“We’ve caused so much trouble being on this side of the river. It will be best for the Wilcoxes to go back across the Thames and find ways to keep Wilcox Coal afloat. Then a friend wouldn’t have to feel obligated to take care of us. We shouldn’t be your or Lord Mark’s concern.”
“Who should be concerned? When you told me of the debts, it was not new information. I’d discovered every loan Lord Hampton took out. I even sent wages to Mr. Thom.”
“We are so indebted to you.” There was no way to pay him back. Mere friendship wasn’t enough. “I don’t know what to say.”
When I lifted my chin, I witnessed anger roiling in his eyes. “Lord Hampton and I were friends a long time. I knew exactly who he was. The secrets he took to the grave are grievous, but that’s who Tavis Palmers was. His debts are not yours to pay. You make decisions for yourself.”
Nonetheless, accepting the duke’s proposal would be payment, payment in full.
“A marriage of convenience is the obvious choice. Your Grace, I should say yes, but what happens if I say no?”
His lips thinned for a moment, and I took the time to look at his handsome face, the thin mustache that curled about his dimples, the wavy hair that needed brushing like his brows. He was tall and fit and towered over me in a way that made me feel secure.
“We can’t go back to how we were a year ago, Georgina.”
He used my given name. His slight accent made it sound likeYorvina. It was pretty and delicate. That’s not me. “Would that be bad to go back, Your Grace? We walked as strangers by the Thames, then as friends.”
“I listened to the difficulties you shared. Our friendship is peaceful. You are beauty and grace.”
“You make a compelling argument, Your Grace, but won’t I be a shadow of what you truly want?”
For the first time his gaze broke.
He shoved his hands behind his back and turned. “A shadow can demand I leave your lives. I don’t want to fight her or feel like a stranger anymore.”
It made sense.
All of it.
Somehow Katherine came between the two friends, who both loved her. When she returned home from her great adventure changed, broken, who had her heart? Which man had thrown it away?
I wanted to know, but Wilcoxes kept secrets too.
This one was Katherine’s, the secrets as well as the duke’s heart.
I put a palm to his sleeve and turned him to me. “You’re the kindest man. I am forever your friend. And as your friend, I’m going to pretend this conversation did not happen. That my mother who worshiped titles is not tossing about demanding that I become the Duchess of Torrance.”
“How does one forget a logical conclusion? Lady Hampton believed it possible for us to have an attachment. Why shouldn’t we marry? I need to belong. I want you all to belong to me.”
My anger at Katherine pushed me down the rebel’s path, but I couldn’t do this to her. “I don’t know what to say. My family needs a champion, but I thought it would be one of us girls.”
“Then I will say the answer. Nyet. I must renege and be a heel. Family obligations have doomed many girls.” He threaded his fingers together. “You can’t marry someone in love with another. You and Lord Mark Sebastian have an understanding even if you can’t acknowledge it.”
“And you have one with Katherine.”
My wait for him to acknowledge my words was for naught. The duke gripped my hand and kissed it. “The composer’s no fool. He must see the jewel you are. He’s blinded by his belief that he has to win a prize to be successful. Having a full heart and a house of love are the greatest successes.”
It was my turn to not acknowledge what the duke said.
My heart could be wrong. Yet, I hoped he was right, that Mark did love me as I loved him.
“He has the talent to win the Harlbert’s Prize, Your Grace. I’m not going to talk him out of his desire.”
“Maybe he needs someone to tell him the truth. Maybe that someone is a bold young woman who kissed a stranger in a garden and rejected a duke.”
“If Lord Mark and I share something of meaning, it can wait until he finishes. He can—”
“Nyet. The newspapers are creating folly. Until they have a new scandal, they’ll repeat their lies and make you and Sebastian laughingstocks. So let a man decide what’s important. Don’t take away his choices. He’ll hate that more.”
