Page 50 of The Last Duke She'd Marry
“This has nothing to do with the Duke of Evesham,” Juliet protested.
Granville cast her a disbelieving glance. She couldn’t blame him. After all, she was lying.
Although the humiliating truth was that she broke her engagement because of her own behavior, not her bugbear’s. After permitting Evesham such liberties, she couldn’t in good conscience go to Granville’s bed.
“Yes, it has. I should have known he was sniffing around your skirts, the minute I heard the ridiculous rumor that he was down here playing at Shakespeare. That maggot wouldn’t know Shakespeare from a blasted cricket ball. He couldn’t resist breaking up my engagement.”
Juliet stiffened and spoke with the voice that had allowed her to play mistress of Afton Park at fifteen. “Your Grace, I’ll thank you to credit me with the character and intelligence to reach this conclusion, free of outside influence. I’ve spent all night reflecting upon this matter. I believe we will not suit. There’s no point seeking someone else to blame. I regret if my actions have caused you pain. At least the engagement wasn’t yet public, so no adverse gossip should attach to your name.”
He eyed her, as if what she said annoyed rather than appeased him. “Gossip will attach to you. Society’s been waiting for me to propose. You’ll be derided as the woman I rejected. That makes two dukes you’ve missed out on, my lady. If you aim to become a duchess, you’re running out of candidates. Good luck squeezing a proposal out of Evesham. He has a habit of seducing my fiancées, then leaving them high and dry.”
Juliet hid a wince, although he had a right to his resentment. “I don’t believe I’m suited to marriage. I’ll retire to a quiet life in the country.”
She’d be a laughingstock. She knew it. And Granville wouldn’t be the only one who blamed her spinsterhood on Evesham. She’d feared gossip from the moment that her father produced a rogue to be her Romeo.
Granville regarded her the way that he’d look at a cockroach on his path. If any cockroach would have the gall to inconvenience such an exalted personage as the Duke of Granville. “You disappoint me, Lady Juliet.”
She made an apologetic gesture. “There are plenty of other girls who—”
He shook his head. “No, you mistake me. From the first, I admired your strength and your virtue. You struck me as my perfect duchess. A paragon among women.”
“I’m no paragon,” she said through tight lips.
“Apparently.”
“I know you want to shout and insult me,” she said in a toneless voice. “I deserve it for dashing your hopes. But I also know that you’re a good man, who will regret losing his temper. Are you willing to release me from our engagement, sir?”
He surveyed her down his ducal nose, making her feel more like a cockroach than ever. “If I must.”
She sucked in a relieved breath. “I hope we can part as friends and without acrimony.”
“I wouldn’t go quite that far,” he muttered.
She braced her shoulders. “I assume you’ll have breakfast before you return to London this morning. I’ll let the staff know.”
His expression remained haughty. “I have no intention of returning to London just yet.”
“But surely—”
“I’m going to stay for the performance tonight. The rest of the world’s agog to see Evesham play Romeo. Why should I forgo the pleasure?”
“But what purpose…”
One hand cut through her faltering protest. “For my own satisfaction, I want to see the two of you together.”
“There’s nothing to see.”
“I’d have laid money that if anyone could withstand Evesham’s vulgar charms, it was the pure and wise Lady Juliet Frain. I should have known better.”
She hoped that the duke blamed the heat in her cheeks on irritation, not cringing humiliation. “I told you – my choices have nothing to do with His Grace of Evesham.”
The glance Granville gave her burned with contempt. “And I reserve the right not to believe you.”
After a brief bow, he strode away. Juliet collapsed onto a wooden bench under the window and cursed long and loudly, and with a fluency that would have surprised her society acquaintances.
***
Evesham spent all day trying to talk to Juliet, but she kept herself busy with preparations for the night’s entertainment. The house was packed with guests, down from London to witness his theatrical debut. He’d also discovered that every inn within ten miles of Afton was full.
