“Yes.”
“I must get ready for supper,” Victoria said as she stood and clutched her gloves in one hand. Their gazes didn’t meet and the tension between them grew palpable.
As Victoria fled the room, Isabelle leaned back on the bed and stared up at the canopy above her. Simply being here and pretending to search for a husband wasn’t the simple task she thought it would be.
She took a shuddering breath and rose from the bed. After shedding her own gloves and switching into more comfortable shoes, she descended the curved staircase and made her way down the hall to the study.
Windham sat behind his desk with his head bent over his ledger. Dark hair fell in front of his face and, for a moment, he looked no more like a duke than she did. He was simply a man trying to provide for his family.
Even though she was unable to shake the discomfort she felt with the knowledge that he was keeping secrets from her, she couldn’t allow his family to slip into abject desolation.
Isabelle shut the door behind her and crossed the room, her slippers whispering across the polished wood floor. She pulled out the velvet chair by the fireplace and stared blindly at the empty hearth.
“Visits to my study are to become habit then?” Windham asked, setting his ledger to the side before standing and joining her in front of the fireplace.
Isabelle looked up at him, her heart hammering in her chest. “You must find me a husband if you wish for your family to recover from certain poverty.”
He nodded. “I thought we had already discussed this at length.”
“We have not when there is still more to the story than you are willing to share, however, I have come to a decision.”
“Have you?” Windham stood in front of her, his gaze connecting with hers, questions shining in his eyes. “And what decision is that?”
I still have a chance to back out. I am not being forced to do this.
Victorianeedsme to do this.
I may never see my family again. I will live in a land I do not know and potentially marry a man I do not love.
I did not intend to love anyone anyway.
Victoria can marry for love. Victoria’s family will not suffer.
Windham can save his duchy.
“I shall meet the men you put in front of me. I will be kind and pleasant. If a man makes you an offer of marriage for my hand and he is not the most horrid creature I have ever met, I will marry him.”
Sixteen
Felix stared at her as though a ghost had materialized and assumed the spot where Isabelle had been seated. “You will marry?”
“I will.” She swallowed hard, her gaze dropping to her hands in her lap. “However, I must have a good relationship with the gentleman. I will not marry someone I cannot stand.”
“That is a fair proposition,” Felix said, though his voice sounded like it was coming from the end of a long, dank tunnel. He stood and paced to the window and looked out at the flowers that danced in the breeze while members of his staff plucked vegetables from the garden.
He didn’t think he would ever see the day when Isabelle would concede to marriage.
What had transpired to force her change of mind?
If he had thought she would divulge her reasons he would have asked her. However, her gaze was locked upon one of the loose stones in the fireplace. Her entire body was stiff, her shoulders drawn in close to her ears.
This was not the same woman who had spent nights speaking with him. It was not the same one who had been in his study until an hour or so before dawn that morning, analyzing the works of Shakespeare with him until her voice went hoarse.
Felix glanced between her and the garden again. “Would you like to walk with me, and we can talk about the kind of husband you wish to search for?”
The words tasted like poison on his tongue. The last thing he wanted to do was walk with her and talk about the type of man she would agree to marry. In the first place, it was nearly impossible to picture her with any man. The ones who lived in London and were within his acquaintance were far too dull for her.
What does that say about me?”
