Page 53 of Her Devil of a Duke
I asked if he was lying about that. Strangely… no, I do not think he lied about that.
His expression had felt so genuine at that moment. And that is what made him such an enigma now.
“We must act fast,” Mr. Windham said, abruptly standing from his chair. He puffed on his pipe and walked to Evelyn’s side, not looking at her, but once again, taking control of the room. Evelyn pointedly coughed on the smoke he created, but he made no effort to move away from her. “The messenger we questioned will keep his silence. He has assured me of that. I paid him well for it.”
Evelyn balked as she stared at Mr. Windham.
“That is how you found out where I was?” she whispered in horror. “My letter…”
“Yes,” Peter answered first. “When your letter arrived, Mr. Windham was here. We read the letter, but I knew you were hiding something in it. Mr. Windham chased after the messenger. Had to threaten him to make him speak, did you not?”
Mr. Windham stood taller, puffing on the pipe another time. Evelyn took a small step away from him, wondering what he was capable of when he had to threaten a man.
“He spoke soon enough. I’ve paid him since to keep his silence, but I cannot do the same for the entirety of the Duke of Ravensworth’s staff. We shall still have to work fast,” Mr. Windham explained with emphasis, lowering the pipe from his lips. “My suggestion is we apply for a special license at once. Evelyn and I can marry within two weeks, and any whispers that then came out of the Duke’s house would be disparaged as the work of lies.”
“Yes, yes, it must be done,” Peter said, waving a hand in the air.
“What? No.” Evelyn stepped forward. “I have not agreed to marry Mr. Windham. I do not accept.” She couldn’t imagine anything worse than marrying Mr. Windham at that moment. To be beholden to a man who disliked her so much would be an awful way to live her life.
“I do not remember asking your opinion.” Peter didn’t even look at her as he said the words.
“You should be grateful!” Mavis lowered her handkerchief and snapped the words. “Grateful that Mr. Windham is willing to overlook your disgrace and scandal to save the name of this family. He is a good man.”
“A good man?” Evelyn repeated. “Yes, well, I suppose a good dowry brings out the best in all men.” Her caustic reply went unnoticed by her aunt and uncle, but Mr. Windham looked at her at last. His brow furrowed deep.
“That sharp tongue of yours,” he whispered, for her ears only. “It will be curbed.”
“We must think of where the wedding ceremony should take place,” Mavis said hurriedly, reaching up to take her husband’s arm. “We could take her to the country estate in Sussex. We’re holding a ball there in two days’ time, after all. She could be married away from all the gossip of the ton.”
“Sussex?” Mr. Windham was plainly uncomfortable with the idea. “But it is so close to where…”
To where I was.
Rafe’s castle was in Sussex.
“It must be done,” Peter nodded in agreement. “We can arrange a fast wedding at our local parish. In London, such a thing will be infinitely harder. Do we have your agreement, Mr. Windham?”
“Erm… Yes. Yes, of course.” Mr. Windham nodded and turned away, returning to his own seat in the chesterfield settee.
“Wait? No!” Evelyn looked around, her eyes darting between the three faces in the room. “I did not agree. I have said no. You push me to that altar, and I shall refuse to marry him.”
“Think on it, foolish child.” Peter stood straighter as his hands left the backrest of Mavis’ chair. “You refuse to marry him, and you ruin this whole family. Is that what you’d do to your cousins? To Hester? Don’t you think she wishes to get married too?”
He plainly knew how to push Evelyn just right as she faltered. Hester was the one person in this house who was truly kind to her. She could not betray her cousin now, or Hester’s name would be ruined along with her own.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
Evelyn burst out of the room, pushing so hard on the door that it ricocheted off the adjoining wall, the sound echoing through the house.
“Oh!” a voice squeaked in surprise.
Evelyn looked around to see her three cousins all cowering by the wall. Hester waved a hand in front of her face as Bridget and Kitty held onto one another, their shock apparent.
“Shh,” Hester pleaded, holding a finger before her lips, clearly not wishing for Peter and Mavis to know they had been listening into the whole conversation.
Evelyn closed the door and hurried away across the hall, listening as her cousins followed after her. They had a hissing argument between the three of them.
“You ask her,” Bridget insisted.
