The duke’s jaw tightened, and he shook his head, cutting her off. “No, I am resolved. You and I may speak more of this later.” The words were spoken without the barely veiled rage that had been aimed at Edward, but the command was clear all the same.
Edward chanced a glance her way. Lady Amelia bit her lip and lowered her head, twisting her hands in her lap.
The subservient pose did not fit what he knew of her, though his knowledge was, admittedly, small. An entirely unexpected urge to stand up for the woman coursed through him. It was followed closely by an equally strong and unanticipated desire to prove her view of him incorrect. He straightened in his chair.
“Well? What is it, Norwich? Honorable matrimony—a match far better than you could have wished for, I might add. Or exile? Or I suppose I have not taken a duel of honor off the table.”
Edward’s eyes strayed back to Lady Amelia, though she still looked to her lap. The desire to protect her and defend himself surged again. It even offset his rising need to flee the responsibility placed before him. But that was ridiculous. He had never given in to one of these pleasant chats before—why begin now?
“No,” he said, his chin lifting slightly, the words coming out with a mixture of incredulity and annoyance. Edward was quite good with a pistol—let the duke call for a duel.
The man’s expression did not change. No surprise or anger surfaced, only a slight shake of his head. “I do not think you understand your position here, Lord Norwich. I will not allow my daughter to be slighted, and I imagine, were your mother alive, she would not allow such a thing either.”
His mother? Why in the blazes was the duke bringing up his mother, of all people?
And, blast it all, why did the mention of her suddenly have him wanting to sit up straighter and act a little better?
Edward took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving the challenging glare of His Grace. Edward had not done anything wrong. The simple mention of his mother should not make him wish to do right by the woman waiting silently at the side of the room, just out of his peripheral vision. Mother would not want him to take a wife by default anyway—no matter that he had intended to marry this Season.
He had, though, planned that very thing. Was he not being handed exactly what he wished, before the Season had hardly begun? The thought of accomplishing his goal—and with a woman so intriguing as Lady Amelia—held a certain appeal.
“I do not have all day, Norwich. You are aware the woman beside you could be ruined. What sort of man are you?”
Annoyance flared in Edward, but one last, somewhat unintentional, look at Lady Amelia decided it.
With a rather shaky version of the charming smile he used so well, he spoke. “Very well. I would be fortunate to marry Lady Amelia. If she will have me.”
***
Amelia glanced sharply up at Lord Norwich, startled by the intensity she saw in his dark eyes.
What was hedoing? She could not fight her father’s command, but she was astoundedhegave in that quickly. She’d hoped he would fight harder for their freedom. But it would seem he was to be found lacking in all aspects.
She tore her gaze from his and looked at Papa, who seemed marginally stunned himself. But then he nodded once, ever the commanding duke.
“She will. You may go, Amelia, I will speak with you after I finalize the arrangements with Lord Norwich.”
Amelia bit the insides of her cheeks in frustration. She had no say in the matter of her engagement—how ridiculous it would be to assume she may wish to have some part in choosing her husband. Wholly unnatural, to be sure.
“Your Grace, might I beg a moment or two of your daughter’s time before she departs?”
Amelia had already risen to her feet but looked to Lord Norwich as he spoke.I do not even know his given name.The thought was unexpected. She was to marry this man she had only ever had two conversations with.
No, not even conversations—arguments. And she was to be his wife.
Her vision swam, and she grasped the back of the chair she had just vacated.
Papa looked between the two of them. “Two minutes. That is all.” Then he crossed to the window.
Amelia met Lord Norwich’s eyes as he walked toward her, steeling herself for whatever it was he might have to say to her. Only he said nothing; he simply stared down at her. It made her feel small. She was so tired of being made to feel insignificant.
“Well? You wished to speak with me.” Ought she to be more cordial to the man she was to marry? After what Henrietta had told her of him this morning, no. Why be cordial to a man who had left a trail of ruined women behind him?
He nodded. “To ask you if you wish to marry me. It is not so flowery a proposal as women desire, but it seems necessary even in our strange situation.”
She stood ramrod straight, shocked by his words. “I do not know you, Lord Norwich.”
“Well, that will change soon enough, will it not?” He said the words softly, and somehow, Amelia could not look away from his dark eyes. Something twisted in her stomach, but then she forced her feet back and her gaze away. It did not matter how quietly the man spoke; she already knew his true nature. And she knew by agreeing to this marriage she was agreeing to go from one controlling life to another. From her family to Lord Norwich.
