“The Prince knows the Duke of Drakestone vowed to your brother that he would marry you and that His Grace has not made good on that promise.”
“I believe everyone in London knows that, Mr. Hopscotch.”
“The Prince has tried to impress upon the duke how critical it is that he keep his word and marry you, but the Prince has seen no progress in that direction.”
“I had no idea this matter would even cross the Prince’s mind. Surely he has more important things to concern himself with than a personal matter between me and the duke.”
“What the dukes do and say is always important to the Prince. He feels strongly that the Duke of Drakestone should uphold the long-standing honor of the dukes before him and live up to his word and marry you.”
The man paused and waited as if he expected her to say something, but she remained silent. She had stopped answering questions about the duke after the first week of the Season.
“Have you asked the duke to fulfill his vow and marry you?”
“Certainly not,” she said.
“The Prince would like for you to.”
Louisa’s eyebrows rose, and so did her ire. “Sir, I don’t know what to say to you or to the Prince other than it is by mutual consent that the duke and I do not wish to marry.”
“The Prince must ask you to reconsider. I am not at liberty to give you the particulars of why it’s necessary—the duke knows them, of course—but it is in the Prince’s and England’s best interests for your wedding to the duke to take place by the first day of June.”
This conversation was getting more bizarre by the moment. “I find it difficult to believe that whether or not the duke and I marry would have anything to do with England or the Prince, Mr. Hopscotch.”
“It is of great importance to the Prince and to England. I am not here talking to you about this as a lark, Miss Prim. The consequences of not marrying the duke by the stated date will create a very serious matter in England.”
Very serious?
A flicker of unease prickled over her. “And you’ve talked to the duke about this?” she asked. “And stressed to him that he needs to marry me?”
“A number of times. I can’t impress upon you enough that this is a matter of great concern to the Prince. If you do not marry the duke by the first day of June, there will be great embarrassment and scandal to England and the Prince.”
She knew dukes were powerful and that many things went on behind closed doors concerning political matters, but she whispered, “I don’t see how that could be.”
She could understand how it might embarrass the Prince if he had made some kind of wager about the outcome of their marriage, as many gentlemen in London had, but how could it possibly affect England?
Suddenly something more pressing entered Louisa’s mind. Now she knew why the duke had come to see her that night after their afternoon in the park. He didn’t want to comfort her. He wanted to seduce her. He knew she desired him. He may even know she loved him. And Bray assumed once he had taken her innocence, she would feel obligated to marry him.
A pain gripped her stomach. He was trying to force her to marry him because the Prince wanted him to marry her. Heartache filled her. She had hoped that just maybe he wanted to marry her because he had some tender feelings for her, but now she knew that wasn’t true.
“So Miss Prim, can the Prince depend on you to do what is right and ask the duke to fulfill his obligation to your brother and marry you with all haste?”
“As you know, Mr. Hopscotch,” Louisa said stiffly, “it is difficult to force the duke to do anything he doesn’t want to do, but you can depend on me to talk to him about this and get the matter settled as quickly as possible.”
This time, the man smiled as if quite pleased with himself, and he ran his hand down the ends of his neckcloth again. “The Prince will not forget your consideration, Miss Prim,” he said, nodded, and then walked away as quietly as he’d come upon her.
“Who was that?” Mrs. Colthrust asked, coming up to Louisa.
“He said his name was Mr. Alfred Hopscotch.”
“Why were you over here in the corner with him?”
“We were just talking about the Prince,” she said as anger at Bray grew inside her.
“I’ve never heard of Mr. Hopscotch. Is he related to a title?”
“He didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.”
“Hmm, well, if you are interested, I can find out for you.”
