Page 6 of His Tempting Duchess

If the duke noticed her discomfort, he did not let on. They had met briefly, but not enough to actually spend quality time together. She knew nothing about the man.

“I thought perhaps we might talk some things over,” he said equably. “I don’t know about you, but now I have a whole day to spend as I wish.”

She did not smile. “What do you want, Your Grace?”

Get to the point, you wretch.

He tilted his head to the side. It made him look like a curious bird. “I’m sure you must have guessed by now that a mistake has been made, Miss Belmont.”

She tightened her grip on her bouquet. At some point, somebody had knocked into her and crushed the bouquet. Some of the flowers had half-snapped stems, the blooms tilting sadly to one side.

“I can’t imagine what you’re talking about,” she said, as evenly as she could.

Perhaps he wouldn’t notice how bad her eyesight was.

“I am referring, of course, to your twin sister taking your place at the altar,” the duke responded sweetly. “It would have ended badly had I not noticed. Why, the marriage would likely have been annulled. I doubt that your sister’s reputation would have recovered.”

“As it is, it may not recover now,” Emily snapped.

Inside, however, she was beginning to panic.

What had she been thinking? She should never have let Daphne take her place. Oh, it wasbeyondfoolishness.

The period before the wedding was something of a blur to Emily. She remembered her breakdown, the tears, the numb feeling as though she were becoming slowly paralyzed. And then Daphne’s voice, cutting through it all like a light through the fog.

“It’s not too late. It’s never too late. I’m not going to let you do this, Emily.”

And then they’d switched gowns, and Daphne had strode ahead to the church in her sister’s wedding finery, ready to embrace her fate instead.

And Emily had just watched Daphne run away. She juststoodthere.

Am I a coward? Daphne certainly isn’t. Is this how I’m fated to live my life, then? Quietly accepting whatever comes along?

“I’m sure your sister would have caused a scandal one way or another,” the duke remarked, his gaze lingering on her.

She wanted to shiver, not sure if she wanted him to continue looking at her with that intensity or whether she wanted to hurl something heavy at his head. Perhaps both?

This close, she could make up a little more of his features. Hewashandsome. Not that Emily put a great deal of store on looks. Her eldest sister, Anna, was a great beauty, and so was Daphne. Emily was pretty enough—of courseshe was, for she had the same face as her twin sister—but somehow less so. Her hair was dark and glossy, her eyes large and an idyllic shade of blue, and aside from that, her features and Daphne’s were even and pretty.

However, one had no control over one’s looks any more than one had control over one’s eyesight. Emily couldn’t recall a time when she hadnothad to wear her round, wire-rimmed spectacles, or a time when gentlemen and ladies looked at them as if they were some kind of great stain on her beauty.

As if she cared. At this moment, she would have happily sacrificed all of the pearl studs in her hair to get her spectacles, so that she could look this man in the eye properly.

“My sister is my dearest friend,” Emily shot back. “You rejected her.”

“Well, the banns were read for a different woman altogether.”

She folded her arms, abandoning the bouquet altogether. “How did you know about my eyes? We’ve scarcely met.”

He shrugged. “My cousin reminded me. Which brings me neatly to the main point. I asked my cousin to take care of the details of our arrangement. He is a dear friend, although a tad overzealous at times. I believe now that he did not go about it in the right way.”

Emily stiffened. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“He sent you a letter with my seal. My proposal, if you will. Can you tell me exactly what was said?”

Wordlessly, she fished in her sleeve.

It was a mistake to bring the letter here, but lately, Emily had been in a real panic about it. What if one of the maids found it, or her ever-meddling mother? Octavia would think nothing of going through her daughter’s things.

---