“Oh,” he said. “You’ve passed, yes. You’re ready. Ready to find love.”
The words felt heavy as they left him. He had never said it so explicitly before, and he heard what he was really saying to her—you don’t need me anymore.
“People are watching us,” Lady Lavinia said quietly.
“Don’t look at them. Keep your eyes on me.”
“They’re going to think there’s something between the two of us.”
“It’s all right,” Seth said, for he understood that it wouldn’t serve her well for anybody to think that. “If anyone asks you, you let them know that this was just a dance. Tell them that you felt you had to agree to it because I’m a duke and you didn’t want to be disrespectful to me, but that you have no interest in me. People will believe that of you.”
“Why would anyone believe that I’m not interested in you? Every young lady is interested in you.”
“But you’re not like the rest of them, and people know that about you,” Seth said. “People have noticed that you aren’t chasing after status and titles. People have noticed that you’re unwilling to marry unless it’s for love. That’s known about you.
“No one will be surprised to hear that you weren’t interested in me solely for my title—that when you didn’t have feelings for me, you turned away. You granted me a dance out of courtesy, and then you left me behind. That’s what you’ll tell them. That way, no gentleman will be too timid to approach you after having seen us together.”
“All right,” Lady Lavinia agreed. “I’ll tell them that—but what will you tell them, Your Grace?”
“What do you mean?”
“How will you account for the fact that you asked me to dance? You don’t think people will have questions about it? You don’t need to winmyapproval. I’m only the daughter of a marquess.
“There’s no legitimate reason for you to ask me to dance unless you were taken with me. I mean, you and I know what the real reason is, of course. You wanted to see if I passed your test. But no one else will know about that, and you’re not going to tell them—are you?”
“No, of course I won’t,” Seth said. “But why do you assume people will think I’m not interested in you?”
“I don’t know,” Lady Lavinia said. “We wouldn’t want them to think that, would we? It might make people think they should stay away from me for fear of offending you.”
“I don’t think anyone will ask me what I was doing,” Seth said. “You forget, I think, that as a duke I’m not questioned nearly as much as a young lady like yourself. And if someone does ask me a question that I don’t want to answer, I can simply say so and they’ll apologize and go away.”
“They might go away, but that won’t stop them from forming opinions and spreading gossip.”
“Are you worried people are going to gossip about you?”
“I don’t know,” Lady Lavinia admitted. “I don’t know whether I’m more worried about them gossiping about me or aboutyou.”
“Well, don’t worry about me.” He lifted a hand and caught himself just in time. He had been about to caress her cheek, as he had done in the library. It was too easy to forget that they weren’t alone together anymore, that everyone could see them now.
“Don’t worry about anything, my lady,” he added. “If I have to, I’ll tell people that I chose to dance with you because you’re beautiful, but that I could see you weren’t very interested in me, so I moved on. Your father won’t like that if he hears it, but with a bit of luck, you’ll be with someone else by then and you won’t have to worry about his opinions anymore.”
Seth knew he was going to have to find a way to wish for that outcome for her, even though right now it felt impossible. He didn’t want to see her with someone else. He didn’t want to admit that this was very likely the last time he would ever hold her in his arms—and yet he knew that it was true.
Seth couldn’t even justify another dance with her after this one. This conversation was evidence enough that they could barely justifythisdance.
This last dance. The last one they would ever share.
Suddenly, it felt full of importance, and he didn’t want to let her go. He wanted it to last forever.
But time wasn’t on their side, and neither were their circumstances. They never had been. The music stopped, and all around them, couples began to pull apart, changing partners. Seth knew that he had to do the same. It was time for LadyLavinia to find a partner who could stay with her. That wasn’t him and never could be.
And yet, for a moment, he considered changing his mind.
What if he were to do as Allan had suggested? Open himself up to the idea of marriage?
It was difficult even to consider it. He had been so opposed to the concept for such a long time, and it was a struggle to imagine himself married to someone now. But if hedidimagine it—marriage with anyone—surely someone like Lady Lavinia would be the best candidate.
There was no denying what she had come to mean to him. There was no pretending that he didn’t enjoy her company and wanted to keep her around.
