Page 27 of Adoringly, Edward
What has become of me?he silently scoffed as he pushed the empty vial to the end of the table.I must sneak around in my own house.
Another servant knocked on the doorframe and curtsied. “Your Lordship. The duke has just sent gifts.”
“Gifts?” He pushed himself to his feet. “Where are they?”
“Well…” The woman’s face blanched as she curtsied again. “They are not for you, Lord Beaumont.”
“Then who are they for?”
“For Lady Vivienne.”
“OH! WHAT IS THIS?”
Vivienne’s eyes widened with wonder as she took in the spread of jams, jellies, bread, and pastries littering nearly every available space on the table in the drawing room.
She picked up a thin, rectangle box wrapped with a small red bow. Pinching the ribbon between her fingers, she pulled, and the bow unraveled. When she opened the box, she found herself unable to hold back a gasp as she stared back at a string of rubies inlaid in gold settings.
The gems sparkled beneath the light filtering through the window. Beautiful and elegant and befitting the neck of a duchess.
Oh, it was hard to remember that the duke was a stuffy, boring man with hardly an interesting thing to say when he gave her such beautiful gifts. But no matter how much she loved thenecklace, she knew she could never be happy with the man. It would be a terrible marriage.
“Please excuse me,” Clara rasped, her expression crumpling as she gazed at the necklace moments before she rushed out of the room and left Vivienne alone with her mother. For several seconds, she stared after her, wondering if she’d said something to upset her.
“He also sent along this,” her mother said, now downstairs after “miraculously” feeling much better after the snowstorm prevented them from returning home anyway.
Her mother handed her a letter. Vivienne broke open the seal and read out loud. “‘All the glittering jewels could never surpass your beauty. Duke Oliver Hastings.’”She fluttered her hand to her face and pretended to swoon. “Oh, what an original love letter!” she exclaimed. “How my beauty surpasses blah blah blah.”
“Vivienne Winfield!” her mother chastised. “It is a generous gift.”
“It is exactly like all the rest from my other suitors!” She dropped the letter onto the table, not at all feigning disgust at the words. “Is that all I am, Mother? Beautiful? Is that all I can ever be to a man? Am I nothing more than a show horse bred for a man’s pleasure?”
Again, her mother gasped, now fanningherface. It reminded her that Edward still had her fan, and she wondered what he had done with it.
“You are a respectable young lady, and I will not hear such words from your mouth.” The other woman gestured toward the letter discarded on the table. “You will write him back, thanking him for such thoughtful gifts.”
With a sigh, she held out the necklace and admired the way it sparkled. “The jewels are quite lovely. But to wear them means to accept his inevitable proposal.”
“You certainly could do worse than a duke.” Her mother continued to drone on about Duke Hastings’ fantastic qualities, but when Vivienne heard a quiet shuffle from the hallway, her attention snapped toward the open door.
Only to find Edward staring back at her. His gaze darted from the necklace in her hands to her face. Betrayal distinctly flashed across his eyes, and she didn’t miss the underlying hurt within their depths.
But before she managed to call after him, he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hallway.
Vivienne slumped into a chair, massaging the ache in her temples now that they were the only two in the room. “This was rather forward and rude of the duke, don’t you think? To send the giftshere? To another man’s home? Could he at least have waited until we returned to the palace?” She shook her head and glanced toward the frost accumulated on the window. In a murmuring tone, she said, “And to send a servant inthisweather…”
Her mother nonchalantly fanned her face as the window drew her gaze to the snow flitting to the ground. “You are not courting the viscount, at least not officially. As far as the duke is concerned, he has no competition for your affection. He can very well do as he pleases.”
“Mother—”
“Vivienne,” she interrupted, lowering her voice as if to keep anyone from hearing their conversation from the hallway. “This might very well be our last day here. You must get Lord Beaumont to kiss you by the night’s end.”
“It’s impossible.”
“Ha!” She fanned her face faster. “You did it once within hours. You can do it again. Don’t make me remind you how important this is.”
“I know.”
She hefted a sigh as she placed the jewels back into the box and left it on the table. Although she wanted nothing to do with being married to the duke, she also knew she couldn’t throw away his offer of marriage when to do so could possibly destroy her family. She was fortunate to have such an offer. She knew that.
