Page 22 of The Scarred Duchess Deal
Did the Duke truly not want children? She had not even thought to ask him the other day. He had said that he was not good with them – that it was not an easy thing for him to do, but she did not think that necessarily meant that he did not wish to have children at all.
She would have to ask him, but she needed to calm herself down. Just because he had kissed her in the first place did not guarantee that suddenly he wished to marry her… did it?
A hand grabbed hers. Expecting it to be Sophie, she whipped around with her eyes widened in accusation. She would not allow herself to be manhandled in such a way. Fully prepared to say as much – but it was her aunt holding her arm instead.
“Come now, we must leave. For both of your sakes. We will attract attention if we are seen speaking to one another this way and I have enough eyes on me already thanks to the stories that your father refuses to stop telling. To the carriage… both of you!” Anna’s tone was firm and left no room for question or argument. Disgruntled, both girls turned to leave for the carriages at once.
It would be bad enough that their whole family would be seen leaving the party without Theodore. It would add more fuel to the gossip mill that they had left so suddenly before the ball was over. Furthermore, Tessa was rather upset that she had not been allowed to say goodbye to the Duke. She had not been given the opportunity to speak with Leo nor make any more plans for their scheme. Perhaps she could write to him when she got home.
It was easier to plot out what she might want to write in a letter to Leo than it was to pretend that Sophie was not glaring at her so intensely she felt as if her eyes were boring into her skull. Sophie’s glower actually managed to make her otherwise sweet face unattractive. Tessa was tempted to tell her as much.
Neither girl wished to be the first to exit the carriage when they arrived back home. It was a petty, juvenile standoff that they had engaged in a great many times when they were children. But Aunt Anna got out and snapped her fingers, motioning them both inside. Tessa moved first, and it was only after she stirred from her seat that Sophie decided that she wished to exit first and shoved past her cousin forcefully, marching past her mother to head inside.
Tessa sighed and followed more slowly. She did not make it all of the way inside before Sophie came marching right back out, holding a letter in her hand.
“What is this?” she demanded angrily.
Tessa glanced at the letter in confusion. “As it is in your hand, and I have not yet seen it, do you actually expect me to have an answer for you?” Tessa sighed exasperatedly.
“Hand it over,” Aunt Anna demanded and gestured for the letter.
Sophie did not hand it over. “I do not think so. I would like to know why there is a letter here, addressed to Tessa that the servants say has only just been delivered. At this hour of the night. She must be up to something.”
Tessa knew that if the letter was from Leo, there might be information about their mission inside of it, but if it were from anybody else, she would have nothing to hide. She needed to see the wax seal on the missive to know who it was from… then she would decide if she wished to protest or not.
She would have to gamble it.
“If you think it is quite so scandalous to receive a letter, why do you not just open it and read it?” Tessa offered.
Sophie made a smug face. “I will, actually, not that I need permission from you to open a letter.”
“Since it is my letter… you do,” Tessa countered.
“I can do whatever I like in my own home!” Sophie nearly shouted at her.
“The fact that you believe such a statement is true explains a lot about your personality.” Tessa sighed.
The insult clearly went over Sophie’s head as she ripped the letter open. Sophie started to read out loud in a mocking tone, “Dear Lady Tessa, I hope that this letter finds you and your family in good health. I would like to formally extend an invitat–” Sophie paled then read the rest of the letter three times over in her head, refusing to say them out loud.
“An invitation?” Tessa reached for the letter and Sophie spun out of her reach.
“Why do you have a personal invitation from Viscount Thornbury to visit him?” Sophie demanded bitterly.
Aunt Anna snatched the letter from her daughter’s hand and quickly read over the contents to confirm that was what it was.
This was better than Tessa could have hoped for. It was exactly what she needed to convince her aunt that the courtship that she had with the Duke was not a lie. It was proof that he had better intentions for their relationship than a passing interest. She desperately wanted to see what was contained in that letter; she wanted more than anything to read the words for herself. Did Leo know that his grandfather was going to write to her? Why did he not warn her so that she could be prepared? This was not the sort of surprise that she enjoyed.
“The Viscount writes that he is overjoyed to hear the news of his grandson courting a lady, and he has invited the whole family to the countryside to stay with him for a few days so that the families can better learn about one another,” Anna read aloud. Her tone was guarded, and Tessa could not easily understand how she felt about the subject. “Well, that is a very generous invitation.”
She crumpled the letter in her hand and kept it so that Tessa could not read it for herself. She knew better than to ask for it; this was a reminder of her place in the household. Furthermore, it was a reminder that, while they enjoyed the benefits of her position, she was not one of them. Nothing she was allowed to have was not done so by the express permission of her Aunt. It was a reminder that she would always choose Sophie in deed, even if not in words. Tessa would not be given the letter, nor would she be allowed to read it. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from speaking.
“Well, I suppose that we should start packing our things. This is not the sort of invitation that we can afford to ignore – it is a great honor.” Slowly, her focus turned to Tessa. “It will also allow us to learn whether or not the courtship is real or fabricated. I sincerely hope that you have not put the Viscount in a position to be humiliated, Tessa. You are too young to possibly understand the depth of ruin that humiliation would bring on such a man.”
It was an open threat, but Anna did not stop there.
“I expect an engagement by the end of our time there, one way or another. Whether it be the groom of your choosing – or one that I shall choose for you.”
ChapterThirteen
