Page 16 of Her Cursed Duke
Silas leaned down to kiss Agnes’s cheek, muttering something quietly, to which she nodded, and then he let them be.
Prudence inhaled deeply and slowly breathed out. “I am not trying to do this alone. It is still so new, and I wanted to assess how I felt about it before I brought it up to you. The party at Serpenhood Castle… that was really my first time meeting the Duke. We did talk for a bit, and he seemed nice and asked if he could court me, and I agreed. That was it.”
“But you just said you have no particular views on marriage. Where does that stand in this situation?” Agnes questioned, reasonably confused.
“I do not hate the idea of it, but I have never seen myself getting married. Neither am I in a hurry to do so.”
“So why enter a courtship? You do realize that if all goes well, the expected result is marriage?”
“We are just getting to know each other. I already expressed my stance on the matter to him, and he did not mind. If we turn outto not be a good match as husband and wife, we would at least be friends.”
It felt strange, lying to Agnes. Her tongue felt heavy, and her stomach churned with every word she said, but she supposed it did not matter. The whole affair was a sham, anyway.
“I want to trust you and believe that you know what you are doing, so I will. Please know that I did not invite them to cause you any trouble or discomfort. I merely wanted to thank them for hosting such a wonderful party because you seemed as though that was the most fun you had in ages. I wanted to show my appreciation for that, and so I invited them to the picnic. The Dowager Marchioness sent me a letter in response, telling me that she would love to attend, only if we allow her to make all the preparations, to express her joy over her godson courting you.
“I was really surprised to learn that. I had hoped inviting them would simply be a nice affair, but then, it seemed as though I had made the right call. I really do hope you know what you are doing, Prudence. Know that you do not have to embark on this journey alone or pressure yourself to hold out if you are not interested in him anymore. All right?”
Prudence nodded, suddenly remembering an occasion when they were much younger, during a game between her and Imogen. She had bumped into a vase, and it had fallen off its stand, smashing to pieces against the floor. Agnes had scolded them severely while also checking carefully to ensure that neither of them had gotten hurt.
Prudence could not remember much about their mother, but in some ways, she supposed Agnes was a lot like her.
“All right.”
Agnes sighed and hugged her, pressing a chaste kiss to her cheek. “Let’s enjoy ourselves this afternoon, as well.”
When they had begun to walk to the canopy, Aiden met them halfway, glancing between them briefly before asking, “Would it be all right if I spoke to your sister in private for a bit?”
“Why, of course, Duke.” Agnes giggled, walking on without Prudence. “Take your time.”
Aiden waited until she was out of earshot before asking, “Are you all right?”
In turn, Prudence questioned, “Why did you not let me know you would be joining our picnic? You could have sent me word to warn me that you would be coming.”
“I thought you knew. It was your sister who invited us, so I had assumed that you told her about our courtship. And it was my godmother who had accepted on our behalf, despite my many attempts to decline. I know that public gatherings and social calls are unavoidable if we want this to work, but—and I do not mean this unkindly—I do not want to waste my time over small meetings such as these. She practically dragged me here afterinsisting that she make all the preparations. I apologize, this seems to have caused you quite a bit of trouble.”
Prudence sighed. “Do not worry, it is not as serious as you are making it out to be. I was merely… surprised.”
“Oh. You are not perhaps thinking of quitting now, are you? It was a minor mishap, and we might have to weather worse in the future.”
She looked up at him, not entirely surprised by the lack of concern, but disappointed nonetheless. He had already made it clear that she was simply a convenient choice for him in this game of deceit he had chosen to play, but for some reason, it hurt her to be seen as nothing more than a pawn.
“I am not as fragile as to let such a small mishap stop me. Our deal still stands.”
He nodded, smirking slightly. “Your bravery is impressive. Excellent, because my godmother wishes to test you to ensure that you are worthy of being my bride. Good luck. Let me put together a plate of food for you,” he said hurriedly and then began to make his way back to the picnic.
“You do not need to do that, I should—wait, what?”
The afternoon passed by a lot quicker and much more peacefully than Prudence had expected. All Aiden’s godmother had done was express her joy over the announcement of their courtship and then kindly urged Prudence to be patient with the Duke.
“He can be a pest, sometimes, but he really means well and has one of the kindest hearts I have ever encountered in my life. Do not give up on him so easily if he upsets you. If you wish, you may report him to me, and I shall handle him appropriately.”
“I cannot tell if you are trying to make our courtship work or attempting to sabotage it before we have even begun,” Aiden grumbled, swiftly looking away when Beatrice shot him a glare.
They continued to sit around and eat while conversing with one another. The Dowager Marchioness was eager to hear all about Agnes and Silas’s home, and they were happy to tell her all she wished to know. Prudence was more than content to listen to them quietly and found that Aiden also preferred to do the same.
Later, they decided to play some poker with a deck of cards Beatrice had brought along personally. Or at least all of them except Aiden had agreed to it.
“I just never saw the appeal in card games.”
