“He is right. What else?”
Lily pulled at a thread on her glove. “He suggested an engagement for theton’seyes. One we would dissolve eventually.”
Sophia’s brows rose, but she did not gasp or clutch her chest. She simply watched Lily with the same steady gaze of an older sister.
“And you refused.”
“Of course I refused.”
“The premise is practical, sister.” Sophia leaned forward. “If Society believes you are engaged to Hugo, the scandal sheet becomes an announcement rather than an accusation. Wilfrey has already withdrawn. By tomorrow, every eligible gentleman who was considering a call will calculate the same cost.”
The words settled in Lily’s chest like stones dropped into still water.
“Edward and I will speak with Mr. Colborne first thing tomorrow about the forgery,” Sophia continued. “But in the meantime, you need a shield.”
They left shortly after. Lily stood at the window and watched their carriage pull away, and Sophia’s words circled through her mind like birds finding a roost. A shield. She had never needed one before. She had moved through the world with her intellect and her family name and the assumption that both would be sufficient, and the discovery that they were not left a hollow place beneath her ribs that she could not fill with logic.
Lord and Lady Brimsey retired, her mother’s quiet weeping audible through the door until Lord Brimsey’s murmured reassurances eased her into silence.
Lily sat on the edge of her bed without undressing. She thought about the Duke. The way his voice had dropped when he said those last words. The certainty in his tone, as if protecting her were not a question but a fact already decided.
He was arrogant. He was insufferable. But he had not lied to her. And when she had thrown his reputation back in his face, he had not flinched or retreated behind wounded pride.
That, more than anything, kept her awake long after the house had fallen silent.
The knock came at half past ten the following morning.
The Duke of Thornwaite stood in the center of the parlor with his hands clasped behind his back. His coat was dark blue, his cravat tied in a precise knot, and his fair hair was combed back from his face. He looked nothing like the disheveled, cream-smeared libertine she had confronted the night before. He looked like a Duke.
“Lord Brimsey. Lady Brimsey.” He bowed to each in turn, then inclined his head toward Lily. “Lady Lily.”
“Your Grace.” Lord Brimsey gestured to a chair. “Please.”
The Duke remained standing. “I will be direct. A forged publication has linked my name to your daughter’s in a manner designed to cause her harm. I had nothing to do with it, and I intend to discover who did. In the meantime, I am here topropose a solution. A formal announcement of our engagement. Temporary and private in its true nature, but public in its effect.”
Lord Brimsey’s expression did not change. “And when the engagement ends?”
“It ends quietly. A mutual dissolution, attributed to incompatibility. Lady Lily’s reputation remains intact, and she is free to pursue whatever match she chooses.”
Silence filled the room. Lily watched her parents exchange a glance, the wordless communication of thirty years of marriage.
“Lily.” Lord Brimsey turned to her. “What do you think?”
Every instinct she possessed screamed at her to refuse. But Lord Wilfrey’s note sat on the hall table. Her mother had cried. And Sophia had used the wordshield.
“I agree.” The words tasted like vinegar. “On the condition that the Duke and I will discuss privately.”
Lord Brimsey looked between them. “Lily, I am not certain that…”
“Papa. I can handle myself around the Duke.”
Her parents left the room with visible reluctance, Lord Brimsey pausing at the door to fix Hugo with a look that carried theweight of every father who had ever entrusted his daughter to a man he did not fully trust.
The door closed behind them.
“Rules,” Lily said. “First. No touching beyond what is required for public appearances.” Her voice came out steadier than she felt, which was a small mercy. If she could not control anything else about this evening, she could control this.
“Noted.”
