Everything?Slowly, Catriona looked at her, blinking. What on earth could she even say?
She couldn’t possibly let them know that the Duke had asked her to dance so that he could propose marriage.
She couldn’t tell them that instead of immediately turning it down like she should have, she’d fumbled and stuttered and asked him to give her some time to think of it.
He’d conceded, but the way he looked at her gave her the impression that he didn’t expect her to take very long to decide, that he already expected her to accept. He was a duke, after all. And she was nearing spinster age with absolutely no prospects to speak of. Anyone in her situation would jump at the chance.
Only, there weren’t many in her position who had two younger sisters who would fare far better on the marriage mart than she did. Two sisters currently staring intently at her, waiting for her to reveal the secrets of her dance with the Duke.
“It was nothing of interest,” she said dismissively. “He only wished to thank me.”
“Thank you?” Maisie leaned forward, her eyes sparkling. Her romantic heart was already melting, Catriona could tell. “For what?”
“For saving his daughter.”
“He has a daughter?” Ava gasped. Her head whipped back to Frederic. “Why dinnae ye tell us?”
“Ava,” Catriona murmured in warning. It had been a while since her sister slipped into brogue, but she always tended to let her guard down when she was over impassioned.
Ava thinned her lips, but her attention remained on her uncle. “That is important information to know, Uncle.”
Frederic, to his credit, was never bothered by Ava’s antics. “How come no one wants to know about my night?”
Silence met his words, all three ladies only staring at him, and then Ava and Maisie’s heads turned back to Catriona in unison.
“It was quite fun,” Frederic mumbled under his breath, but he was ignored.
“So, what did you save his daughter from?” Maisie asked Catriona.
Catriona sighed. She knew it was only a matter of time before she had to reveal this tidbit of information. She’d simply hoped that it would be deemed such immaterial information that it would not garner this much attention. The Duke’s obvious interest in her at tonight’s ball, however, changed that. And her sisters weren’t the only ones who noticed. She’d earned far more than her fair share of curious, assessing looks from the other ladies in attendance, not to mention more than enough scathing looks from Miss Cassandra and Miss Hannah.
So, she gave them a quick briefing on what had occurred at the river while they listened with rapt attention. By the time she was finished, Ava’s mouth was agape, and Maisie’s grin was from ear to ear. They looked at each other and then back at Catriona then descended into a fit of giggles.
Catriona tried not to sigh again. “Whatever you two are thinking, it is not the case.”
“I beg to differ, Cat,” Maisie told her with a superior shake of her head. “It was easy to see that the Duke was rather smitten with you. He could not take his eyes off you all evening, even after you two parted aways after your dance. He may even call on you in the morning!”
Catriona shifted her gaze out the window and fervently prayed her sisters could not see the blush now staining her cheeks. She didn’t know how true that was because she’d spent the rest of her night trying not to look at the Duke.
But if that were really true…
No, it doesn’t matter. I have no intention of marrying him. I have to focus on my sisters, and I would make a terrible duchess anyway.
“You two are only being overly romantic,” she dismissed. “And you shouldn’t care too much about my night. You two received quite a lot of attention tonight, so I would not be surprised to find a number of flowers in our drawing room tomorrow morning.”
“Lord Wentworth is sure to send his,” Maisie squealed. Catriona glanced at Ava just in time to see her face turn beet red as she slumped back against her seat. For once, she had nothing to say which gave Maisie all the more reason to keep teasing her about the Baron’s attention.
Just like that, the conversation shifted away from Catriona. Just the way she liked it. She didn’t mind when her sisters teased her,but not when it involved the Duke. Not when she was still trying to figure out how she was going to reject his outrageous offer.
And the more she thought about it, the more outrageous it felt. They hardly knew each other! Why would he think that she would make a good wife? A good mother? A good duchess?
It wasn’t possible. So as soon as she found the right words, she would tell him just what she thought about his proposal.
Catriona was right about one thing: the morning came with bouquets of flowers steadily filling the drawing room, many of which came from Lord Wentworth while the others were a mixture of romantic gestures offered to both Maisie and Ava from the other gentlemen they’d met last night.
Unfortunately, Maisie was also right about one thing. The Duke of Irvin had come to call on her.
Catriona stood at the top of the staircase, staring down at the Duke in the foyer. In one hand, he held a bouquet of hothouse roses, and the other was clasped behind him as he stood at attention like a man in the military. He stared back at her, waiting.
