Page 5 of The Duke's Price
She was old enough, though, to understand that many women gave their hearts to unsuitable men, simply because they had first given their bodies. “The Duke of Richport has no interest in your heart, Ruth. Indeed, I imagine he is only interested in your body because you are English, and he is homesick. And because his friend has made you a dishonourable offer, and men are competitive.”
As long as she continued to tell herself that, she should be able to protect her heart from too much damage. And truly, she could see no other course with a better, or even equal, chance of success.
He had already, with his suggestions, proved to be a capable co-conspirator, and he was correct that she and Bella would be much safer with him as their escort than as two females on their own.
They did not have much time to lay their plans and put them into practice. She returned to the suite of rooms she shared with Bella. She could see light under her pupil’s door. Good. The girl was still awake, probably reading. Ruth knocked.
“Miss Henwood,” Bella said, when she opened the door. She looked a little wary. She probably expected Miss Henwood to remind her how late it was, and a year ago, she would have been right.
Ruth looked over the princess’s shoulder to scan the room. Bella’s maid was nowhere in sight, but even so, Ruth lowered her voice and spoke in English, which few of the servants in the castle understood. “We need to talk about escape, my dear. May I come in?”
Bella nodded even as she stepped out of the way.
“Can we escape, Miss Henwood? How?”
“The Duke of Richport has agreed to help us,” Ruth said. “He will meet us at La Camino del Lobo in four days, and will escort us to England. We need to get word to Madre Katerina.”
“Must I leave?” Bella asked. “I do not want to abandon my people to Uncle Carlos.”
“You are not abandoning them, darling girl,” Ruth reassured her. “Your horrid uncle will allow you no part in running the country, and until you reach your majority, you can do nothing to counter his orders. Furthermore, he will marry you, by forceif necessary, and then he will expect you to obey him, even after you are twenty-one.”
Should she tell Bella what she suspected? Yes. The girl was of marriageable age and an important political token. She deserved all the information so she could protect herself. “The duque intends to bed you as soon as you are married. He wants several possible heirs before you are old enough to be a threat to him.”
It was a measure of the duque that Bella leapt immediately to the same conclusion as Ruth. “He will kill me when he has another… what is the English word? Another statue? Another bust, is it? To put on the throne of my dear Las Estrellas.”
Bella’s English was excellent. It was a measure of her distress that she struggled to recall the correct word.
“Figurehead,” Ruth said. “And yes, that is what I fear.”
Bella was silent as she considered, then she looked up, her eyes blazing and her jaw set. “Then I must run, and my people will know that I am safe, and will endure until I return. Why does the English duke help us? He is another such as my uncle, is he not?”
“He is not, I think, a bully.” Ruth didn’t want to give Richport too much credit, however. “Proud and fond of giving orders, but he is a duke, after all.”
“And has much experience with women, I think,” said Bella, knowingly.
“Hesaysonly willing women.”
Bella’s curled lip expressed her opinion. “So, I expect, does my uncle. What does Richport want, Miss Henwood? Me?”
Again, Ruth had a quick debate with herself about how much to tell Bella, but the girl would be travelling with them, after all. “Me,” she said. “He wants me to be his lover, Bella.”
After some more thought, Bella asked, “Have you ever had a lover, Miss Henwood?”
“No, I have not.”
Bella’s response was unexpected. “I think the duke would be a good one. I do not think the same of my uncle. The duke may be a—how do you say it? Some sort of garden implement?”
Not a word they had had occasion to cover in their lessons. Ruth wondered where Bella had heard it. “A rake. It means a womaniser.”
“Yes. A rake, though why… But never mind. The duke may be a rake, but he treats you and me with respect even when others are not watching, and the servants like him. One can tell a lot about a man by what the servants see, for people do not bother to pretend in front of the servants.”
“Yes,” Ruth said. “I agree that the duke is a better man, in some ways, than your uncle. He has promised to see us safely to England, and he claims to always keep his promises.”
“Then it remains only to ask if you want to be the duke’s lover. For if you do, then I think we should let him help us. You will gain a good lover, and we shall both escape my uncle.”
Ruth blinked while she absorbed this pragmatic view of things.
“It is simpler than you think, Bella,” she said. “Either way, I am going to give my reputation away to someone. My choice is whether to submit to your uncle and see you forced by him as well, or run away with you and Richport, in the hope that I can get you safely to England. And yes, while I do not entirely trust Richport, I trust your uncle even less.”
