Page 17 of Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde
Meg thought to ask, “Do you envisage any difficulty in convincing the Melwins to accept the outcome—both Drago’s retreat and Joshua’s offer?”
“Oh no,” Alison earnestly assured them. “Although naturally, Mama will be disappointed that I won’t be a duchess, she’s always had a soft spot for Joshua, so I’m sure she’ll come around.”
“And Alison and I together will be more than a match for her papa and Hubert,” Joshua added. “If necessary, we’re willing to wait and wear them down until they consent to our engagement.”
“Indeed. We’re in no huge hurry,” Alison said.
The pair were all but bubbling with optimism.
Drago glanced at Meg, then looked at Alison. “We should leave you to break your news to your parents. Once again, you have our warmest felicitations.”
“And you have ours,” Alison leapt to say.
Meg smiled, and they made their farewells. Leaving the happy pair discussing their declaration to Alison’s family, Meg and Drago walked back around the lake and across the park.
She couldn’t resist observing, “Alison seemed overjoyed at the prospect of being Mrs. Bragg rather than the Duchess of Wylde.”
“Indeed. If I’d ever had an inflated ego, it would surely be sadly punctured by now.”
She eyed him curiously. “For a duke who had been on his way to offer for a lady’s hand just hours ago, you don’t seem all that cast down.”
He shrugged. “I was never set on marrying Alison, only on achieving the married state.”
Meg wondered why—or at least, why now—but before she could frame a question, Drago went on, “Given Bragg’s suit and his and Alison’s obvious happiness, I feel compelled to maintain our charade at least until they’ve secured their chance for a happy marriage.” He glanced at her. “If we break off our engagement before their betrothal is well established and their eventual wedding an accepted fact, I wouldn’t put it past Hubert—I did mention he was a pompous snob—to do his damnedest to block Joshua’s suit and pressure Alison to try to win me back.”
“Hmm. If Hubert is half as bad as you’ve painted him, that seems a distinct possibility.” She met Drago’s dark gaze. “In the circumstances, I agree we should do all we can to give them time to cement their relationship. It seems the least we can do.”
He nodded and faced forward. “June, then. Let’s stick with that.”
They reached the damaged wall, and she steeled herself and allowed him to lift her up and help her down again.
Once back in the curricle, Drago set course for Walkhurst Manor. “So, regarding our fictitious engagement, how, exactly, are we going to present it to the ton, and following on from that, what do we tell Christopher and his wife? What’s her name again?”
“Ellen.”
“Ellen. Do we tell them the truth or…?”
They debated their options and the likely ramifications of each possible pathway; some were clearly more fraught with danger than others.
“We can’t afford anyone guessing the truth,” he stated, “meaning that at no point can we allow our behavior to suggest our charade isn’t real.”
“Indeed.” After a moment, she heaved a huge sigh. When he glanced at her, she met his eyes. “I can’t see any way for us to get from here to early June without courting catastrophe other than by behaving consistently and constantly as if our engagement is real.”
Somewhat grimly, he nodded. “I agree. Given the Season is about to start and given who we are, we’re going to have to spend from now until June parading through the ton as an affianced couple, and there is no chance that any lack of conviction on either of our parts will go unremarked.”
“They’ll be watching us like hawks.”
“Every moment of every day.” Full realization of what they were going to have to do was sinking in.
He turned his horses down the Walkhurst Road. After a moment, he asked, “You don’t have any other suitor in the offing, do you?”
“No.” She cast him a sharp glance. “You?”
He knew what she was asking. “I was anticipating being engaged, remember? Therefore, I presently have no active liaisons.”
She nodded and faced forward. “Returning to the question of what we should tell whom, it seems to me that the fewer people who know the truth, the better. If I tell Christopher and Ellen the truth, they won’t behave toward either of us as they should, and worse, I can’t guarantee they won’t tell the rest of the family, and once the wider family knows, someone is sure to slip up and forget to act appropriately.” She glanced at him. “Once family know the truth, it will be difficult to keep it from spilling out.”
“I don’t disagree.” He caught her gaze. “But will you be comfortable deceiving your family?”
