She turned to look at him because she needed someone else to tell her this was really happening.Someone who was not the man proposing to marry her for no good reason.
“He is serious, then?”She could hear the desperation, the hope in her voice.
“Utterly.”Montagu answered immediately, and he seemed entirely sincere.“He would not propose without meaning it.I suppose you flipped for it?”The question was directed at St.Albans.Johanna did not understand what he meant, but the duke nodded his head.
At the house party, Johanna would have cried with joy at the prospect of marrying a rich duke.That he was young and handsome did not make a difference, though it was a relief.He did not seem cruel.She hoped he was as kind as his smile suggested.She had to believe that Lady Astrid would not have introduced him to marriage-minded debutantes otherwise.
Not that it mattered.
In order to save her family, she had been prepared to do far worse than marry a duke.
“Yes,” she told him.“I will marry you.”
The smile he flashed was blinding.
“Good.Now, tell me about your family.”
Matthew
Lady Johanna’s family was even worse off than they’d supposed.Matthew and Christian exchanged a glance when she told them about meeting Mr.Blash.The idea that he was providing for her family off his own income… Matthew thought it far more likely that he was supplementing his income with funds that should have gone to her family.
Clearly, she had not suspected anything, and he was loath to part her from that particularly charming naïveté before he had to.There was something very sweet and soft about her, despite the hard hand she’d been dealt.He would rather preserve that aspect of her, not crush it.
But he would certainly have someone look into Mr.Blash.
Matthew would get Lady Johanna settled in his home and introduce her to his grandmother and staff.Christian would head to her family’s home and pack them up to bring them to Matthew’s.He was more than happy to pay for whatever repairs were needed to their home while they were with him, so they could eventually return.He could sponsor her brother, and his grandmother would likely enjoy having young ladies to bring up.
In the meantime, having a happy, grateful bride—very much unlike his friend Nathanial, who had recently married and begun his married life rather coldly—sounded very nice to Matthew.He should have thought of this before.He had no need of a wife with a dowry of any kind, and this way her entire family would be grateful to him rather than considering it a social triumph to marry a duke.
Besides, he'd never saved anyone before.
It felt rather nice to be a hero.
And he got a wife out of it, to boot.
His friends would call it the devil’s own luck, but the luck was all Matthew’s.
Using the hand not holding Lady Johanna’s, he quickly took his coin out and flipped it.The flip confirmed his thought, and he tucked the coin back into its pocket.
“I think a quick wedding would be best,” he said, looking at Lady Johanna and giving her hand a squeeze.He liked holding her hand.Very husbandly.She was a beautiful woman, if a trifle delicate in her appearance.Surely regular meals would help with that.Likely some kind of fashion makeover.Matthew was certain he could leave that in the hands of his grandmother or perhaps Lady Astrid and the other duchesses.“Quick and quiet.Once you’re my duchess, you’ll have the protection of my name, so even if anyone recognizes you from this evening, they’ll hold their tongue.If they have a chance to do so before the wedding, they may not.I would marry you anyway, but it will make things easier.”
“Yes, that sounds best.”Lady Johanna nodded her understanding.She seemed very serious-minded, which was not surprising after the tale she had told.
He wondered what it would take to make her smile.Likely, seeing her mother and siblings safe and well would be a good start.
“I would not want any rumors or scandal to touch your family name nor burden my brother and sisters.Though it will be several years before my sisters’ come-outs.”
Thetoncould have a long memory, but he did not point it out.He did not particularly care why she agreed, so long as she did.
“Good then.I’ll acquire a special license as quickly as possible so we can be married without the banns being read.Once I have that, we can have the wedding as soon as your family arrives in London.My grandmother will be pleased to play hostess to them.”
“Your grandmother is going to murder you,” Christian commented, sounding more amused than anything else.Now that things were in motion, he was falling in line with Matthew’s plans.Matthew was rather relieved it was Christian with him instead of one of their other friends.Christian was always good for a lark.
Gregory, the Duke of Clarence, might have gone along with things without protest, but he’d become much more serious since marrying.His duchess, Tiffany, was likely to influence his thoughts on the matter, and Matthew could not guess what she might think of his unusual method for procuring a bride.Her presence at Gregory’s side was why it was just Matthew and Christian who had been following Drake instead of the three of them.
Matthew was uncertain what Drake would think.He’d been happy to see that Matthew had saved Lady Johanna, but proposing to her?Lady Astrid would likely approve, at least.Matthew knew she’d invited Lady Johanna to her house party with an eye to matchmaking.Unfortunately, Lady Johanna had had to leave rather precipitously, and now Matthew knew why.At least her mother was still alive.No woman should have to starve herself for her children’s sake.
His mother had died in childbirth, and his father’s second wife had not produced a child before she died of consumption a few years before his father’s death.By which time his father had been searching for a third bride but had not found one to live up to his exacting standards.
