Page 56 of Her Wolf of a Duke

“If that is how you wish to see it, then I will not stop you. I have more important things to do than stand here arguing with you.”

She hoped that Gretchen would give in and let her leave, as she was coming to the point that she would say something that she would regret, and she did not wish to do that. She wanted to have a simple enough week, as simple as one could be when there was a wedding at the end of it, and she would not allow anything to change that, even if she had to admit that Gretchen had a point.

“You need to leave him be,” Gretchen said. “You did this, and now you are going to ruin his life. You are not good enough to be his wife, you know that. No duke dreams of a spinster wife, one that is old and incapable of doing all that a wife should.”

“And yet, you were found alone together and you received no proposal,” she snapped. “Perhaps you might be better to leave me be and wonder why you are unmarried and unprotected, while I shall be a duchess in a matter of days.”

“And perhaps you might like to remember what people are saying of you. You shall never be respected. I feel for the Dukeof Lupton, for he will not be able to regain any respect now. A rakish duke with his spinster wife. Truly, what a pair you are.”

Emma took the self-assured look in Gretchen’s eye to mean that she was satisfied, and would now leave her be. She turned on her heel and left for her carriage. Indeed, Gretchen didn’t say another word, and Emma could leave without any further issue.

But her issues were far from over.

It did not matter how she felt, however, not when she had so much more to contend with. Her marriage would protect her sister, and that was all that mattered.

Sarah, however, did not seem so certain of that.

“What happened?” she asked the moment Emma returned home. “I should have been with you. I knew that something would happen.”

“Nothing happened,” Emma protested, but she knew there were tears in her eyes.

“Emma, do not lie to me. What happened?”

“It was Gretchen,” she sighed. “She saw me when I was in town, and she said these terrible things to me, and I want to disbelieve it all but I cannot. She was so proud of herself too, as though she knew she was hurting me.”

“Well, you always bare your heart for all to see. You mustn’t listen to her, no matter what she said. This marriage will be good, however it started. She is envious that you have what she so badly wants, and in spite of what thetonthinks you did not need to use any schemes to achieve it. You need not give her another thought.”

Emma nodded, but she couldn’t bring herself to agree. The truth was that Gretchen had picked her apart completely, and made her feel like the most disgusting wretch. She was not worthy of being the Duchess of Lupton, but she would have to take the title. There was nothing that she could do to change that.

CHAPTER 19

Levi felt evil for what he had done, but he couldn’t think of any other way to fix things.

He hadn’t known what to do when they were seen on the veranda, as in all honesty there was nothing to be done. They had risked everything, and in the moment it had been a wonderful thing but it had come back to bite them, and now…

Now he would be a husband, and she would be forced to be his wife. He had never wanted to marry, but he knew his duty. In terms of possible wives, she was the least objectionable, but that only made it worse. It was because she was so lovely that he dreaded forcing her into such an arrangement. She had deserved so much more, and he would never amount to that. It was easier for him to keep away, and to give her the chance to find happiness elsewhere.

He suggested as much to Leonard, as they drank in Levi’s parlor room the evening before the wedding.

“If you do that,” Leonard sighed, “then you are an even greater fool than most.”

“It is not foolish to want her happiness, which she will never find with me. I do not know what else to do. I am already doing what is right and marrying her. What more can I do?”

“I know, but you are only doing this to yourself. Nobody forced you to follow her out of the ballroom, and nobody forced you to kiss her. Clearly, you hold some affection for her, so why don’t you simply act on it?”

“You know why. After what happened with my father, I cannot allow myself to risk that same life. I cannot become him.”

“And you wouldn’t, but there seems to be no point in telling me that. You refuse to believe me whatever I say.”

“You do not know that. My father was young once, too. He enjoyed socializing as I do and he smiled and flirted and enjoyed himself. It was marriage that made him the way that he was.”

“No, he had always been that way,” Leonard explained. “It was simply the fact that he could hide it behind closed doors that made him feel comfortable showing that side of him. You are not like that, Levi. Stop treating yourself as though you are. It isn’t fair to Miss Kendall.”

“Nor is it fair to her that she will inevitably have to meet my mother.”

“Oh, God, are you truly going to do that? Couldn’t you just move your mother into lodgings of her own? You could send a few servants with her.”

“No, it is only right that I keep her with me. If I didn’t that would only mean visiting her often, which is a choice that I do not wish to make often. Besides, she might like my wife, and if that is the case then all will be well.”

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