Duncan had rehearsed the words many times in his head his way here, but his heartbeat still staggered like a racehorse.
A wave of relief washed over her aunt’s face as he had expected.
“Do you really wish that?”
“Of course, My Lady. I would not be sitting here if my intentions were not a hundred percent pure,” Duncan promised.
“And how long did you take to make this decision?” she asked. “Given that the two of you only met for the first time yesterday.”
Duncan paused for a moment. It was not as though he had some kind of a romantic answer to that question.
“Let us just say that I made the decision very early on,” he replied after taking a moment to contemplate over his words.
“Well, this is terrific news,” she smiled brightly. “However, I do not want to answer for my niece. I think it is better if we call her here and let her answer herself.”
Duncan shrugged.
“Of course.”
Rose gestured for the maid and summoned her niece. A few moments later, Sophia walked into the room wearing a cream-coloured dress. Duncan sat up straighter as she arrived.
“My Lady…”
“Your Grace.”
“Sophia…” Her aunt smiled, her gaze darting between the two of them. “His Grace has something very important to consult you regarding.”
“Is that so?” Sophia’s eyes pierced through him. “Have you been getting bothered by the women from the party for standing up to me? If that is the case, then I would suggest that you do not think about it for some time. Eventually they will stop when no one gives them information that they can react to.”
“That is surprisingly good advice…”
Sophia shrugged her shoulders. “I just know how to handle these things.”
“Well, My Lady, you have my intentions for this visit all confused. The real reason I am here today is…” Duncan paused, taking a deep breath. “I was only wonderingif you would like to get married to me and be my wife.”
Sophia blinked, confused by his statement.
“Pardon me?”
“You heard me correctly, My Lady. I am here today to ask for your hand in marriage.”
The words finally sunk in, and Sophia began to shake her head immediately.
“Oh, no. No, no, no,” she exclaimed, pacing around the room. “I have no intention of doing that to you.”
CHAPTER 5
That was not the answer the Duke had expected to hear. In fact, Sophia was not behaving in the way that he had anticipated at all. Even her aunt was surprised as she looked on between the two of them with a shocked expression.
“No?” he repeated.
“You heard me correctly, Your Grace.”
He shook his head. This might have been the first time that anyone had said no to him in his life. He was used to always getting whatever he wanted, and this came as a huge shock to him.
“My Lady, is that your final answer?” he asked.
“I am fairly certain that it is, Your Grace,” she replied without skipping a beat.
