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“That is good to know.”
His sister tilted her head at him.
“Are you worried about mother?”
“Mm.” Now that she brought it up, that was certainly a concern. Thinking about how his mother would react to him marrying Miss Hu rather than a debutante… Thanks to his sister, he no longer had any faith that his mother would treat his wife well.
She might. But she might not.
“Do you think she would not approve of Miss Fenley?”
“Mm.”
Tiffany made a good point. His mother would want his bride to be more than a mere miss. Daughter to the third son of a marquess was unlikely to be highly ranked enough for her. And if she did not approve of Miss Fenley, a matchmaker would likely require smelling salts.
“Lady Darcy could likely hold her own with Mother. Possibly Lady MarcyAnne as well.”
“Mm.”
“Sebastian!”
“What?” He startled in his chair, blinking as his eyes went wide. Tiffany glared at him.
“You wanted to speak in private with me. I have gone to all the trouble to arrange it, Mama agreed to play hostess to the other ladies, and yet you’ve barely spoken a word!” His sister’s annoyance was palpable.
Sebastian cleared his throat.
“I am glad you have her.”
“Who?”
“Gregory’s mother.” Who Tiffany called ‘Mama’. Gregory’s mother doted on her in the manner she deserved. The way their own mother should but did not.
“Sebastian!”
“I want to marry Miss Hu.” It was both terrifying and a relief to say the words aloud, to hear them spoken and feel them hanging in the air between him and Tiffany. His sister stared at him, mouth open in shock, eyes wide, totally speechless. Sebastian heaved a deep breath. “I think. Perhaps.”
“That…” Tiffany shook her head. “That is not…”
“Not possible, I know.” He settled back into the chair, disgruntled.
“Not what I expected you to say,” she corrected. “I mean. You are a duke. You can marry whoever you want. You… Sebastian!”
“What? Ow!” He put his hand over his upper arm where she’d just smacked him.
Tiffany glared at him, lowering her voice even though no one else was in the room. “Are you… did you seduce her? Is she with child?”
“What? No! How could you think that?”
“I do not know what to think!” She shook her head. “All you do is prattle on about how dukes do not need matchmakers. I did not think you even liked her. And, well, Mother… good lord, Mother would… I do not know what Mother would do.”
“Neither do I. It’s not what I am supposed to do. I know that. I do not even know if she would have me.” Sebastian stared morosely at the navy brocade drapes across from him, his gaze following the highly-decorative pattern. “But we had a moment last night—”
“Last night?”
“In the library—”
“My library?!”
