“And you are not?” she accused him.
He was leaning against a table, arms folded, expression… was that concern? He studied Margot closely, for the first time looking at her as if he wasn’t about to break into a smile and laugh at some joke he had thought of.Is it possible that he feels guilty? No… not from everything I know of him.
“I have experienced my fair share of scandal,” he said evenly. “I find that more often than not, the best thing to do is weather the storm and wait for it to pass.”
She scoffed. “Easy for you to say. But it is not the same for me as it is for you. In the eyes of the ton, this is but one more misdeed committed in a long list of debauchery – there are likely men who will croon when they hear it. But for me…” She felt that bilerising in her throat. “I am finished. My name, everything about me, is stained black. You know this.”
He nodded. “Yes, it is often harder for women to recover from scandal than it is for men.”
“Now, there is an understatement.”
“There is one other option, you know…” He tilted his head as he continued to look at her. He was so calm and composed. Not as cocky as he often was, not dripping in arrogance. It was the first time that Margot was able to look at him without seeing the rake, because at the end of the day, she had to admit he had done nothing wrong.Does that mean everything else said about him is a lie? And does that even matter?
“And what is that?” she asked bitterly.
“Simple,” he shrugged. “That you and I wed.”
Where Margot heard the words clearly, she looked at the duke as if he had spoken another language. A proposition that made perfect sense but was so outlandish he might as well have asked if he could borrow one of her dresses so they might trade identities.Surely, he is joking?
“You… you are not serious?” she said, keeping her voice low and glancing at the others to make sure they had not heard. Luckily, they were so engaged in their argument that they did not hear.
“I am very serious,” he said without hesitation. “If you and I were to announce a marriage, it would have the effect of a blanket smothering a fire. That way, what was seen here tonight was nothing more than the act of the betrothed getting a little carried away because of how much we love one another.”
She leaned back as if about to vomit. “But nothing happened! We were not… we did not do anything!”
“And that matters?” he continued. “You know it as well as I, the perception is all these people care about. And if your life is to be ruined, a marriage to a duke is possibly the only thing that might save it.”
Despite the absurdity of the suggestion, Margot could not ignore the merits. Indeed, the fear that came from this scandal was that her life would be over. No man would want her. No peer would look at her. She would be banished from society, forced to live out her days as a spinster in some isolated estate –as I have been doing these last three years. But a marriage to the duke would solve all of that. Not a perfect solution, but better than the alternative.
Or it would be, was it not the Duke of Eastmoor proposing it!
Deep down, Margot knew this offer to be one she should have grabbed with both hands, but she looked upon the duke in the way she had when she’d first seen him tonight. This was his fault! He was the cause! And with all she had heard of the man, to find herself as his bride was possibly an even worse outcome than the alternative. Or so she told herself.
“No, thank you.”
“Truly?” He looked at her as if he thought she’d lost her mind. “You do understand what I am offering – which, to be fair, is more than you could ever hope for.” He chuckled. “Some might think I had lost my mind to suggest such a thing.”
“As some would think I had lost my mind to accept,” she shot back. “Why?” she then asked. “Why would you – what do you expect from such an arrangement?” She curled her lip at him and scoffed. “Not that I need to think too hard. From all I have heard of you…”
“One would think that by now you would not believe everything you hear,” he said coldly, which made Margot grimace with guilt. “For your information, I do not expect anything. Where part of what you say is true, that being the lesser effects that this scandal will have on my name when compared to your own, it does not mean that I will escape from this unscathed entirely. It is a house of cards, sure to fall, and perhaps this will be the incident that sees that happen.”
Margot grimaced. “I did not mean… I did not mean to accuse you.”
“I am a duke,” he said with a sense of pride, marred by the scorn in his voice. “And as with you, certain things are expected of me. I never saw it in my future to marry, but with all that has happened, I know that one day I will need to. And as things currently look, that will become infinitely more difficult.”
Margot studied the duke closely, searching for the trick, the trap, the lie that he was surely feeding her. “That’s not good enough. A marriage is permanent, and I know nothing about you.” She scoffed. “Save for the obvious.”
“And that makes no difference,” he said simply. “I am not proposing a love match. Merely a marriage of convenience. We would be married in name only, enough to dispel the rumors and save our sordid souls from damnation. Apart from that…” He shrugged. “Little will change, a piece of paper with our names signed, and that is it.”
“That… that is all?”
“What else could it be?” he said. “I do not want to marry any more than you want to marry me. Alas…” He exhaled as if in defeat. “Such is the way these things have worked out.”
The offer was a good one. Better than Margot could ever hope to attain. And she knew in the depths of her soul that she’d be a fool to deny him. And yet…it sounds too good to be true, because it likely is. What is more, can I really see myself married to the Duke of Eastmoor? After all I have been through?
Margot had always wanted more for herself. Her family lived in squalor. Her mother was dead, her father was dying. Her name was worth less than nothing. And still, she could not escape the feeling that more was deserved for her than what was offered. Not love, for she was not as foolish as that. More proof of her worth, that she was strong enough to rise above her hand and carve her path beyond what others thought was possible.
And perhaps, should I be so lucky, happiness found in a life that has been devoid of it. Whatever that might look like…
