been seated in a pew at least fifteen minutes ago.
But his feet felt like boulders and to say his heart wasn’t in it was putting it mildly.
His heart was so far out of it that he could probably catch it crawling around somewhere trying to hitch a ride to the continent.
Yes, crawling. And yes, hitching a ride.
Though his heart had possessed legs at some point, currently, they were not functioning properly.
That is to say, they were not functioning at all. Hence the crawling.
Just then, a waif passed in front of him. She slipped on something and was about to fall over. Without concern for the filth on her clothes, Tobias reached for her and prevented her from tumbling down.
Not without a slight stumble, she righted herself. Holding her ankle, she looked up in his eyes. “I’m sorry, my Lord.”
He didn’t correct her on his title. She started to turn and walk away, and after she took a few steps he noticed a limp. He moved closer to her.
“Don’t fret. Are you all right?”
She hesitated, then mumbled, “Yes.”
She limped a few more steps away from him.
“What is it? Is something wrong?” He hoped she hadn’t twisted her ankle, or worse. He didn’t really have time to offer her any help as he was supposed to be somewhere. The notably sized church was difficult to ignore and impossible to forget.
“It’s nothing…”
“Please. Tell me.”
“Might you spare a coin?” she pleaded, standing upright. When he didn’t answer, she backed away.
Something odd was going on. He couldn’t quite place it…until—How was she suddenly able to put weight on her ankle? Had the limp disappeared? Had this all been a ploy to ask for money?
It wasn’t about the money. If she wanted some coin, he could have given it to her.
He might have even been generous without the little sham of a spectacle.
The fake stumble, the fake limp. All a hoax.
So if she was manipulating him—well, he just really did not need another woman manipulating him right now in his life.
Of course she wanted money. She was destitute.
But it wasn’t about the money, damn it! Tobias could feel his frustration growing.
His blood was bubbling under the surface.
Why bother with the manipulation? Why not just ask him for what she wanted?
Everyone should just ask for what they wanted and stop playing games.
His reaction was gruff—too gruff. He knew it before he spoke, but he plowed ahead anyway blaming all the senseless gossipers, the looming church, the woman and her deception, anything other than his own willpower. “I wouldn’t give you a coin if I had a thousand of them in my pocket to hand out.”
Her once soft face turned hard. “Good to know there are still some decent people in the world.” She swiveled on her heel, but just before she could take off he baited her.
“You think you can manipulate me like that?”
Her face whipped around to him. “Manipulate you? Like what?”
He pointed at her ankle. “To play on my sympathies, you had a limp, and now it’s magically gone.”
“I had no limp. I had a pebble in my shoe and it rolled out. And I wouldn’t take a thousand coins from you if you were giving them to me with roses and diamonds.
” She spat on the ground intentionally missing his shoes, and this time he didn’t have a response quick enough to utter before she was gone.
He rubbed his hand over his face, grateful no one was witness to his shameful actions.
How jaded was he that he took out his weariness on a vagrant woman just desperate for food? This aimlessness, this waywardness, this was his problem.
Lucas was right. Tobias needed more discretion because the next time he scorned someone the outcome might not be as banal as a wad of misplaced spit.
He turned to head back to the church. It was the right thing to do to go inside. He could handle whatever was about to happen. He was a grown man. And right now, he needed to redeem himself.