He hadn’t been overwhelmed, but he did feel as though he stood upon a precipice. Lady Marianne was candid, intelligent, and in possession of all the requirements to be the Duchess of Wildeforde. She was young—so very young—but it was otherwise a good match. She would do an excellent job.
But rather than feel satisfied that he’d found a suitable candidate—and before his mother could arrive and make a mess of it all—he felt as though he’d suddenly lost something. That a big gaping chasm had just appeared inside him.
He turned to his cousin, the one man who should be a cautionary tale against the very thing that hole was yearning for. “Can I ask you a question?”
Something in his expression must have indicated the seriousness of his thoughts because Graham moved closer and lowered his voice, frowning. “Of course. You can ask me anything.”
“Before you proposed to Eliza, did you consider what the worst of society might do?”
Graham swallowed, his lips pursing and the furrow between his brows deepening. “I considered. I found my own needs more pressing.” His voice was tight and his eyes shone more than they had a moment ago.
It was unfair of Edward to bring up memories of his cousin’s wife, but he had to know. “Was there anything you could have done to protect her?”
“Yes. I could have not married her, and she would be fine.”
Edward nodded and finished his drink in one gulp, fixing his gaze on Fiona and wondering which, if either of them, was ever going to be fine. Wondering if he had the strength to do what Graham and his father couldn’t.
***
Fiona was elated. Lord Livingworth was not interested in her matches, but in just over a week she would have the opportunity to show Viscount Chester what they could do, knowing that he already approved of the concept and now just needed to see proof it worked.
It was intoxicating, being so close to the dream. Her heart jittered and her head spun, and it had nothing to do with the punch or the circles she was turning as she exchanged one partner for another in a country dance. She was enjoying herself more than she could ever have expected.
The only cloud to the evening was watching Edward dance with one fine-looking miss after another. On the rare occasion he wasn’t on the dance floor, he was at the epicenter of female fluttering. She wanted to believe that he hated the attention—that’s what logic and everything she knew about him would suggest—but his smile didn’t falter once. She knew because she had her attention on him all evening.
Which was why she didn’t see the danger coming until partners changed mid-dance and Luella took her arm with a viselike grip. Fiona’s heartbeat shifted from excited jittering to a panicked stampede. She could feel perspiration beading across her hairline, just at the edge of her wig.
“What a pleasure to see you again,sir. You certainly seem to be making the most of your time here in London.”
Fiona was tempted to take up arms against Luella. She was the epitome of everything that was wrong with the aristocracy, and the fact that people like her thrived off the backs of the working class made Fiona’s blood boil.
But a war of words would solve nothing and would only jeopardize what Fiona had set out to achieve—financial independence and bettering the lives of others. So she would be meek, if that’s what it took to succeed.
“I’m enjoying my time, my lady. As brief as it will be. I plan to return home shortly. Alone.”I have no interest in the duke.That was the message she was trying to imply.
“It won’t work,” Luella whispered as the music came to an end. “This scheme of yoursister’s. He will never make a common girl his duchess. Not after what happened to the Viscount Dunburton.”
Fiona stilled. Around them gentlemen escorted their dance partners off the floor. Fiona found herself at the sharp end of annoyed looks as couples navigated around her and Luella. Manners dictated she take Luella’s arm and guide her to her next partner. But Fi’s feet were rooted to the floor.
“I’ve nae heard of the Viscount Dunburton,” Fiona replied. She knew whatever Luella had planned was a trap but she was too intrigued to avoid it.
“Truly?” Luella asked with an innocent flutter of her lashes. “It was quite the scandal. I would have thought even a country bumpkin such as yourself would have heard of it.”
“London gossip does nae tend to make it that far south.”
Luella thrust open her fan, using it to shield her face from view as though she and Fiona were friends sharing titillating gossip for amusement. “Wildeforde’s cousin married ashopgirl. A woman with no breeding and no experience. A base commoner instead of a lady more deserving of the title.”
Fiona’s heart plummeted. How had Edward not mentioned it? Because he didn’t want to admit that a girl like her could be a viscountess but not a duchess? Or was it just that a girl like her couldn’t be Edward’s duchess?
Luella took her arm and propelled her into motion. “Society gave her the welcome she deserved,” Luella continued with saccharine sweetness. “She only lasted a month before she took her life.”
All the air rushed from Fiona’s lungs. Her breast bindings felt as though they were constricting all on their own. Blackness crept into the edge of her vision. “When was this?” she managed to ask, hating the way she leaned on Luella’s arm for support.
Luella screwed up her nose in contemplation. “About five years ago?”
Chapter 19
If it was going to be any of them, it would be Lady Marianne Haddington. She would meet Charlotte’s approval and Graham’s. Likely William’s and maybe even his mother’s. The sooner he proposed, the sooner he could be done with it all.
