She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat, trying not to think too hard about everything that had happened in the last twelve hours and all the ways it seemed likely to destroy her life.
But the truth was that Victoria had gotten used to feeling safe and content. She had gotten used to the idea that her life had resolved itself, and that she would never again have to worry about being forced into anything that made her feel frightened or uncomfortable.
Now she had to face the fact that that was no longer true.
CHAPTER 5
"Ican't believe it," Edwina said. "You mean to tell me that an heir actuallyhasappeared after all this time?"
"That's right," Victoria said heavily, wrapping both hands around her cup of tea. "And I don't know what I'm going to do. He'ssounpleasant. He doesn't listen to a word I say."
"You can always come back and stay with me," Cressida told her sister.
"How can I do that? This is the very first place he would look for me," Victoria said. "And it's not as if he simply wants me out of the house, you know. He wants to tend to my reputation. He's told me that it's unacceptable what people say about me—that it's taintinghisreputation. That's why he wants me to marry, I think. He believes that it will prove something about who I really am if there's a gentleman who wants me."
"And you don't think that's true?"
"I don't care! Why would I? I know I didn't kill my husband, and if people want to gossip about it then that is their problem, not mine. I'm certainly not interested in a marital arrangement with a gentleman I don't even know to prove my innocence. You remember what happened the last time I agreed to marry someone I hardly knew," she added darkly. "I certainly can't count on a death under mysterious circumstances saving me for a second time."
"Well, if that did happen, it would hardly help your argument that you're innocent of murder."
"I don't care about that. People will think what they want to think. But if I agree to marry again, I'll probably find myself stuck in an unhappy situation forever. I can't have that."
"There may not be anything you can do about it," Lavinia spoke up gently. "After all, itisthe duke's right to arrange for your future."
"I just can't believe that," Victoria sighed. "I can't believe there'snothingthat can be done. There must be something. It's impossible to believe that I'm stuck with whatever he decides—that I have no freedom and no recourse. Can that really be the way the world works?"
"You know that it is," Cressida said quietly. "I don't like to see you so unhappy, Victoria, truly, but perhaps you ought to try to make the best of it. You had a bad experience last time, but getting married doesn't have to be a bad thing."
"Well, that's easy for you to say. You married a man you loved."
"But I didn't love him when I married him," Cressida reminded her. "I married him because you didn't want to. Don't you remember that?"
Victoria nodded. It was true that when Matthew had come in search of a husband, her father had offered her to him first. It was only Victoria's desire to avoid a marriage to Matthew that had spurred Cressida to step forward and marry him in her stead.
And it had all turned out for the best, of course. Cressida was now deeply in love with her husband and grateful to have found him. But that didn't mean the same thing would happen to Victoria if she were to marry a stranger. In fact, Cressida's happiness made it seem even less likely that Victoria might find the same thing. Surely lightning couldn't strike twice like that.
"This new duke," Edwina said. "Who is he? Do we know him?"
"His name is James Wentworth. I was given his name by my solicitor after the late duke's death—I had forgotten all about it. His papers prove that he is who he claims to be, but that doesn't make me feel any more sure of him."
"Oh," Edwina said, surprise evident in her voice. "I have heard of that man."
"You have?"
"Allan has mentioned him to me," Edwina explained.
"I've heard of him too," Lavinia spoke up."
"Have you?" Cressida asked. "I haven't. You must tell us everything you know, and quickly."
"He's a cold sort," Edwina said. "A ruthless businessman—that's what Allan says. It's made him very successful, as you might expect, but he's also not the type of man to care very much for anyone or anything."
"That matches what Seth has told me," Lavinia said. "All his passion in life is for his business deals."
"Well, that makes sense," Victoria said bitterly. "That explains why he's so eager to marry me off in spite of what I might want for myself. All he cares about is how my reputation is impacting his business—my happiness is of no concern to him."
"Yes, that sounds like the man Allan has described," Edwina agreed. "He's told me stories about Wentworth making deals. How he never considers what would be best for anyone else involved—he single-mindedly pursues what he wants. It does seem to me as though that's what he's doing with you, Victoria. He's so intent on what he wants and what's important to him that he's not willing to consider what you want."
