Page 1 of A Spinster for the Rakish Duke
Chapter One
“We really should make arrangements to meet sometime. Though I have the company of my kind and considerate sisters, I often find myself wanting of the company of a gentleman,”Emma read aloud, her voice increasing in both pitch and volume.
It was only years of proper upbringing that kept her from rising into a shriek as she read the letter in her hands aloud. Her horror wasn’t specifically at the letter’s content, though the boldness of it was enough to turn her crimson, but rather the fact that it was signed with her name.
“You sent this letter to Donovan on my behalf? This one?” Emma said while slapping the letter down on the nearby writing desk. “Please, Martha, please tell me this is all a jest in terrible taste. That I may someday forgive,” she practically begged of her sister.
Emma was bookish, but one would make an error if they assumed that meant she wasn’t beautiful. Her figure was slender and curved nicely. Her blonde hair complimented her fair complexion. Her spectacles framed her vibrant blue eyes, so that they sparkled if they ever dared to meet a watcher head-on. She was a beautiful woman but had resigned herself to spinsterhood.
Her sister Martha, whose appearance more closely resembled their father, was grinning quite childishly considering her status as a Countess.
“I sent it because it needed to be sent, Emma. Be grateful that I took the time to copy it, so that you may know how it read. I could have kept silent on the matter, but you being blindsided by the existence of the letter would have undermined the point of me sending it. This was not meant to be a joke,” Martha said, despite her grin. “It was meant to push you along the path you are taking your dear sweet time on. You clearly like this man. I’m just making sure your interest is known to him.”
“I am not trying to enter into a romantic relationship with him,” Emma said with exasperation. “We are friends. We correspond because we have a shared interest.”
“Ah, yes, I forgot the reason you found him so intriguing. Rocks,” Martha said coyly.
“Not just rocks but minerals and geology. It’s all very fascinating, so we write to each other about it.”
“So, you like talking to him?” Martha asked.
“What I like about him is irrelevant!” Emma cried hotly. “I have no interests in romance. I have no interests in marriage or…” Emma looked down at the letter and became more upset, “…or in becoming someone’s mistress.”
Martha balked and laughed, “Mistress? Oh, Emma, do not be so dramatic. What I said was perfectly in the realm of acceptable since neither of you is married.” Her sister waved a dismissive hand, “Besides, with the way you write your letters, he wouldn’t have known you were interested.”
“I’m. Not. Interested,” Emma emphasized each word clearly for her sister. She let out a long sigh and cast herself into a stuffed chair. “Martha,” she said with patience that older siblings often reserved for younger ones, “I appreciate your investment in helping, but I know my life’s direction. I live for the family that I have now, not for trying to make myself a new one. Father might be away in the colonies, but he will return soon, and how would he be expected to get on without me? Even Benjamin still needs my help from time to time.”
Martha paced the small room of her sister’s home. Emma’s home, the one she shared with her aunt, was humble compared to those of the married ladies, but she still kept the chair near the desk since she spent much of her time either reading or writing. Between the large desk, the chair, and the clutter of books, it gave Martha very little room to pace.
“You resign yourself to spinsterhood?” Martha asked, and Emma sighed. This was far from the first time they had this conversation.
“Life and its circumstance left me little room for love and marriage. I am past the point of their relevance,” Emma explained tiredly. “Is it such an awful thing? Aunt Barbara seems more than content with her life. Would it not be a good thing to view her as someone to strive to be like?”
Martha ignored the baited question. “Was it not long ago that you were trying to talk me out of that mindset?” Martha challenged.
“You had resigned because your heart had been hurt. I could not stand for that. I am not heartbroken nor dejected at the idea of not becoming married. In fact,” Emma looked at her sister with certainty in her eyes, “I think I am much happier having accepted the circumstances as they are. Pretending and fretting would have only caused me to worry. Now instead, I can focus on the matters that occupy my time pleasantly.” Her tone verged on smug.
“Well, that should be easy to explain to Lord Lowe in regard to the letter he will be receiving then. I am sure he will understand your rejection of romance,” Martha replied and stroked the coals of Emma’s anger all over again.
Before Emma could continue and berate her sister more, their argument was interrupted by a firm knock at the door.
“Were you expecting someone?” Emma asked her sister uncertainly and was unsurprised when she shook her head in response. It was unlike either of them to forget to mention the prospect of company.
After another firm knock, Emma no longer could risk offending the guest and crossed to open the door.
“Benjamin,” Emma said, ushering her brother inside. “Come in; come in. Is everything well? It’s unlike you to come unannounced.”Unless you have bad news to bring,Emma didn’t add on to the end. From the look on her sister Martha’s face, she didn’t need to speak it to know it was on both their minds. “Will you sit down, and I’ll fetch you some tea. Perhaps something to eat? If you came all the way from London, you must be peckish.”
“I didn’t come from London, and I am afraid I don’t have time to sit. Neither of us does, in fact. You needn’t worry about packing anything. Aunt Barbara is making the necessary preparations, but we do need to leave very quickly.” Benjamin’s voice was firm but rushed as if to usher his eldest sister along. Ironically, it was a voice he had learned from her.
“Hurry? Preparations?” Emma had become flustered at her brother’s insistence combined with a lack of explanation. “What are you talking about?”
“A ball this evening in Aylesbury, a short trip. We can make it in time, but we must leave quickly and travel with determination.”
“Why would we ever go to a ball so far away?” Emma balked as her brother all but walked her out the door to his carriage. Her brother did well enough as a solicitor but probably could barely afford his own coach; however, his distance from his family had turned the luxury into a necessity.
Benjamin stopped and collected himself. “This would be much easier to explain in detail on the ride, considering the timing of it all, but Aunt Barbara has found you a suitor, and she has arranged for you to marry!”
The astonished look on Emma’s face was mirrored in Martha’s, both of them staring at her brother until he bade Emma to hurry and to dress herself in appropriate attire, for they had little time to spare for travel.
