Page 2 of The Truth about the Duke (Whispers of the Ton #5)

Chapter One

A nd thus, it begins… just as I suspected it might.

Henry set a smile to his lips as he was greeted by not one but three young ladies, all of whom batted their eyes at him and sent brilliant smiles in his direction. A chorus of, ‘Good evening, Your Grace’ met his ears and he was forced then to try and recall the names of the three young ladies before him. They had already been introduced, though Henry could not recall any of them. And this when he had only been in London society for a few days!

“Good evening to you all.” Bowing, he lifted his head and kept his smile pinned. “I do hope you all are enjoying the evening? You all must be delighted at the crush of guests here this evening! There are plenty of gentlemen for you all to dance with.” Wincing inwardly at just how many times he had said, ‘you all’, Henry cleared his throat, aware of the heat in his face.

“Oh yes, we are indeed!” One of the young ladies, with her bouncing curls, beamed back at him. “We are very glad to have so many offers to dance.”

“I am sure that you are.” The warmth increased as he silently cursed his foolishness at mentioning the dancing. It was clear now from the eager, expectant looks on the ladies’ faces, that they were now waiting for him to ask for their dance cards. And this when he had not any intention of dancing at all! When he did not do as they so obviously expected, the three young ladies all exchanged glances, their smiles slipping a little. The second young lady, the one with clear blue eyes, tilted her head in a coquettish manner, her lips pulled into a overly bright smile.

“If I might be so bold as to ask, Your Grace, are you to dance this evening?”

“I – ” Henry spread out his hands, wishing that he had some legitimate excuse as to why he could not do such a thing. “I suppose that I – ”

“Good evening, Your Grace!”

With searing relief, Henry turned to greet his good friend, the Marquess of Kendall, to the conversation. “Good evening, Lord Kendall!” His voice, he realized, sounded a little overly enthusiastic and he tempered it quickly. “Have you just arrived?”

Lord Kendall nodded though his gaze lingered on the three young ladies. “Yes, I have. My sister and her husband came for dinner and we lingered much too long over the port!” He laughed at this, making Henry grin but this came solely from the fact that the young ladies were showing more interest in Lord Kendall now, rather than turning their attentions back towards him. Mayhap, he considered, he would be able to escape from the clutches of the three young ladies and permit the Marquess to dance with them all instead!

“The Duke was just asking us about dancing.” The third young lady, one who had not spoken as yet, turned her enquiring eyes back towards Henry, making his spirits – and his hopes – sink sharply. “It is a very fine ball and we should all like to dance as many dances as we can this evening!”

The other two ladies giggled, though one made a quiet comment about how her friend was being a little too bold in her remarks, though that did not seem to stop her from turning eager eyes towards Henry again. Sighing inwardly, Henry threw a look to his friend, though the Marquess only lifted an eyebrow and did not otherwise speak.

“Yes, of course.” With a smile that he did not feel, Henry gestured to the third young lady. “Your dance card, if you please?”

“Miss Halethorpe, you must grant me the dance card thereafter. And you both also, Lady Annette, Lady Beatrice. Only if you wish to oblige us, however.” With a grin, Lord Kendall not only helped Henry remember the titles of the three young ladies but also gained fawning looks and delightful smiles for himself. Still a trifle irritated that he would have no other choice but to dance with them all, even though he had very little desire to do so, Henry took one card after the other and chose three that came one after the other. That way, he could make quite certain that the dances were over and done with as quickly as possible, leaving him free to do as he pleased for the rest of the evening.

“There now.” Taking the third card from him, Lord Kendall quickly signed his name and then returned it to Lady Beatrice. “We shall all have the pleasure of being in each other’s company again very soon.”

“Thank you, Lord Kendall. And you also, Your Grace.” The one that Henry now knew to be Lady Annette, turned her gaze back towards him rather quickly, a flash in her blue eyes. “One must wonder which young lady the Duke of Melrose shall dance the waltz with this evening. It is to be none of us, I see.”

Henry blinked, then tried to laugh the comment aside, for it was, to his mind, much too bold for a young lady to say and he had no intention of answering it.

“It shall remain a mystery, I think!” Seemingly ever the rescuer, Lord Kendall spoke up again and then inclined his head. “Alas, we must take our leave for I can see three gentlemen approaching with the clear intention of coming near to you three ladies. Until later this evening.”

Henry turned away without so much as a nod to the ladies, relief in his veins as he walked alongside Lord Kendall. “Thank you, my friend.”

Lord Kendall chuckled, leading Henry to the door which led to the refreshment room. “I could see that you were already looking a little overwhelmed by their presence. I do hope you noticed the several other ladies who were slowly pressing towards us. That is, before I took you to the refreshment room and away from them!”

Henry scowled, making his way to the table that was set with an array of liquor, though he quickly turned away from the watered-down ratafia and picked up a glass of punch instead. “I did not expect to be so… sought out so quickly.”

“Did you not?” Lord Kendall’s eyebrows lifted. “I did warn you only a few nights ago that society would be delighted – nay, overcome – by your presence here, did I not? You are a Duke! You hold the highest title in all of England aside from the King, and with great wealth too with your standing, is it any wonder that the young ladies of society seek you out?”

“I wish they would not,” Henry grumbled, his jaw jutting forward. “I should like to be able to find a young lady without so many presenting themselves to me.”

Lord Kendall snorted at this, rolling his eyes as Henry’s grimace deepened. “You are utterly ridiculous, my friend. You cannot expect to walk into a ballroom and be ignored by the young ladies of society and their mothers, I might add. Though, I might wonder if you have a specific young lady in mind?”

Henry took a sip of his punch, then shook his head. “If you are asking me whether I have found a young lady to interest me already, then the answer is no.”

“But you have an understanding of what it is precisely you are searching for when it comes to making a match.” Lord Kendall tipped his head just a little, his dark eyes questioning. “After all, that is why you are here, is it not? To make a match?”

“Yes.” Having already explained himself to his friend at their first meeting, Henry shrugged. “I must marry. The heir must be produced and that is the only way for such a thing to come about. However, the young lady that I choose for my bride must be a good many things, which is why I dislike being pressed so by so many.”

“Because you cannot distinguish one from the other.”

“In part, yes.” Henry took another sip of the punch, gesturing to the door that led back to the ballroom. “The young ladies of London are demanding in their attentions, I find. One of them this evening – Lady Annette, mayhap? – was much too forward in some of her speech and her manner! That, I suppose, would make me unwilling to proceed with even calling upon her to take tea, but the other two I might consider. Though I suspect that I shall find them both sorely lacking when it comes to my requirements.”

Lord Kendall spread out his hands on either side. “Which are… ?”

“Just as every gentleman might want,” Henry answered with a shrug. “She is to be of a high standing, of course. There must be an amiability about her, though she ought to be gentle in her manner and her speech. I should not like to have a wife who speaks her mind without even a thought!” He waved one hand in his friend’s direction. “You know the sort of thing I mean.”

“Genteel without being brash or demanding, yes.”

Henry nodded, a sense of satisfaction in his heart that his friend understood him so well. “I should like her to be respectful, to understand her situation and her standing without having even a hint of arrogance and pride. She must be able to manage a household, though with a quietness of nature in doing so for I should not want a wife screeching and screaming at the housekeeper and the maids!” Warming to his subject now, he continued with even greater feeling. “I should prefer that she be able to play the pianoforte very well, though I would settle for the harp. Painting, needlework, and the like are of no interest to me though I do want her to have some hobbies of her own that do not require my presence or my involvement in any way. She must not have any desire to press me when it comes to my time and should have no expectation that we should always sit for dinner together and the like. It is important to me that my duties come first and a Duchess must understand that.” Finishing, he drained his cup of punch and then went to pick up another, a little surprised to see that Lord Kendall’s jaw had gone a little slack. “Is there something wrong?”

His friend blinked once, twice, then ran one hand over his jaw. “You have quite astonished me, Melrose.”

Henry frowned. The expression did not come from his friend’s lack of ‘Your Grace’, for their friendship had been since boyhood and Henry considered Lord Kendall to be almost a brother in that regard. Rather, it came from the confusion over why his friend should be so astonished, especially when there was nothing to be surprised about.

“You do not understand why I am so.” Evidently seeing Henry’s confusion, Lord Kendall shook his head and then offered a wry smile. “I shall explain. Your list of requirements for the lady who shall be your bride is not only ridiculously long but has so many high standards fixed in place that I fear you shall not find a lady who can secure them all!”

“Nonsense.” Henry looked away, ignoring the twist of unease in his stomach. “I am sure there will be many young ladies who will be able to do all that I ask and fulfill all that I require.”

“I shall be greatly surprised if it is so,” came the reply. “I do not think that any young lady in all of England would be able to answer everything you have set out! Indeed, I think such an idea is nothing more than an imagination.”

Henry shook his head firmly. “I am quite sure you are wrong.”

“You truly believe that you will find a young lady able to meet all your requirements and standards without even a modicum of failure?”

Trying to build his confidence despite his friend’s remarks, Henry stood as tall as he could. “I am quite certain of it.”

Lord Kendall chuckled, his eyes dancing. “If I were a betting man – and if we were in Whites – then I would place a wager that you, despite all your determinations, will end up falling in love with either a bluestocking or a wallflower!”

At this, Henry shuddered, making Lord Kendall laugh all the more loudly. He scowled, suddenly a little irritated at his friend’s response. “I do not know what you find so funny about that statement. That would be the most dreadful circumstance imaginable!”

With a snort, Lord Kendall rolled his eyes. “I hardly think so, my friend. To fall in love is, I think, quite a wonderful situation.”

“But not one that I desire for myself,” Henry stated, firmly. “I have no intention of letting any sort of emotion cloud my judgment. I will not let myself feel even a sliver of attraction or interest towards any young lady, for then I shall quite lose myself and, no doubt, make a great mess of all that I have determined!”

Lord Kendall came a little closer to Henry and, much to Henry’s irritation, set one hand on his shoulder and spoke in an almost fatherly tone, as though to suggest that Henry had very little idea as to what he was saying.

“My friend, to fall in love is the very thing I am striving for and certainly, to my mind, is not something that ought to be mocked.”

“I do not mock it,” Henry answered, a little sharply, “but I state only that it is nothing that I desire for myself, for I see no worth in it!”

“Then you are mistaken.” Lord Kendall dropped his hand and smiled wryly. “I know that my statement frustrates you but you shall not take the hope of love and affection from my heart.”

Henry lifted his chin. “And you shall not take the hope of finding a suitable young lady to fulfill my requirements from me either.”

Letting out a sigh, Lord Kendall looked away. He did not speak for some minutes and Henry’s shoulders slowly lowered, recognizing the tension that had been built between himself and Lord Kendall. Tension that he did not wish to linger.

“It is not something that we need discuss again.” Lord Kendall turned back towards Henry, who quickly nodded. “We both have very different expectations, do we not?” He tipped his head. “Do you think you shall tell your young lady – whomever she may turn out to be – about the missing heirlooms? A wife might expect to be able to wear the family jewels one day.”

Henry grimaced. “No, I do not think I need to. That is a story from the past and, besides which, I have plenty of other jewels which she might wear, should she so desire it.”

Lord Kendall nodded slowly. “I suppose that is wise.” He smiled. “I will not ask you about such a thing again. I know that it is a source of frustration to you.”

“It is, but that is solely because I do not know what happened to them!” Henry sighed and shook his head. “My father only told me that they were lost and any further explanation was never given. It does make me feel a little less of a gentleman to have no heirlooms to give to my bride but I am certain she will understand.”

A gleam came into Lord Kendall’s eye. “Unless her requirement for a husband is that she have diamonds given to her on her wedding day.” Seeing Henry’s scowl, Lord Kendall winced and then laughed, forcing Henry’s lips to curve regardless. “Forgive me, I have already said that we will not speak of it again and here I am making light of it all! We have differing expectations, as I have said, and that is quite all right.”

“Indeed, but that does not mean that one is better than the other,” Henry answered, reaching out to shake Lord Kendall’s hand. “I do not want to damage our friendship because of this.”

Lord Kendall grasped his hand firmly. “Nor do I.” He smiled as he released Henry’s grip. “Let me say, however, that I shall do what I can to support you in your endeavors, despite my thoughts on your list of requirements.”

Henry grinned, relieved that the tension had melted away. “Thank you, my friend. I would state that I could do the very same to support you but alas, I feel as though my understanding of such things is limited and will do nothing but cause trouble and confusion, were I to attempt it.”

With a guffaw, Lord Kendall reached for another glass of punch. “Indeed! I value your willingness, certainly, though I think it would be best if you did nothing whatsoever when it comes to my search for a young lady to fall in love with.”

“Then it is settled,” Henry answered, as they both began to make their way back to the ballroom. “And let us hope we both find success by the end of the Season. I do not think that I can endure another London Season such as this one and I have only been present in London for less than a sennight!”

Lord Kendall laughed aloud again and Henry’s grin lingered, though inwardly, he could do nothing but think of what his friend had said about love.

I must pray that I will never have even an inkling of affection when it comes to my search for a bride, he thought, his eyes running over the crowd of guests before him. That would be the very worst situation I could ever find myself in, I am sure. His scowl slowly returned as he considered what would happen should he find his heart affected. It must never happen. And I must do all that I can to prevent it.