Page 22 of The Unwanted Duchess

“I would also love that!”

But Samantha knew that she would not attend it. Once she returned home and had to marry her betrothed, she would not be allowed to see her spinster friend. Anyone willing to be around her father would forbid his wife from engaging in such improprieties; she was sure of it. Regardless, she did not feel the need to say such a thing then and there and ruin it all. If these were to be her final few nights of freedom, she was going to enjoy them.

After dinner, they all moved to the drawing room, and somehow Miss Norton ended up at the pianoforte and was playing it. She was good, Samantha had to admit, even though she noted a few missed notes in the piece. Even so, it sounded nice, and so she was applauded at the end.

“Is she not the most wonderful pianoforte player?” Nicholas smiled. “Truly, I am the luckiest gentleman in all of England.”

“My daughter is also passionate about the instrument,” Samantha’s father noted, and she pleaded with him silently not to suggest that she also play.

Miss Norton clearly already saw her as competition, and she did not wish to make it any worse. She only wanted for the spectacle to be over so that she could return to her conversation with Lady Penelope and enjoy her evening properly.

Fortunately, she was not forced behind the pianoforte, and the conversation turned back to Miss Norton, who was now on the arm of Nicholas. Samantha had to admit that they made a nice pair, as spiteful as they both seemed to be. It was as Lady Penelope said — if their match meant nobody else had to suffer them, then that could only be a good thing.

What was certainly not a good thing was the way Nicholas seemed to whisper something in Miss Norton’s ear that made her smirk, and then he seemed to ready himself to address the room.

“If I say I have changed my mind…”

Nicholas had never promised not to say a word about it. He had only tricked the Duke into leaving him alone about it. He still completely intended to reveal her secret and ruin her, and she would have been perfectly content with that had she known that the Duke would be as well.

But the Duke had also noticed his brother preparing to speak. She caught his eye and began shaking her head, begging him to let him say what he had to say and let whatever came of it simply happen, but he shook his head in return and then started walking towards his brother with a face like thunder.

“Everyone,” Nicholas began, “I have an announcement to make —”

“It can come after mine,” the Duke interjected. “My apologies, Brother, but you will soon see why I could wait no longer.”

Nicholas scowled at him, but he backed away. Samantha wanted to run to him and drag him away, but of course, she could not do that. In spite of how she thought, he was a man, and so he had authority over her, and thus she had to accept what he was doing.

“I am a man of few words,” he began to a few laughs, “and never have I spoken so many as I have in the last day. You might think it is because I have been challenged, and you would be right about that. I have, indeed, been issued a challenge by a beautiful young lady.”

At this, the room fell completely silent. Samantha knew what he was doing, and she wanted to interrupt, but she could see how angered Miss Norton was as the Duke spoke, and for the first time in her life, she decided to do the worst thing. She liked how Miss Norton was having her power stripped from her, not to mention Nicholas, who was incredibly flustered and trying in vain to conceal his scowl.

“This lady,” the Duke continued, “has made me question everything I thought I knew. I am not one to hide my wrongdoings, and one of them was the way I treated her at first, and it was only when I saw firsthand what that looks like that I realized how wrong I was. We talked, and I then also realizedjust how wonderful she is. You may all think me a fool, but if that is what I am then so be it, for I am in love, and I must declare it. It is the only thing one can do when one feels so strongly. And so, Lady Samantha —”

There were a few gasps as though they had been expecting him to call someone else’s name.

“Lady Samantha,” he repeated, looking right at her, “will you please do me the honor of becoming my duchess? Will you be my bride?”

He pulled out a small box from his pocket, opening it deftly to reveal the most beautiful ring Samantha had ever seen. It had been a wonderful speech, spoken in the most lovely way. In any other world it would have been the perfect proposal.

But it was the two of them, and it was all a lie.

Penelope nudged her forward, smirking at her as she did so, and then Samantha felt herself stumble forward into the middle of the room. Everyone was staring at her, something she had never truly enjoyed, but all she could truly look at was the Duke, who was looking at her intently,

Then she saw her father, standing behind the Duke and his brother, nodding to her.

This was exactly what he had wanted, and it was the reason he had taken her there, and of all of the men that she couldhave entrapped, she had ended up with what he saw as the best possible option. She would be a fool to go against his wishes, and yet…

And yet she did not love the Duke.

She looked back at the Duke, who was practically pleading with her silently to say yes. She knew it was the right thing to do, and that any lady in her position would jump at the opportunity, and that she had already avoided this fate once and would be a fool to think she could do it a second time.

She also knew that she had to speak.

“Lady Samantha?” the Duke asked.

And she did not know what to say to him.

CHAPTER 8

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