Not wanting to upset the man, Fanny said not another word, for which her partner was greatly thankful.
‘What a stupid woman. Once I have the father’s agreement to wed the dark haired one—and he will not deny me, I will have Wickham bring this creature to me. She is still pretty,’ the Duke told himself as he smirked at his dance partner. ‘I am almost decided. The final test will be the dance.’
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At the end of the dance, Hertfordshire led Mrs. Bennet back to her daughters who were still standing near the nodcock of a knight and his family. The knight’s plain daughter was not even a consideration to dance with, never mind anything else.
Jane had been returned by the Goulding heir when the Duke arrived with her mother. He led her out to the line while Elizabeth followed with Franklin Lucas.
The dance with the pretty, but insipid blonde was exactly how the Duke had expected it to be. Wickham had been wholly accurate in his assessment of this one. A pretty face, but an empty vessel. Not any challenge there. She would be far too compliant.
Ultimately he wanted compliance, but only after he had broken a wild filly and remade her as he desired. If it was not for the anticipation of dancing with the sister, the Duke would have left the blonde in the middle of the dancefloor and taken his leave. He felt relief when the second dance came to an end. Relief and excitement. He was about to dance with his third duchess.
As much as she would have preferred not to dance with the old man—she cared not if he were a duke—Elizabeth did not want to sit out the rest of the night as she already had a full dance card. To make sure he never asked her again, she decided to demonstrate her impertinence at its finest to him.
Hertfordshire led the one named Lizzy to the line.
“Your Grace, are you sure you do not need to sit out after dancing two sets, one after the other?” Elizabeth challenged with a raised eyebrow. “You are not a young man after all.”
‘I do not intimidate her in the least!’ the Duke realised and felt himself becoming aroused by that fact. “I trust I will survive this dance,” he responded aloud.
“If you need to rest, please do not hesitate to tell me, I will assist you back to one of your men,” Elizabeth shot back.
‘Yes, little Lizzy, you will be perfect! You will bear me an heir and then, after he is one, I will take my time and pleasure to completely break you. The chit could not have done more to show herself to be the perfect candidate if she had attempted to.’
“You know what Miss Elizabeth; I have seen all I needed to see here tonight. If your offer is sincere, may I escort you back to your mother?” Hertfordshire requested.
“Please do, Your Grace,” Elizabeth averred.
Without another word, the Duke led his future wife to her mother and then farewelling no one, he and his men departed to make the short walk back to the inn.
“What did you say to the Duke to displease him?” Fanny demanded as she pinched her second daughter’s upper arm.
“Not a word, Mama. He was fatigued after dancing with you and Jane and felt he needed to rest,” Elizabeth claimed.
“If you have spoilt your sister’s chances of becoming a duchess, you will never hear the end of it,” Fanny threatened as she released her daughter seeing that not a few neighbours were looking at her disapprovingly. Fanny sniffed and went to find her sister.
“Are you well, Eliza?” Charlotte questioned concernedly.
“I will be well,” Elizabeth replied as she rubbed her upper arm. “It is not the first, and nor will it be the last time something like this has occurred.”
As much as she would have loved her father to protect her from her mother’s nastiness, Elizabeth knew he did not have the gumption to stand up to his wife.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“A glass of Brandy, Wickham?” the Duke offered.
“Thank you, Your Grace, much appreciated,” Wickham responded.
“You did well,” the Duke raised his glass to his man once Wickham held his libation in his hand. “She is perfect. There will be a bonus in it for you.”
“As always, you have my gratitude for your munificence,” Wickham drawled.
“Wickham, once I have the father’s agreement to wed his daughter, bring the mother to me. I would like to take a tumble with her.”
“It will be so, Your Grace.”
Chapter 3
