“I should just leave London tonight—travel to Easter Park and stay with Sarah and my mother.” Because she did not want to go to Scotland. She loved her family too much to martyr herself that way. She needed her family. And not just Chase and Bethany, but Sarah and Diana and her mother.
She never felt uncomfortable about who she was when she was with them.
Also, she’d promised Addison she wouldn’t go to Scotland.
“We all cause trouble at some time or another. Apparently, it’s your season.” Bethany grinned and then grew serious again. “You don’t have to give him your answer right away. If you think waiting will help, ask for a week, or longer. Because marrying him will change everything. And those changes are for life. If you hate it, you’ll be trapped with the duke forever, but there is always the possibility…”
“Of what?” Collette insisted.
“That marrying him, that being with a man who loves you, and one you love in return, frees you to be the person you’ve always been meant to be.”
But Collette didn’t love the duke, and of course, he didn’t love her.
They barely knew one another.
Even if she did rather enjoy kissing him and he’d said he enjoyed kissing her as well.
Was it possible it was the beginning of more than just that? Was it possible it was the beginning of love?
* * *
“You’re up early.”Chase glanced up from the plate filled with eggs and kidneys and more than one of Cook’s buttery yeast buns. “I expect Bedwell any minute. You’ll want to make yourself scarce until I give him permission to present his offer to you.”
Collette nearly rolled her eyes at the absurdity of it all. The duke had already presented his offer on more than one occasion, and she’d declined him. Despite her discussion with Bethany, she hadn’t changed her mind.
She could not accept.
She wasn’t fit to be a duchess, so she would tell him no.
Her heart squeezed and then her stomach lurched when one of the attending manservants leaned over her shoulder to refill her cup. Tea was all she was going to be able to manage until this was over.
And then what?
“Did you sleep at all?” Bethany asked, averting her face away from her husband’s plate to nibble on the single piece of toast on her own.
“Some,” Collette lied.
“Collette, I’ve made a decision.” Chase leaned back, glanced at Bethany, and when she nodded in encouragement, turned his attention back to her. “I should have arranged for formal training on etiquette and manners long before setting you and Diana loose on the ton. I was negligent not to have, and I consider myself lucky that Greystone did the honorable thing.”
“He had no choice, he fell madly in love with Diana,” Bethany reminded him.
“He had a choice for certain, and if he hadn’t made the right one…” His gaze landed on Bethany. “Nonetheless, I’ve made arrangements with the Barnaby agency to send over a suitable instructor today. Collette, your lessons begin at one this afternoon.”
“Regardless of what I decide?”
“Especiallyif you accept Bedwell’s offer. You’ll thank me later, trust me.” Chase tore into one of the buns.
“You didn’t think to ask me first?” Collette scowled. She wouldn’t require etiquette lessons in the country with her mother and Sarah, nor did she think she’d need them if she had decided to take the position in Scotland. Chase might very well be one of her favorite people in the world but there were times, like this, when his arrogance unfortunately, resembled their father’s all too clearly.
If he’d asked her rather than make such a decision on his own, she might have found the gesture to be sweet and considerate. Before she could argue further, however, the conversation was interrupted.
“Excuse me, My Lord,” Mr. Ingles was standing in the doorway, hands behind his back. “The Duke of Bedwell has arrived. Would you like me to have him wait in the front drawing room, or--?”
“No. I’ll meet with him in my study now.” Chase took one last bite and was already pushing his chair back. He shot a glance at Collette. “I’ll send for you shortly.”
The earnest concern on her brother’s face had her forgetting her irritation with him and brought stinging to her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she muttered. “For making so much trouble.”
“No more trouble than you’re allotted.” And with a wink, he disappeared, leaving Bethany and Collette sitting quietly, in a sort of resolved silence.
