It was time she tried something different. And yet...”
“I am inclined to want to help you.”
He watched her closely, his gaze shifting from one of her eyes to the other. “You will marry me, then?”
“My brother isn’t in town. I’d require his consent.” Which, indeed, posed a significant problem. Getting Crawford’s consent would require time. Time that this man, perhaps, didn’t have.
“We could travel to Gretna Green.” By the look in his eyes, he seemed as surprised by the suggestion as she was. “Establish terms over the course of the journey.”
She’d never considered herself the type to elope. She was tempted…
“There would be no turning back, once we embarked upon the journey.” Because her reputation would already be in tatters.
He dipped his chin.
Lord Roberts would cease to be a problem, as would any other man her mother pushed her toward.
“When?”
“Could you be ready to travel tomorrow?”
Were they really going to do this?
This time, it was she who nodded. “But would you be so kind as to answer one more question for me?”
“Of course.”
“Your name, sir. Might I know your name?”
He laughed nervously, as though he too wasn’t completely certain of the bargain they’d struck. “Christian Masterson, Duke of Warwick. And you are?”
“Lillian Prentiss, my mother was married to the late Duke of Crawford.”
He tilted his head. “Lady Lillian?”
“The duke was not my father. I am Miss Prentiss.” Although her mother had always introduced them with the title of Lady.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“And this impertinent fellow,” he gestured toward the dog, languishing on his foot, “Is Horace.”
Chapter 3
The Arrangement
Lillian stepped tentatively through the corridor with her hands behind her back. He’d asked if he could summon a carriage to take her home, but she’d insisted he not. She wished he wasn’t a duke. She had a particular revulsion for dukes.
Lillian swallowed hard as he directed she precede him to the front door.
He’d not offered his arm for her to take, and she was grateful. Already her head was spinning. Somehow, she knew that his touch would do nothing to settle her already scrambled brain.
Not only had she just promised a virtual stranger that she would marry him—that she would bear a child for him—but she’d made this promise to a duke.
She hated dukes! As did both of her other sisters and her mother.
Excepting of course, their stepbrother, Cameron. Since stepping into their late stepfather’s rather uncomfortable shoes, he’d managed to do a decent job as duke. He’d hated his father as much as they did, albeit without the subtlety the rest of them had shown.
