Page 56 of The Duke and His Cinderella
“I don’t know,” her mother said. “I’d like to think that it would be so easy, but it might not be, Eleanor. After all, more and more gentlemen make their arrangements every day. In fact, that’s just what we’re celebrating this afternoon. Of course, I wish it wasyouwe were celebrating, but as you haven’t given us anything to celebrate…” She shook her head. “We’ll have to take what we can get, that’s all.”
“I don’t understand,” Eleanor admitted. “What are we celebrating?”
“The Duke of Nightingale’s marriage to Lady Hannah,” her mother said.
Eleanor frowned. “Has the duke been asked whether he would like to celebrate that?”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” her mother said. “Of course he would. And what’s more, the arrangements were made with his mother, so we know that everything is just fine. The two of them have set a date for their wedding—that’s what we’re celebrating today.”
Eleanor blinked. “They’ve set a date?”
“Does that shock you? Well, I suppose it would, now that I think about it—the idea of anyone moving forward and making progress in their life must come as a great surprise to you, Eleanor. I suppose you thought the two of them would go on talking about marriage without actually doing anything about it for the rest of their lives. Believe it or not, my daughter, that isn’t the way most people live. Most people eventually make changes that move them forward in their lives. The duke and Lady Hannah have decided to move ahead in their plans, as well they should, I might add, and we’re honoring them with a bit of a luncheon.”
But how could they have?Hadn’t the duke asked Eleanor for a courtship just the night before? She knew she hadn’t imagined that. Had he been toying with her? What could have made him ask her to court him and then turn around and immediately solidify his engagement to someone else?
It was true that she hadn’t accepted the proposition—that she had been reluctant about it. But he had seemed willing, last night, to push through her reluctance and to convince her that it was the right thing to do. Not that he should be required to convince her, she supposed—he shouldn’t have to do that if he didn’t want to. But had she really beensoreluctant that he had found it necessary to drop the whole idea and return to Lady Hannah? If Phineas was to be believed, he didn’t even care for Lady Hannah? Had Phineas been wrong? Or had the duke changed his mind?
If hehadchanged his mind, what could have happened to incite the change? She didn’t understand.
Was it the fact that she had run off without answering his question last night? Perhaps he had found that rude—but then, he must have understood that she couldn’t be expected to stand there and go on talking to him if there was a chance of their being overheard. He must have known what a risk she was taking once they’d heard someone moving around in the trees. He couldn’t be angry with her for being rude…could he? That didn’t make sense.
She sighed. It was for the best that she hadn’t allowed herself to get her hopes too high at the possibility of a courtship, she decided. It was never something that was likely to happen, given that he had an arrangement with someone else. She had always known that.
And yet, shehadpermitted herself to hope. She had let herself imagine what it would be like to be courted by him, to accept anarrangement with him instead of waiting around to see what her parents would come up with. She had known that it would be a good thing. She cared for him. The idea of a future with him wasn’t dreadful, the way it was when she thought of other men in her future. With the duke, the future seemed exciting—and she had hoped that it might be something real.
It wasn’t. Of course it wasn’t.
Her heart was heavy. She wished she had never come downstairs to receive this dreadful news. “I’m not feeling well,” she told her mother. “I think I’m going to go back up to my room.”
“You most certainly are not! You’ll do nothing of the kind,” her mother said sharply. “You’re not going to embarrass us in front of our guests, Eleanor. Sit down at the table at once.”
“Really, Mother, I’m not well,” Eleanor said firmly. “I don’t say this to upset you, but I think that I need to go back upstairs and lie down, or I may become faint.”
“You always have to be the center of attention, don’t you?” Her mother sighed. “Fine. Go. Go upstairs to your room. The duke won’t miss you, I’m sure. I’m sure he doesn’t even know who you are, because you’ve been so little present during this party. You’re an embarrassment to all of us—your father, your sister, and me. You had better find a way to avoid ruining this party. That’s all I can say. If Marina’s wedding is ruined by your behavior, none of us will ever forgive you.”
Eleanor would ordinarily have stayed to engage her mother in an argument based on that, but she hadn’t the energy today. She turned and hurried back upstairs.
She had been right to feel hesitant about coming down, she thought. She had been right to worry that this day would be a difficult one. The only thing she could think was that it was very lucky she’d gotten this new information before crossing paths with the duke. It would have been agony to have to face him, knowing what she now knew, wondering if he had been toying with her when he’d asked her for a courtship.
Had it been a cruel joke? Had he despised her the moment he had seen her scar? Perhaps her mother was right—perhaps it made her undesirable, and the duke had only pretended that he might care for her as a way of deceiving her.
He hadn’t seemed like such a cruel man.
But you never could say for certain about people, she supposed. She didn’t know him very well at all. She didn’t know what sort of man he was. Maybe he was the type to do exactly that.
If he was, she would be glad she had gotten rid of him before things had gotten any more serious between him. If that was the kind of man he was, that meant he wasn’t anything like the person she had believed him to be—and she wanted nothing to do with him any longer.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“You’d better be on the lookout,” Jacob said to Nicholas as he made his way down to the dining room.
“Why?” Nicholas asked. “What am I looking out for?”
“I don’t know who did this, butsomeonehas told everyone that you and Lady Hannah have now set a date for your wedding,” Jacob said.
Nicholas was outraged. “I don’t mean to marry her at all! Who would have done such a thing?”
“Maybe she did it herself,” Jacob said. “I don’t know who’s responsible, Nicholas. All I know is that this is all anyone is talking about, so you’d better be prepared for it. The whole lunch is arranged in your honor now. They're going to want to celebrate you from the moment you walk through those doors.”
