Page 32 of A Duchess to Unravel
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Alistair. We do not have a meeting scheduled today.”
Her ear pressed tightly to the door of her brother’s study, Theo heard the bitterness in her brother’s voice. She had not slept a single moment the night before, her mind and body whirling from her visit to Alistair. They’d kissed one another with such passion that it made her body surge with joy-- and yet she despised his arrogant nature.
She was unsure if the bitter words of farewell they’d exchanged last night would change Alistair’s mind about the offer, but now here he was, arriving the moment calling hour began to speak to Tristan. She’d watched like a little spy, hiding behind corners and columns as Mr. Harold led him to Tristan’s office. Wanting to be sure she was not caught, she went through the library and to the closet the two rooms shared where, only a few days ago, she and her friends had played their trick.
Fondness filled her as she recalled how much they’d laughed, how they’d teased one another. It was the first day in a long time she had felt somewhat herself again.
“No, we do not,” she heard Alistair reply. “but there is a matter we must discuss.”
The deep timber of Alistair’s voice sent a shiver of desire down Theo’s spine and she immediately cursed herself for it. She might find him greatly annoying, but it was certainly true that everything about his physical and audial attributes also made her body spark with life.
“If this is about our conversation yesterday, I suppose I do owe you an apology. But you must understand. Despite our recent business deal you are still a stranger, and I cannot marry my sister to someone she barely knows.” She heard Tristan say.
Alarm shot through Theo. They’d had a conversation about her yesterday? About marriage? And Tristan had saidno?It seemed strange, seeing as his desire to get her betrothed to someone had been increasing with each day.
“None of the gentlemen here know her either,” Alistair remarked calmly.
“They know of her,” Tristan replied quickly. “Have been to the same parties, run in the same circles. You have only just arrived, so I still argue that you are more a stranger than they.”
The dislike in Tristan’s voice was unmistakable, and Theo marveled at how well her brother had been able to keep his true feelings about Alistair from her. It made her ponder on Alistair’s words the night before-- did she really know her brother? Or did he too wear a mask all his own?
“Maybe so,” she heard Alistair acquiesce, “However I have come with some news. I have spoken with Theo on this matter of marriage and she expressed her approval.”
Theo heard the scrape of chair legs and a slam of some sort as Tristan hissed out, “What? When? You dared seek an audience with my sister without my permission?”
Worry shot through Theo at the sound of her brother’s anger and alarm. Was Alistair going to tell him the truth? Was he going to hold it over Tristan’s head as a taunt?
She gripped the knob of the door, ready to go in and interfere, but what she heard Alistair say next made her freeze with shock.
“I was fascinated by your sister the moment I saw her at your dinner party. When I spoke with her later that evening I offered my proposal. She is intelligent, strong, and we share similar views on marriage. She sent word last night that she accepted my proposal,” Alistair told him.
“We are still strangers, yes, but we will remedy that after we are wed,” he went on, “Much like most couples of noble birth are forced to do.”
“I told you no yesterday,” Tristan retorted.
“You also said you would give your sister a choice,” Alistair countered quickly. “And she has chosen me. Are you truly going to take that from her?”
Tense silence filled the air next, stretching a quiet so loud and thick that Theo was starting to worry the beating of her heart could be heard from the closet she was hiding in. Then, in a volume she’d never heard from her brother before, her name was roared. He’d never done such an ungentlemanly thing!
Theo jumped, covering her mouth to stop the yelp she’d almost screamed, and hurriedly left the closet to make her way to the main door of her brother’s office. Once in front of it, she smoothed her hands down her face, hair, then her dress, urging herself to be calm. Tristan bellowed her name again just as she opened the door with purpose and stared at him coldly.
“What are you doing shouting so loudly?” She demanded. “Could you not send a servant for me as a polite person would do?”
For a moment Tristan seemed taken aback by her scolding, and she took the brief opportunity to flick her eyes toward Alistair. He had risen from his chair as she’d entered. He was wearing a most annoying smirk on his annoyingly handsome face. She narrowed her eyes at him, a silent warning to not get so cocky.
“The Duke of Caldermere has informed me that you have accepted his proposal of marriage,” Tristan stated. He was calmer now, but his voice still held a grit of displeasure to it.
“I was under the impression that you did not hold him in such a regard.”
Theo relaxed her face, a flurry of thoughts moving through her mind. She could not tell him the truth; that she had got a threatening letter. The worry would drive him mad, and from the looks of him presently, he was already close. Nor could she lie and say that it was any romantic notion that caused her to accept the proposal.
“I did not at first,” she admitted, clasping her hands in front of her, “However, His Grace has offered a practical solution to both of our problems. After much consideration I chose to accept his offer.”
Tristan studied her intently, as if searching for any form of reticence or doubt. When he finished, he turned to Alistair and did the same. Alistair only stared silently back, appearing calm and laid back at Tristan’s display of disrespect. For a moment Theo was silent as well, but as her brother’s staring intensified, she began to grow uneasy.
Alistair was a duke after all, a newly minted one, yes, but still, much higher in rank than Tristan himself. The show of open displeasure provided plenty of means for Alistair to put him in his place. She had to admit, silently of course, that she felt an ounce of respect for Alistair for not seeming offended.
