“I– well, I may not know precisely what it is, but it ruins them, and you will not ruin my sister.”
“I do not intend to. Is that why you have been like this all evening?”
“No, I… well, I will not claim to trust you, not at all. Unlike my poor younger sister, I am not a fool. I know that my family is not particularly well off at this moment, and that you have something to do with it. My sister would never have agreed to be courted otherwise.”
Nathaniel regarded her for a moment, half impressed that she knew as much as she did and half surprised that she had not worked it out entirely. She was almost there, and yet she did not seem to understand the most important part.
“I will not lie to you. Yes, I am going to help your family, but it is not because I want anything from your sister. I respect Lady Margaret, and I would not do anything to harm her, nor any of you for that matter.”
“Why not? It would be easy to, and then say that she had lied about her dowry or some such thing and abandon her.”
“And is that what you think I am doing?”
“It could be.”
“Well, it is not.”
But she did not look at all convinced. Nathaniel sighed, not wanting to give away too much but also not wanting the young lady to hate him. It would be a long social season if she did.
“I shall be honest with you, Miss Emily,” he said carefully. “I have seen how your mother speaks to your sister, and how she speaks of yourself and Miss Poppy. It is clear to me that your sister has been the one to raise you, and has been your tutor and your guide for much of your life. As well as that, she is your sister, and so it is perfectly natural for you to want to protect her.”
She softened slightly, and he knew he had been correct in his assumptions.
“I know that you will think me a villain no matter who I am, and that to you, nobody could ever be enough for her, but I am not expecting to be. I am not going to saunter in to your household and take her away from you before you can even say your goodbyes. We are courting, and I think that she is an excellent young lady. You do too, do you not?”
She looked at her shoes, her arms slowly dropping by her sides.
“Yes,” she replied, “I do. I think the world of her. She would do anything for us, and I– I do not want her to be taken advantage of. She would give her life for us, Your Grace, so you must not hurt her.”
“I do not intend to. Now, might you have anything more to say to me, or shall we go to the parlor room? I would like to speak with you and your mother, and of course Lady Margaret.”
“And Poppy?”
“I believe I know quite enough about her.”
The young lady laughed at that, and Nathaniel hoped he had made her trust him even a little bit more. He was not at all angry about her outburst, for it would have been the case no matter who he was. What mattered to her, evidently, was that her sister was cared for, and he would ensure that happened.
He would ensure that it happened for all of them.
As they reached the parlor room door, Miss Emily faltered, and he saw a faint trace of fear in her eyes. It seemed that, at last, she realized the behavior that she had displayed.
“Mother will be furious.”
“She will not. I will explain everything once we are inside.”
“But you are a duke, and I was so–”
“Let us go inside, and I will explain everything. All that I need from you is an apology. Fear not, I do not care if you do not mean a word of it.”
They entered, and he fixed a bright smile on his face.
“Now that is out of the way,” he declared, “I was wondering if I might ask you all about yourselves?”
“I am sorry,” Miss Emily said on cue, “to all of you. I did not mean to ruin the evening.”
“You have not ruined anything,” Nathaniel replied as she took her seat. “It is as I told you, I admire a family that cares for one another. If anything, had you all been perfectly pleased about what happened, I would have wondered why you did not question the circumstances.”
He watched as Lady Fairleigh softened, her fists flattening in her lap. He hoped that would be enough; that if he outwardly showed that he did not care, and that he had not taken any offence, she might forgive her daughter entirely.
