“They are enormous,” she declared. “And I do not trust anything taller than myself.”
“You do realize,” he said slowly, “that includes nearly every man in London.”
“Exactly!” Hazel exclaimed, delighted to have accidentally strengthened her point. “Which is why I avoid them, all of them…entirely.”
The duke looked as though he were reconsidering every decision that had brought him to this moment.
Hazel crossed her arms, deciding she had committed enough foolishness to make her case unassailable. “So, you see, Your Grace, marriage between us would be thoroughly impractical. Wrinkles, sneezing, snoring, terrifying horses… simply impossible, I’m afraid.”
He studied her for a long, strained moment.
“I can tell.”
Hazel’s jaw dropped. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“That you’ve given this a considerable amount of thought,” he said dryly. “Far more than one would expect from someone who claims marrying me is the last thing she wants.”
Greyson exhaled slowly, as if she were a puzzle he was almost enjoying solving.
“Miss Thorne,” he said, revealing that although she did not tell him her name, he had managed to find it out, “although you have thoroughly entertained me with your… soliloquy…”
Hazel winced. Shehadsounded like a madwoman.
“We both know the truth. This kind of scandal does not simply disappear.”
Her stomach twisted. She refused to let it show.
He stepped closer, continuing to make sense in that infuriatingly rational tone of voice. “Not only will it cling to you, but it will cling to your sisters as well. Their prospects will suffer. And you will find yourself… shall we say, less than welcome in many drawing rooms.”
Hazel’s throat tightened. He was right. Shehatedthat he was right. She hated more that he had said it without cruelty, simply as a fact of their society.
He continued. “But if you were to marry me, you would be a duchess. And while there might still be whispers, no one would dare speak them aloud, not about my wife.” His gaze hardened. “No one risks my displeasure so lightly.”
She felt cold air rush into her lungs, though she hadn’t meant to breathe in at all. He was offering her protection. He was offering her sisters protection. And she knew that a duke’s shield could silence a thousand rumors.
But she could not admit he was right. She would rather swallow stones.
So instead, she asked. “Why? Why on earth would a duke try to save a woman he has never even met?”
His expression did not shift. “It is your reputation at stake, Miss Thorne. Not mine. This was your mistake, not mine. I am not suffering for it.Youare.”
Hazel clenched her jaw. “Then why involve yourself? If you are so unaffected, why offer marriage at all?”
Greyson’s answer was delivered with such blunt honesty that she actually stepped back.
“Because every duke needs a wife,” he said simply, “and I am honestly indifferent to who it is.”
Hazel stared at him. Her mouth fell open. Her mind blanked. Of all the arrogant, cold, absolutely insulting and utterlyducalthings to say…
“You…” she sputtered, “you are indifferent.”
He nodded once. “As long as she is suitable,” he clarified, “and you are.Very.”
Hazel made a noise that was not quite human. Inside the carriage, her sisters looked out the window with wide, fascinated eyes. And Hazel Thorne, usually the most grounded woman in any room, felt the earth shift beneath her feet.
She had expected arrogance. She had expected intimidation. She had not expected his truth in such a sharp and unadorned manner that it felt like a blade pressed to her pride.
She clenched her teeth, willing the pressure in her chest to stay down, forcing her breath to remain steady. She would not cry, not in front ofhim.
