“What truth? That you stopped my marriage so that they could wed instead? As if people will care? You know they won’t.”
“I don’t understand…” Thalia could feel her bravery faltering.
“If you marry me, however, I will of course help to combat these nasty rumors. I will make it seem as if…” He exhaled. “As if this was always the plan. That the marriage to Lady Rosaline was rushed and organized against both of our wills, and that it was you who I always wanted.”
“No one will believe that.”
“They will believe what I tell them to believe,” he said sharply, sounding angry for the first time. “And once they do, Lady Rosaline and your brother will be forgotten, free to marry one another, able to live their lives in peace.”
Thalia was shaking her head. “How can I trust you?”
“Why would you not be able to?” he asked. “Sadly, our lives are linked together now. You ensured it.” He was standing over her,but he chose that moment to take a step closer. “If you marry me, it will end the rumors, it will save your friends and family, and it will keep me from doing something that neither of us will very much like.”
“Like what?” she breathed.
“Let us hope it does not come to that.” Another step closer so that he was only one foot away. He towered over her, like a storm cloud threatening to burst. “Now, will you marry me by choice? Yes or no?”
Thalia thought quickly.
She sized up the situation, trying to see ahead and determine what would happen if she said no. Yes, it would greatly affect her own reputation, but she did not care about that. What she cared about, the only thing, was Rosaline and her brother. They were who she did it for, and they were who she would do whatever it took to save.
Next, she forced herself to meet the Duke’s cold eyes. He watched her closely, but he did not try and intimidate her. There was no mockery in his stare. No sense of triumph. He simply looked at her, determining her answer long before she gave it.
I have no choice. To say no would be to doom my friends and my family. To say yes… my life is over either way.
“Fine,” she snarled up at him, a decision reached. “If that is how it has to be, so be it.”
“Is that a yes?”
“It is.”
“Good.” A smile gently pulled at his lips, but it did not reach his eyes. The Duke was not surprised by her response, nor was he pleased. It seemed inevitable to him, a conclusion he knew would be reached long before he stepped into the manor. “I am glad we are able to agree.”
“What happens now?” Thalia’s mind was reeling, struggling to come to grips with what had happened.
“Now?” He frowned as he looked at her, his brow furrowed as he slowly reached forward. She went stiff, preparing for… she did not know! But his hand was gentle as it brushed back a strand of hair that had fallen across her face, and Thalia gasped to feel the tips of his fingers stroking her skin. “We will wed, and soon.”
“How – how soon?” Her heart was racing, and it worsened when she noticed how close he was standing.
“As soon as is possible.”
Chapter Four
Lord Caspian Turner, the Duke of Amberhall, noticed his best friend the second he walked through the front door. As he should have; he’d been waiting on him for the past five minutes. Which, by Caspian’s calculations, made him exactly five minutes late.
“It is about time you arrived.” Caspian was sitting at a corner table in the gentleman’s club, and he had a glass of ale before him. He raised it to his lips and swallowed the remaining dregs in a single mouthful.
Lord Evander Lockridge, the Duke of Ironvale was Caspian’s best friend for a good reason. Like Caspian, he was serious and no-nonsense when it came to his reputation and the perception people held him in. Like Caspian, he was a businessman first, and there was little he would not do to see his business needs met. And like Caspian, he was a god living in a world of ants, and he made sure to act like it always.
“Do not hold my lateness against me, friend,” Ironvale smirked as he crossed the room. “I did it for you.”
Caspian raised a questioning eyebrow. “This ought to be good.”
“It has been what, two weeks now since that fiasco of a wedding? By my mind, I thought you might want some time alone to drink and ponder where it all went wrong.”
“Ah, I see. How very selfless of you.”
“I do have my moments. Although do not get too accustomed to it, seeing as a part of me rather likes seeing you so upset. Reminds us all that you are human, after all.” Ironvale reached for the seat across from Caspian.
