“You can’t expect a man like Seth to give up his dukedom,” she said evenly, raising an eyebrow.
“I understand, but he said he would give up everything for me.”
“And you really believed him?”
“I did back then. Now I realize how foolish I was. It was naive of me.”
“Very naive. But it’s nothing you should grieve over. A man like that will never settle down into marriage, especially if he’s forced into it. He would eventually stray, and the pain for you would be all the worse.”
“I just wish he hadn’t said those words if he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep to his promise. I really believed that...”
“He may have believed his own words at the time. But when an immediate threat to his fortune and estates arose, he realized he could not keep that promise,” Amelia said matter-of-factly.
Charlotte looked out the window, irritated by her own conclusion.
Faintly, she grew aware of the sound of hoofbeats—a rider somewhere behind coming up fast, getting louder by the moment. She leaned back and pulled down the window shade to avoid being splashed with dirt or mud if the rider galloped past. The sound of galloping matched their speed before surging ahead of the carriage. Moments later, it lurched to a sudden halt, nearly throwing Charlotte from her seat. She steadied herself with one hand and opened the blind, leaning out of the window.
Seth vaulted from the saddle of a gray stallion, which tossed its head with all the pride of its master. His eyes were fixed on Charlotte as he strode toward her. She leaned back, and a moment later, he pulled the door open and climbed in.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “You said you were going to challenge Tewkesbury to a duel.”
“I did, and I’ve ridden directly from the site.”
Charlotte folded her arms, feeling anger that Seth thought he could simply ride back into her life as if nothing had happened.
But haven’t I already reasoned that I have no right to demand that he lay down his dukedom for me? I am not the sort of woman that men make such gestures for anyway. That is reserved for celebrated beauties and accomplished women.
“So, you come to me with another man’s blood on you? Do you think I’ll embrace you, proud that you fought, injured, or even killed someone because of the words he spoke about you?”
“I bear no blood on me, either literally or metaphorically,” Seth confessed, raising his palms, “nor did I fight.”
Charlotte noticed the sword sheathed at his waist and pointed to it.
“You didn’t use that? Was it pistols instead?”
“No, it was swords by my own choice. But as I said, I did not fight. I surrendered.”
Seth drew the blade, and Charlotte saw that it ended jaggedly after a foot of steel.
“Or rather, I forfeited. I showed up at the location, broke my sword across my knee, and tossed it on the floor at Tewkesbury’s feet. He looked as shocked as you are now.”
“Forfeited? Why would you do that?” she asked, bewildered. “If his lies are believed, then you stand to lose everything.”
Seth considered the stump of the blade and then casually tossed it out the window. He banged a fist on the roof.
“Tie my horse to the back of the carriage, and let us be on our way!” he called.
There came the sound of the driver climbing down from his box and approaching the stallion with soothing sounds.
“Answer me!” Charlotte said urgently, “I must know.”
“I went there intending to fight to prove myself faithful and not default on the marriage clause of my father’s will. But I realized that, in all likelihood, you would be gone by the time I was done. That you would not take me back. And I began to question the value of saving my dukedom only to lose you. By the time Ireached the site of the duel, I had come to understand that one was useless to me without the other.”
He moved to sit next to her, taking her hand. Charlotte looked at him in wonder, still not fully processing what he was saying.
“If you forfeited the duel… what does that mean? Does it mean that the rumors spread about you will be believed?”
Seth shrugged, lifting Charlotte’s hand to his lips and kissing it.
