He ignored her and spoke to Simons, still standing silently behind her.
“I am ignorant of the procedure for obtaining a special license. See that it’s done.” He glanced at Eston. “I’m certain you will do what you need in that regard, Eston.”
“What makes you think I shall accede to this preposterous plan of yours, Father?”
“If you do not, I’ll have your mother packed up for Scotland in less than a day.” A smug, triumphant smile curved his lips. “It’s your choice. Marriage or Scotland?”
For the first time, Eston spoke to her directly. “What is your name?” he asked.
“My name?” She turned her head and regarded him, wondering why she was suddenly incapable of answering that simple question. She did know her name, did she not?
“If we are to be wed, then I think we should perhaps begin with names.”
“Sarah,” she finally said.
He placed his right hand against his midriff and bowed slowly from the waist. Not deferential enough to be servile.
“Douglas Eston.”
Her father appeared amused. She stiffened her shoulders and inclined her head.
Not one word came to mind to convince him to change his mind. All her father had to do was simply wave his hands in the air, and she was married, dismissed, and banished with no more effort than it took to dismiss an untrustworthy servant.
The Duke of Herridge turned his attention to Eston again. “Her mother’s family lives in Scotland. If she becomes a burden, I suggest you send her there. I should’ve done the same with her mother years ago.”
Sarah turned to leave.
“Where are you going?” the duke asked.
She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Back to Chavensworth,” she said. “Mother needs me.”
“She’ll have to do without you,” her father said. “I’m not letting you out of my sight until you’re well and truly wed.”
Douglas didn’t need the Duke of Herridge’s money, and he certainly didn’t need to be married. But something, an emotion he couldn’t quite name, held him rooted to the spot.
Sarah looked terrified, and he couldn’t help but wonder if her father was astute enough—or cared enough—to notice. He’d had his own experience with fear and attempting to suppress it. He saw the same in Sarah now. Her hands were clenched tightly in front of her—to hide their trembling? Her eyes were downcast—to mask the fear in them? Her lips were pressed tightly together, either to still their quivering or to hide the fact that they were suddenly bloodless.
Douglas wanted to stand in front of her, to protect her from the Duke of Herridge’s cruelty. Or dispatch the man from the room altogether. If they were alone, he might ask her if she loathed the idea of marriage so very much. Or he might even press his suit, a thought that nearly had him fleeing from the room.
He hadn’t known her fifteen minutes ago, hadn’t seen her or dreamed of her, or envisioned her being part of the world in which he lived. He had not once thought toknow a woman named Sarah, with her demeanor, with temper fleshing in her eyes at the same time as fear.
That was the insanity of this meeting. Not the Duke of Herridge’s obvious greed and just as apparent cruelty. Not Sarah’s aversion to her father. Not even the bargain Douglas was willing to make—a bargain that ridiculously included marriage—but the fact that if Sarah slipped away now, before he’d spoken to her, before he had known her, Douglas knew he would regret it for the whole of his life.
“I shall see about getting a special license,” Douglas said.
The duke simply waved his hand at him, as if to speed him on his way.
One last look at Sarah, and he was reluctantly gone.
Chapter 2
The town house Douglas had purchased on his arrival in London was not as large as that belonging to the Duke of Herridge, but it was in a fashionable area. The rest of the houses on the square were occupied by peers, a fact he’d already been told. The same person who kept him apprised of his neighbors also harangued him on a daily basis about purchasing the furniture needed to at least equal their standards.
He left his carriage, the equal to any owned by his neighbors. It, too, had been recently purchased, as had the horses, and for an amount that he’d once thought exorbitant.
The young man opening the door was a stranger, but Douglas had given Alano leave to hire a new staff.
“Where is Alano?” Douglas asked.
