Page 28 of The Unwanted Duchess

“Then it is done. Now, is that the end of this conversation?”

Samantha wished to say yes and then return to her room and sleep at last so that she would be as ready as possible to face the day. Unfortunately, she had felt the rush of pushing her luck with the Duke and wished to do it again. He almost seemed to respect her for it, and in spite of herself, she wanted more.

“What if you fall in love with me, Your Grace?” she asked, her throat dry.

“You need not be concerned about that. I am not a gentleman that falls in love. It is not for me, and I doubt that I will ever be.”

“And what if I fall in love with you?”

His face seemed to darken, and she wondered if that meant she had pushed him too far, and he would at last be angry with her.

He did not say anything for a moment, instead looking her in her eyes. Samantha could not help but notice how they were so blue, even in yellow candlelight. She wanted him to speak, even if it was to tell her to leave or to call her something foul. She wanted to hear his voice, and she was furious with herself for it.

“If you wish to fall in love with me,” he replied at last, “then be my guest. It is as I told you — you have your freedom to do as you please. I do not care how you feel about me, so long as you give me an heir.”

Somehow, that affected her more than any cruel words could have. He truly did not care about her at all. She was inconsequential to him, but at least, this way she would be free to do as she pleased.

“Very well, Your Grace,” she agreed. “Then we have a deal. I shall see you in the morning.”

“I believe it already is morning,” he smirked, “but I shall see you at breakfast, nonetheless.”

“Very well,” she huffed. “Breakfast it is.”

She was standing straight, and the Duke seemed to believe in her confidence which was just as well because she did not believe in it at all. He had not been unkind once, but she felt even worse than she would have done had she received a scolding.

“Goodnight, Lady Samantha,” he said, and she realized that she was still standing in his room. “Unless you wish for a repeat of last night, that is.”

She did not like the Duke at all, she told herself as she returned to her room. At least this time there was no note waiting for her. Regardless, she had been attached to a duke that did not care about her at all, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

Then why, she wondered, did she feel so shaken? She was not the type to be so easily rattled by someone’s indifference, and yet the Duke’s…

It was almost unbearable.

CHAPTER 10

“Breakfast?” Samantha’s father asked. “Why on earth would you think you would be having that?”

The Earl was all too excited to return home all of a sudden. It was a change in his behavior, given how much importance he had held over the event, but Samantha realized quite quickly that there were things for him to put in motion and a wedding to plan whether she wished to do it or not.

“I promised the Duke,” she explained. “I told him that I would see him at breakfast this morning. I cannot simply disappear now, can I?”

“You already have him. There is no need to appease him now.”

“He could always take back the proposal, you know that.”

“He is clearly a man of honor,” her father explained, “and so I doubt that he would do that to you now. You ought to simply begrateful that I am taking you home. That is what you wanted, is it not? Truly, I cannot do right by you, can I? One moment, you wish to go home rather than attend a party; the next, you wish to stay!”

“I — I simply did not know the Duke before, Father. Now that I do, I am more than happy to stay.”

“Then you should have considered that beforehand. Now come along; we must make haste if I am to arrange your wedding.”

“Will the Duke not want some sort of input in it all?”

“I have already spoken with him. He does not care what I arrange so long as it is in keeping with his status. He is also funding it, so there shall be no expense spared either.”

“Father, you cannot spend another man’s money like this!”

“I am doing this for you, Samantha. Truly is it impossible for you to show even the faintest hint of gratitude?”

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