“My study,” the duke said. “It’s big enough but not too big. Perfect for the games or more so the parade of suitors to begin.”
Parade? Were these two going to make men show off in front of Miss Wilcox?
“The study it is, Torrance.” With a nod, Livingston left the dining room.
Almost raising my hands in prayer to beg the duke, I groaned. “This isn’t right.”
“Rest assured, I truly have Miss Wilcox’s interests in mind. I’ll not let anything untoward happen to her. I only win if she believes my candidate is the best husband. We both know she refuses to marry just anyone. She’s not easily swayed. She’ll not choose a person who won’t make her happy.”
“And what of Lady Hampton’s interests? Is your hate of her clouding your judgment?”
The smile on Torrance’s face evaporated, like water in a hot pot, sizzling to become steam. “The woman is my concern. She has free will to decide what’s best. She can even back out of this bet if she’ll come to me reasonably and apologize. But such a wise act is beneath her. She’d rather rot in hell than admit she’s wrong.”
“And you wish to be married to that? A bitter woman will destroy you.”
“No. Suffering doesn’t matter. She’ll act accordingly. And I’ll know that all the sisters will be provided for. They are gentlewomen. I can assure they will be married well and protected. That makes everything right.”
“What’s the great sin you are trying to fix, that you don’t care about your own happiness?”
The duke looked over his goblet. “You ask a lot of questions like a certain miss. I think you need to finish a sonata so that you can see about your own future. Do it quickly and gain another chance with Miss Wilcox.”
“But that doesn’t help you, Torrance.”
“As I said, I want each of the sisters happy. I think she truly cares for you, but you both have no future together if you’re not a successful composer. That’s what you’ve told us all.”
I had, hadn’t I?
He sipped and seemed to gaze at the remaining kartoshkas. “Remember, if you can win her, my wager is a draw. Scarlett’s potential matrimony will be the deciding match. I have a whole year to learn and nudge her in the right direction.”
“And you still get a full house of Wilcoxes. I joked about this other day, but it’s true. It’s not Lady Hampton you want. Well, not alone. It’s the whole family.”
The duke downed whatever was in his goblet and slammed it on the table. “I made a mistake a long time ago. I’m setting right what I would’ve had: a warmer, closer relationship with them. Those girls, especially Lydia, would’ve always been welcome here. And I could’ve seen to her medical care from the beginning. To have her not suffer like my sister is worth the punishment of a shrewish woman.”
His logic was flawed, but his concern for the Wilcoxes was unimpeachable. I envied his self-control, this man who cared more for these ladies than his personal happiness. Steele was right. Power looked different in the duke’s hands.
Rising, Torrance dropped his napkin into his chair. “You’ll just have to trust me, Sebastian. I shall go dress. The candidates should be arriving soon.”
He walked to the door. “Sebastian, stay. I think I’ll find your opinion on the men as fascinating as Livingston’s. It may be more valid, more emotional, because you know Miss Wilcox. Our friend will be clinical. That won’t make the best assessment.”
What was clinical about actually loving someone? Everything ached all over again, as if Georgie herself had just rejected me once more. I wished I could be clinical or as cold and removed as Livingston and wish Miss Wilcox well in choosing a mate.
I could do none of that, not with Georgina Wilcox choosing anyone to marry who wasn’t me.
Chapter 31
GEORGINA—ALMOSTHOME
At the grand dining room table, I sat in my chair listening to the violinist the duke had hired to serenade us through dinner.
The beat was lively, quarter time, I think. I shuffled my slippers under the long white table skirt.
Going to Anya House had become part of our routine, a steadying force for the Wilcox girls. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we stayed and dined and laughed.
Well, Lydia and Scarlett laughed.
Sometimes I’d slip in my solidarity with Katherine and let out a chuckle at the performers His Grace had provided to give us entertainment.
Acrobats entered with juggling balls and whipping flames as they paraded around his dining room table.
