Page 76 of A Duchess to Fight For
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Louisa finally came out of her room. She would spend most of the day in the parlour if she weren’t in her bedchamber. She did not go out of the townhouse.
“Has Stafford left town?” Louisa asked.
“Yes, I believe he has,” Amelia said. “He will be in and out of London on family business. But I have heard he won’t be staying long in the city.”
Percy looked at Louisa. “Would you like to go out for a carriage ride? Or a walk? We should take advantage of the perfect weather.”
Amelia lifted her head from her needlework. “Oh, let’s. It will be good to clear my head. Louisa, when was the last time you had any fresh air?”
“Mother, I don’t feel like going out. Why don’t you and Percy go ahead without me?”
Amelia gave her a sharp look. “No, we’ll wait until you can go with us, won’t we Percy?”
“Yes. We will wait.”
There was silence in the room for longer than usual. Percy turned to Louisa.
“Why don’t you want to go out, Louisa?”
She shrugged. “I just don’t want to.”
“Does it have to do with the letter you received from Stafford?”
“I don’t know. I have had two failed courtships this season. I’m not quite ready to throw myself out there again.”
Louisa had tears in her eyes that she held back. She was already embarrassed, enough. Her mother and Percy didn’t need another reason to feel sorry for her.
What had happened? Both Jack and Stafford were nice, marriageable men she could picture herself with. Two men in one season sounded good, didn’t it? Except it wasn’t good. She was beginning to doubt the word of any man. The sincerity of any man.
Louisa looked up to see Percy standing over her. She hadn’t noticed him move from his chair.
He took her hands in his and gently pulled her out of her chair into a standing position. She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face. Louisa thought she could read him well, but she was having trouble reading him now.
Percy looked down at Louisa. Her eyes were frantically bouncing between his eyes and his smile. He was sure she had no idea what he planned to do.
“Louisa, you and I have known each other for years, years I will treasure until my dying days. You are the most important person in my life, and I love you. Would you do me the honour of marrying me?”
Amelia put her elbow on the armrest then put her head in her hand.
Louisa stood frozen. She looked into his eyes, hands still in his, not moving. The room was silent except for the hoof beats of horses pulling a carriage on the street. Then, a plate dropped onto the kitchen floor and shattered.
Louisa was startled into consciousness and pulled her hands from Percy’s in a firm tug. “Percy, how can you ask that? Why would you ask that?”
His shoulders slumped. “Because I love you, and I want to be with you every day for the rest of my life.”
“You are with me every day now,” Louisa said, her voice going an octave higher and much louder.
“Louisa, I must say I’m surprised at your reaction to my proposal. I thought you’d be happy. I thought you loved me too.”
Louisa swatted her hand in the air. “You know I love you. I’m wondering about the timing. You could have asked me before, but you waited until I’ve been spurned twice; Barton’s a threat to me, and we are all thinking of leaving town.
“It feels like a marriage of convenience or even a marriage of a friend who feels sorry for me. I can’t possibly go into a marriage where your hand was forced. No, Percy, I won’t marry you.”
Louisa turned and ran from the parlour and up the stairs. Percy heard her bedchamber door slam shut. He turned to Amelia.
Amelia sighed. “She’s right, you know. If I didn’t know better – I do – but if I didn’t know better, I would think you asked her to marry you because you took pity on her. It’s hard to be jilted. It’s hard to know someone wants to kidnap you. But those aren’t reasons to get married.”
