Another advantage was that as a duke, he had the power to set whatever terms he wished for in their marriage.
Who would dare contradict him or deny his demands?
Was that it?Did he want a wife in name only and thought he had settled on someone biddable?Namely, herself.
This might make sense if he had a reputation as a rake, but he did not.If anything, he was the quiet sort who spent most evenings on his own, working or reading.
And if he thought he had just proposed to someone docile and easily managed, someone who would not interfere with his style of living, then he was about to receive a rude awakening.
She was not docile.
Although she understood why he might mistakenly think she was.Having been raised in the countryside, she had not yet gained confidence going about in a big city such as London.After months of living here, she was only now beginning to learn her way around the bustling streets.
What also confounded her were these rules of Society that seemed so arbitrary.
She was still grappling with them, particularly when they felt so hypocritical.Why make a fuss about a young lady’s virtue when so many of the married ladies had affairs after marriage?
Some of these ladies were not even discreet in their liaisons.
Neither were their husbands, for that matter.
“Do you doubt our marriage could be advantageous to both of us?”Davenport asked, responding to her question with one of his own.“You could be useful to me.The seat of the Davenport dukes is in Somerset, and this is where you were born and raised.”
“Yes, I grew up in the village of Burnham which is not far from Thornwycke Hall,” she said, referring to the impressive estate that was his ducal seat.“But I did not realize you were aware of this.Then again, it is no secret and must have come up a time or two in conversation.”
“Yes, it did.”
But those conversations were never with her because she had spent much of their acquaintance avoiding him.
No doubt, Marigold had told him all about her.
Her cousin was sweet and delightful, but could also chatter like a magpie.
“I am still not sure how my Somerset background helps you,” she said.“I was not raised among the titled elite and can tell you little about the prior Davenport dukes or their families beyond what I noticed from a distance or what I heard going around our village as common gossip.”
“That is far more than I know about them.I’ve had no dealings with them since I was a little boy.By purposeful design, but now I wish I had kept a closer eye on what was going on over these past few years.”
She regarded him thoughtfully.“Because a string of Davenport dukes have died in quick succession?Yes, the local magistrate could have used your skills to investigate those untimely deaths.You do not need to marry me to find out all the lurid gossip I’ve heard about that.I will gladly tell you.”
He arched an eyebrow.“They were ruled accidental deaths by the local coroner in each instance.Have you heard anything to the contrary?”
“No,” she admitted.“Although to lose so many family members within a short period of time seems quite unnatural, don’t you think?”
“Not unnatural.People die, and this is thenaturalway of things.My predecessors did not have sterling reputations.Who knows what damage they did to themselves with their profligate ways?”
Tulip merely nodded, choosing not to argue the matter.But four Davenport dukes had died within a span of five years.Was this not significant enough to raise doubts about how innocent those deaths were?
She had lost both her parents in a tragic accident years ago.
One accident that had led to both deaths.
But this is not what had happened with these Davenport dukes.
Four had died in quick succession, although the first had died quite innocently of old age.But the others?Each had met his abrupt end in a different way.
Two had died after falling off their horses.
One had drowned.
