Page 18 of His Unwanted Duchess

“I can’t do that, Anna,” Beatrice interrupted. She felt almost hysterical, as if she were about to burst out laughing and never stop. “I entered into an agreement with him. Of my own free will. Itisa matter of honor. It was to be an unusual arrangement, he said. Oh, Anna, I think I am going to have to go through with it. I think I will have to marry the Duke of Blackwood.”

CHAPTER 6

Theodore stared at Stephen for quite a long time.

Generally speaking, Stephen did not like being stared at. He was not one of those nobles who flew into a rage if a subordinate dared to look them in the eyes, but prolonged eye contact was impolite at best—and more often than not a challenge.

Theodore had known Stephen for longer than either of them could remember, however, and was remarkably stubborn, into the bargain. In short, he was too valuable a friend to replace very easily, so Stephen only stared back and waited for his companion to speak first.

“The ton will speak of nothing but this for years,” Theodore said, at last. “The parties involved will never recover. Not that I care for the Marquess, of course, but Miss Haversham is ruined.”

Stephen smiled wryly. “Bold words for a man who married his brother’s jilted bride barely a week later. Perhaps I felt as though you were attracting too much attention and wished to compete.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Stephen. I’m sure Beatrice is innocent in all of this, but truly, her reputation?—”

“Her reputation will be fine,” Stephen interrupted. “Sheisinnocent.”

Theodore growled in frustration. “Nobody will marry her after this.”

“Firstly, I ought to point out that dear Miss Haversham does not seem tointendto get married, and certainly not to the weak sort of men that might be scared off by a trifling scandal.”

“A trifling… Oh, you are infuriating.”

“I work hard at it, my friend. And secondly, she may well be announcing an engagement soon.Iintend to marry her.”

There. It was said.

Stephen privately enjoyed poking the wasps’ nest that was the ton. Their stinging reprisals were meat and drink to him. Frankly, at times, he did not feelwholeunless there was some shocking scandal hanging about him, some horror story that had gentlemen quaking in their boots and ladies swooning as he passed by.

Their disgust and delight were all one to him. He’d take either, or both, just so long as they were notindifferent.

Theodore was a different matter. Stephen watched his friend carefully, seeing emotions flit across his face. Disbelief, anger, horror, resignation, all in quick succession.

“You cannot be serious,” Theodore said.

“I rarely joke.”

“The devil you don’t. But your jokes are unbearably complicated.”

“Come, Theo. We’re meant to be walking home, aren’t we?”

Stephen turned and began to walk away from the church. Just a little way ahead was a wrought-iron gate through which carriages, ladies, and gentlemen of all ranks were passing, ready to join the gray London streets and go about their day as before, albeit with a fine new piece of gossip to share. A wedding gone wrong was always exciting, as long as it was not one’s own.

Theodore muttered an expletive under his breath, jogging to catch up with his long-legged friend.

Stephen did not bother to slow his pace for his shorter companion. Suddenly, he was very tired of London and people and being out in the open. Mapping out the quickest route toTheodore’s London residence, he decided that the walk home would take no more than fifteen minutes if they took a shortcut.

We might even arrive home before Anna and my new betrothed if traffic is particularly bad,he thought, smiling wryly.

“You cannot be serious about marrying Beatrice,” Theodore said, his voice low and urgent. “Sometimes, Stephen, I think I do not understand you at all. The Marquess may be an unpleasant man, but he was never an enemy of yours. He never made trouble for you, as far as I can recall. Why humiliate him so publicly?”

“So that the wedding would be called off, of course,” Stephen responded.

“And that’s it, then? You wanted to cause mischief? Beatrice is not… She’s a fine lady, to be sure, but she is not swimming in opportunities. Perhaps she was eager to marry the Marquess.”

Stephen stopped short. At this point, they had joined the flow of pedestrians making their way out of the gates, sticking to one side of the road to avoid the carriages. His pause caused something of an obstruction, and there were muffled tuts and quiet exclamations of annoyance, as other walkers were forced to stop and go around.

Nothing was saidtooloudly, of course, and never said directly to him.

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