There was more to the Duke than he was letting on. He spoke around the subject, refusing to give her direct answers, and a battle raged behind his dark eyes as he assessed her and what to do and say… worried about how she might react to whatever he was hiding.
“My reasons are my own,” he said finally.
“That is not –”
“But I assure you, there is no malice involved. I do not want to marry, just as I know that I must. Do I wish the circumstances were different? More than you can know. But they are not, and so, here we are. Marry me,” he said again.
She took a step back. And then another.
Lucy’s world fell apart right before her eyes. Her mind was fractured into a million pieces as she tried to pull them all together, a desperate effort to come up with a plan. Something beyond being forced to wed a man who she knew nothing about.
But there was nothing… no hope… no way out… no one to save her.
“It might surprise you to hear but I listen when you talk,” the Duke started as he took a step toward her. And then another. “I know you do not wish to marry, just as I know you were forced to do this.”
“That is no secret.”
“My guess is that you are one who desires her freedom. One who carves her own path and resents it being chosen for her.”
“What are you –”
“I do not want to marry for love,” he spoke over her. “What I am suggesting is a marriage of convenience, a union in name only. Marry me and in return I will protect you. I will suffocate the scandal before it has a chance to build, and I will ensure that once we are named man and wife, your life will be your own.” He looked right at her. “It is, to be perfectly candid, the best that you can hope for.”
Lucy felt her defense breaking.
She did not want to do this. Was it up to her, she would laugh in the Duke’s face, turn and walk right out of here, never thinking of him again. She would return home, she would tell her stepmother that she did not control her, and she would live her life as she wished it.
But it is not up to me… it never has been. Ever since my mother died, my life has belonged to someone else, making me a passenger, no control or agency of my own.
What the Duke offered her was not a way out. It would not solve her problems. It would, however, give her a small chance at that which she always desired: freedom. Or rather, the perception of it.
“It that a yes?” the Duke asked, sensing her falter.
“I… I…” Her insides turned. Her world shattered. And when she pulled herself from her reverie, Lucy was faced with the harshest of truths: she had no choice. “I will… I will marry you.”
The Duke did not smile. He did not seem particularly pleased. A simple nod was all he gave her; a business deal that he had gotten the better of.
Only then, he frowned and tilted his head. A thought passed behind his eyes, and he clicked his tongue with frustration. “There is one more thing I must ask you.”
“Say it,” she sighed.
“How are you with children?”
