Page 32 of The Scarred Duchess Deal
Tessa’s face flushed red. She could not tear her eyes from the back of Leo’s head.
Aurelius turned to face his grandson. “That is what is happening, is it not? I know that my grandson is not compromising a woman who has very clearly endured a lot in her young life.”
Leo shifted from one foot to the other. His fingers rubbed anxiously together for a moment before he turned to face Tessa. It felt insane but it appeared as if he was looking for her approval. The choice was clearly hers.
Did he want this? Did he wish to marry her? Even if he did not, he would not allow her to be ruined; it was an impossible situation. She swallowed against the nerves and weight of her decision – and Aurelius made it for her.
“As I said, much to prepare for. I will send letters at once! We will have a wedding in two shakes of a cat’s tail!” Aurelius gestured excitedly and grabbed Theodore’s sleeve to pull him from the library while very carefully sidestepping the dog obstructing his path. He spoke his parting words over his shoulder. “Congratulations to the happy couple!”
ChapterSixteen
“If I felt the situation had gone poorly before, it certainly went from bad to worse rather quickly.”
Leo glanced over his shoulder to the calico cat sitting on his bed. No matter what he did, Sweetie Whiskers seemed to find a way into this room whether he liked it or not. She was a stubborn creature. She would not move, even when pushed. She would not leave the room unless she was physically tossed out.
“I have no idea how Tessa feels about this situation and now I am here, speaking to a cat.”
The feline yawned. She went so far as to get up, stretch as if bored of the entire conversation before relocating to another, presumably more comfortable section of his bed that would make it impossible to go to sleep. Not that he could fall asleep even if he tried. He felt as if sparks had replaced his blood. He was pacing again. His least favorite pastime.
“I see that my plights bore you.” He sighed and sat down next to the cat on the bed. She rolled her hazel eyes up at him and blinked slowly. “If only my mother could see me now. How disappointed she would be. I swore to her that I would never marry. I swore to her that my father’s terrible bloodline would end with me. Tessa is a woman who loves children and I shall never be able to give that to her–”
He scrubbed a hand up and down his face out of frustration with the situation.
“I love her.” He sighed. “I never thought that I could love a woman quite so much. The idea of spending my life with her, learning everything about her is more than I could have ever wanted, and yet it is something that I am not allowed to have. What a conundrum I have found myself in.”
He felt split down the middle.
“I should speak with her.” It was silly that he was nervous to leave his room again. He knew that he would be at risk of running into his grandfather and it was very likely that any conversation would be even worse than the one he needed to have with Tessa. He was not looking forward to either of them. Aurelius was likely asleep, surrounded by a whole clowder of felines. Marriage was everything his grandfather wished for him – it was the whole reason that he had invited Tessa and her family here in the first place.
Leo pushed himself upright and strolled across the room before he could talk himself out of going. By morning, his time with Tessa would be cut short. She and her family would be returning to their home in the city, and the opportunity to speak with her alone before their wedding date would be harder to come by.
Just before he pulled the door open, a soft knocking halted him in his tracks. He opened the door with bated breath to reveal a slightly frazzled-looking Tessa.
“Tessa? I was just coming to… what are you doing here?” He opened the door slightly wider and allowed her to come inside.
She held one of her gloves in her hands and she worried at the fabric. He had no way of knowing where the other glove might have gotten to. He watched as she pulled the fabric back and forth anxiously. Her hair was still tousled where he had mussed it before, but her modest jewelry was gone. He could not tell if she had been crying; he hoped that she had not.
“Are you all right?” Leo asked, knowing very well that this was far from the case.
Tessa nodded. “Yes, of course.”
Leo backed into the room until he could take a seat on the edge of the bed once more. He watched as she paced.
Tessa stopped suddenly and turned to face him. “Is this what you want?”
He was surprised by her question. “I beg your pardon?”
“You heard me. I asked you if this is what you want. Do you wish to marry me, Your Grace? You, who are so reluctant to marry… who did not wish for a wife… I have no desire to be the reason that you feel shackled, to think that you could come to resent me over something so silly–”
“You think that the threat of scandal is something silly? That it is simply a small matter to be overlooked? You cannot think so little of yourself.”
“My uncle will press for a wedding, of course. It is a very prudent match for our family. It will elevate their social standing further than their relation to me could ever do. Of course, he will wish to capitalize on this opportunity. But if you refuse, there is not much that can be done about it.”
“Sophie will speak out,” Leo countered.
“My uncle will not take the refusal of my hand to a public forum. Sophie might be cruel, but she will listen to her father on whatever he chooses.” Tessa spoke quickly in what she hoped was a flat, level tone of voice.
“You cannot believe that.” Leo rose from the bed and crossed to Tessa. He took her hands in his own to halt her pacing. “Where is this coming from?”
