Page 21 of The Wedding-Crashing Duchess

“If you believe I can simply provide another woman to take Lady Phillipa’s place, then you have mistaken both my authority and my character,” Duncan replied.

“I have made no such mistake.”

“What, precisely, are you asking?”

Ronan looked directly at Augusta, “Her hand in marriage.”

Charity’s fingers closed around the back of Augusta’s chair.

Duncan moved in front of the desk. “No.”

“I was speaking to Lady Augusta,” Ronan did not appear surprised by the answer. “She is capable of answering for herself.”

Duncan gave a short, disbelieving laugh. “You expect me to believe that Lady Augusta is free to refuse without consequence?”

“Yes. If she refuses, I will leave and make no public complaint against her, bring no legal action and ask nothing further of your family.”

Augusta looked at him more carefully. His expression remained severe, and his eyes rested upon her with an intensity that unsettled her.

He was waiting. That was all.

“But surely you understand that this is such an odd thing to ask, considering what has happened,” Charity moved beside Augusta. “Why her?”

Ronan answered without hesitation, “I need a wife, and Lady Augusta has made another match considerably more difficult.”

“That is not a reason to marry someone,” Charity said.

“I did not ask Phillipa to marry me because I was in love with her. Rather, I asked because I require a duchess who can manage my household and provide companionship to my daughter. Lady Augusta is educated, capable and accustomed to the responsibilities of her rank.”

“You know almost nothing about me,” Augusta said.

Duncan stepped closer to him, “This conversation is finished.”

“No,” Augusta said.

All three of them looked at her.

“Augusta, you cannot be considering this.” Duncan’s expression changed. “You need not repay him with your life.”

The proposal was absurd. Only days earlier, she had stood before society and called him a murderer. Now he offered to make her his duchess.

At the same time, her name had already been dragged through every scandal sheet in London. Marriage prospects that had once seemed plentiful might never recover. She had wanted a home of her own and a family, though she had imagined attaining them through affection rather than obligation.

Ronan was not what she had imagined. He was intimidating, severe, and still nearly a stranger. But he had not forced Phillipa to continue with the wedding. Even now, despite Duncan’s suspicion, he had made it clear that Augusta could refuse him as well.

“Would you expect me to obey you in everything?” she asked.

Ronan’s eyebrows rose slightly. ”No.”

“Would I be free to manage your household?”

“That would be among your responsibilities.”

“Augusta, think carefully. You do not know this man,” Duncan jumped in again. “You believed him capable of murder, remember that.”

Augusta looked at her sister. “Do you believe he would mistreat me?”

Charity studied Ronan before answering. “I do not know him well enough to say. But this is a big decision; please don’t be hasty.”