“Hmm.Well.I suppose we will see.”His grandmother sighed, her shoulders sagging.“I do want to see you married, you know.”
“I know.”
“An impoverished earl’s sister… she may have some difficulty adjusting to running a ducal household.”
“I am sure I can count on you to assist her.”After all, his grandmother had been the lady of the house since his father died.She was speaking from experience, too—she had been thrown into the fire when he’d inherited, just as he had.Matthew had not expected to become the duke so soon, and his grandmother had never expected to have to run a ducal household.She’d been perfectly happy as the wife of an earl.
If anyone knew how difficult it was to adjust, it was her.
“Of course, I will render her all due assistance.”Grandmama was still frowning.
“What?”
“You know that you cannot flip a coin for love, correct?”
“I didn’t.I flipped my coin to choose my bride.”Matthew laughed, patting his pocket where the coin in question lay.His grandparents had been a love match.His parents’ marriage had not—it had been the one time his grandmother and his grandfather had fought, according to her.She’d wanted their daughter, his mother, to have a love match… but his mother had sided with his grandfather.She’d wanted to be a duchess.
She’d gotten her wish.
Matthew always wondered if she’d regretted it, or if perhaps his father had been different when she was alive.
His grandmother had said his mother had been content with her title, but she would have been happier with a love match.She’d tried to push the idea of a love match onto Matthew, too.
Personally, he did not see what difference it made, but he knew she was likely disappointed he was not interested in trying things her way.
“You cannot go through life making all your choices by coin!”
“I do not see why not.”He shrugged.This was a constant argument between them.He could have written out their lines for them at this point.“It has not led me astray thus far.”
“And what if it has this time?”
“Then I will deal with it.But I do not believe it has.”
“Did you flip it for her at Blackstone Manor?”
Matthew hesitated.He had wondered at this as well.
“I did, but not to see if she should be my bride.I was choosing dance partners at that point.”He shrugged.“Obviously, something changed.Maybe I was meant to wait ‘til now.”
“Does it not bother you to give up so much control of your life?”she asked, aghast.That was a new tack.
He paused to think about it for a moment before shaking his head.
“Since when have I truly had control, Grandmama?I was born to be a duke, and here I am.”He spread his arms wide.“I did not choose any of this.Why should the rest of my life be any different?”
Grandmama snorted.
“Being born a duke only narrows your choices; it does not eradicate them.You are born into such a position and privilege that you have more choices than most.If you want to have a dearth of choices, you should try being a woman.”With that, she turned on her heel and stalked out of his room.
The conversation left him slightly unsettled, which was a new sensation for him.Normally, he felt perfectly content with how he lived his life, even after arguments with his grandmother.He knew she did not approve of his coin-flipping, but it seemed to him it was no worse than the ways most people made their decisions.
Perhaps he had become overly reliant on it… but half of his punishments from his father had been for making the wrong decision.Choices that he’d made on his own.When he’d started relying on luck, he’d been beaten less than when he’d been trying to do the right thing.The coin made better choices than he made when left to his own devices, so he relied on luck.
And that luck had gotten him out of many a belting.
While his father wasn’t around to impose his ideas of what the right choice was anymore, Matthew still preferred to let his luck decide his path.
It had not let him down so far.
