“The honor would be mine,” she replied, her smile firmly back in place. “But only if you are certain. I do not want you to be uncomfortable.”
“Where is the harm in trying? I wish to make you happy, Jackie, and if simply attending a ball will do that for you, then I cannot refuse.”
He loved it when she smiled at him, and he wanted to make sure that was all she would ever do when in his presence.
“Your Grace,” his butler said, appearing behind them. “Lord Montague is here to see you.”
Philip almost groaned at the intrusion. He felt like a terrible friend after everything Lucien had done for him, but frankly he did not want to see him. His behavior had been strange of late, and he did not know what to do about it beyond ignoring it entirely, and so he hoped that he would be able to.
“Lady Jacqueline!” He greeted, merely giving Philip a nod. “My word, is that artwork yours?”
“It is nothing, My Lord,” she replied. “Just something I have been working on this afternoon while the duke tended to other matters.”
“How can there be matters to tend to other than yourself?”
There it was again, the strange insistence on speaking to her as if he was the one courting her.
“The duke and I,” Jackie continued, seemingly ignoring his comment, “were discussing the ball that you were telling me about. He will be accompanying me, if you can believe it.”
“Philip?” he said in surprise. “I have to admit, I hardly can. I attend several events each month, however, and so I will be more than happy to reacquaint the two of you with it all.”
Philip noted that Lucien had been the one to tell Jackie about the ball, and he wondered why his friend had not discussed it with him himself, but he simply decided that Lucien had asked him to go to many events over the years, and he had refused each time. It was no surprise that he had given in.
Even so, he had to admit that Lucien was right; he did attend a lot of events, and Philip had missed out on a lot of life since the fire. He was not the socialite that Jackie would need in a reintroduction to society, and if he was put against Lucien on that front, he simply would not stand a chance. Regardless, the matter was settled and the three of them would be attending, because Philip could not give in that easily.
“Your Grace,” Lord Greene, asked him in the hallway that evening. “Might I have a word?”
Lord Greene had not had a real conversation with Philip since his arrival, and he had not minded that at all. His invitation had been extended more on Lady Elizabeth’s part than anything, so that she would have someone to entertain her beyond her sister but also so that he could be certain that their plan was not all for nothing. They truly were, however, quite in love with one another and so Philip was more than happy for him to stay.
They entered the study and Philip looked at him expectantly.
“I am aware that you know of the courtship between myself and Lady Elizabeth,” he began. “But I require someone to confide in that is not the lady herself. I cannot burden her with this.”
“Then I am all ears,” he nodded.
“It is my family. They have been threatening to cut me off if I dare stay with her, stripping me of my rights as heir, and I know that they are serious about it. I have been thinking about it, and I do not truly care what they do to me, but I… I want to give her a good life, and I cannot do so if I am left destitute.”
“I understand your predicament. It is incredible that you like her so much that you are even considering it.”
“I love her, Your Grace,” he sighed. “I cannot see myself ever marrying another, no matter what they say. I hate that I cannotfix it, given that my money is tied to my family, and so… so I cannot help her family in any real way that matters. I am at a loss.”
“Did you want me to handle matters?”
“No, I could not ask that of you. I am aware of the plan that you have with Lord Pemberton, and that is more than anyone could ever ask of you. I only wished to talk to someone about it, because this has been eating at me for too long now. I will find a way through this, I am sure.”
“You are not alone in this,” he promised. “If there is anything that I can do, you need only ask, and it will be done. I will do everything in my power to help the two of you, I assure you.”
Lord Greene seemed to like this, and believed Philip’s words. He nodded before thanking him and leaving, and Philip thought about the matter.
He already knew what he had to do, and it was the very same thing he had suggested to Jackie all that time before. He would pay off her father’s debt, thus restoring Elizabeth’s dowry, and then make it known in society that he held her family in the highest of regards. They would, at last, have the respect they deserved, and Lord Greene’s family could not then continue to refuse her for any real reason, and would have to concede.
That was what he hoped, at least.
“I have a plan,” he explained to Jackie’s father that night, when the two gentlemen were alone.
He was all ears, and when Philip explained it, he was quite sure that the man was close to tears. He could see nothing but gratitude in his face, and Philip realized that he did not hate him nearly as much as he had expected to. He was not a villain, only a man that had made too many mistakes. He could help them, and he was determined to.
“You are the best thing that ever could have happened for my daughter,” he told Philip. “Rest assured that you have my blessing for marriage, even if that is not needed as yet.”
