CHAPTER 4
“Imust go…” Lucy took a step back.
The Duke frowned at her. “Is something the matter?”
“I…” She looked about, panic rising because she knew that even if she turned and fled, it would be too late. Not that this would stop her. “I must… this was a mistake.”
With that final word said, Lucy kept her head down, turned, and hurried across the far back wall of the hall. She could feel the eyes on her, she could hear the whispers, but she ignored them the best that she could.
A moment later and she stumbled from the hall, into an adjoining hallway. Free from the view of the guests and her father, her entire body trembled as the walls themselves seemed to turn.
It is not so bad… so what if we were seen speaking together? That is the entire point. Nothing to worry over. A few minutes and everyone are sure to forget.
The words were the right ones, even if they made no difference. Lucy found a wall to lean on, needed to stop the room from turning. Her breathing was suddenly heavy, a weight on her shoulders, and she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply to find calm.
Unfortunately, no sooner were her eyes closed did she picture her father and Lady Fairvale. She saw the excited look in their eyes, and she knew as she knew anything that this would not be the end of it. Even if she was to deny it, to assure her father that nothing had happened, people would speak of this—Lady Fairvale would speak of this, desperate to mark tonight as a success.
A few more deep breaths and Lucy started to calm down… that was until the worst happened.
“Lady Whitcombe?”
Lucy’s eyes snapped open when she heard her voice spoken. Her stomach then dropped through the floor because he who spoke was the very last person she wanted to see.
It was the Duke, of course, and he powered down the hallway toward her. His expression was one of worry, but that made no difference to her. Maybe he had been honest before? Maybe he had not been? The effect was still the same.
“Is something the matter?” he asked as he came near. “Are you feeling unwell?”
“What are you doing here?” she hissed at him. As she did, she glanced over his shoulder, praying he was alone.
He stopped short of her. “The way you took off just now. It was… concerning. I wished to make sure that nothing was wrong.”
“No, no, no,” she said as the fear rose inside of her. “You cannot be here! Did anyone see you?” She looked down the empty hallway again. “Did anyone see you follow me?”
“Did anyone…” He trailed off, clearly caught off guard by the way she was behaving. “I am not sure. I did not think to check.”
“Of course you did not!” She threw her hands in the air. “Why would you? It is not as if you would even think–” She caught her tongue, aware that she was close to saying the wrong thing. “You need to go. Now.”
He could not have looked more confused. “If I have offended you, I do apologize. I only wished to check on your well-being.”
“It matters not what you intended,” she sighed. “What matters is how it looked. God!” She groaned and started to pace. “This is exactly what I was trying to avoid.”
“Trying to avoid? I do not understand.”
“I told you already that I was forced to be here.” She stopped pacing and turned on him. He was far bigger than her, far more intimidating and powerful, but it made no difference with how she felt. “And I would have thought you might have understood what that meant.”
“I take it that you have no intention of being courted.”
“I have no intention of it even being suggested that I do.”
“Which means…” His brow was furrowed only for him to suddenly realize. “Ah. With you fleeing just now, and with me following you…”
“Everyone who saw it will think that we are together,” she said sharply. “Worse, they will think that we are trying to hide something.”
“Perhaps nobody saw.”
“Everyone saw!” she cried and threw up her hands. “And by the time we return, there will not be a soul in there who does not suspect that you and I…” She shook her head as if doing so might dispel the reality. “It will be on every tongue on the estate, and soon enough every soul in London will think that I belong to you.”
“I can simply dismiss such rumors,” the Duke said as if it were so easy as that. “Allow me to return and tell it differently.”
