Page 116 of The Duke's Indecent Match
Taking in a deep breath, Mr.Little put his snifter down on the little table beside him, the amber liquid swirling from the movement.
“I realized I wanted my daughter happy more than I wanted my father to acknowledge me.”His eyes were calm.Steady.
It was so far from anything Nathanial might have expected the other man to say, he did not know how to assimilate the information.
“You two were making a hash of things,” Mr.Little continued, his voice low, thoughtful.Almost as though he was remembering all of it.“Montagu was circling, and you were making excuses about why you could not marry Kalina.I heard you, you know, one night when you were speaking.But everyone could see the spark between you.It reminded me very much of me and my wife when we met.”His lips curved in a nostalgic smile.“Unlike you, we did not fight our own emotions; we only had to fight her family and eventually, mine.”
“I…” Nathanial started to speak, then stopped because he did not actually know what he wanted to say.
In many ways, Mr.Little was correct.
He took another swallow of brandy while the older man kept talking.
“Everyone could see that you and Kalina were drawn to each other.Marriage to Montagu would not have made her happy, not when you exist.Then the matchmaker came, and I knew I could not leave anything to chance.You both would have been miserable, married to others.I realized I wanted her happiness, above all else.Even if she never spoke to me again.Even if I ruined my chances of my father acknowledging me.It was a risk I had to take because I wanted to give her a chance at happiness.If you had not married her, we would have left England for her sake again.Gone to the Continent to travel.Or perhaps to America.”
Mr.Little was no longer looking at Nathanial; he was talking almost to himself, remembering the contingency plans he’d made if Nathanial had not done the honorable thing.
“What if I had not forgiven her?What if I had turned out to be an utter cad who mistreated her horribly because you trapped me into marriage with her?”
“I had plenty of opportunity to observe you at the house party, Your Grace.Often, when you had no idea I was doing so.That was not in your nature.You are an honorable man, and I knew that no matter my actions, you would not harm Kalina.”
Harm?No.
Spank?Yes.And Nathanial still felt like a cad for having done so the first time.Though he did realize that was his wife’s fault, not her father’s.Though part of him wanted to blame the man because he’d rather be mad at his father-in-law than at his wife.
But if Kalina should not take responsibility for her father’s actions, neither should he place blame on her father for hers.
In some ways, he even understood the man.
The temptation to do something similar to Zachary and Delilah was strong.Watching Zachary ruin his life by marrying the wrong person, for nothing but sheer stubbornness and a sense of duty to his mother, was wildly frustrating.If he could think of a way to force those two to the altar… would he do it?
Maybe.
But that was different.Because he knew them, knew how they were together, and knew without a doubt that they were in love with each other, even if neither would admit to it.
He and Kalina…
They’d had a spark.He’d been resisting.Mr.Little was not wrong about that.
“It still should have been my choice.”That was the sticking point.The one he could not get away from.
“It should have.”Mr.Little’s easy agreement took the wind right out of Nathanial’s sales.“My wife has pointed out to me that, regardless of my opinions about the choice you were making, it was yours to make.Just as we made our choice when we married each other.For that, I do apologize.As my wife says, sometimes I act without thinking.This was something I should not have done.I do not expect forgiveness to come immediately, or easily, or even at all, though I do hope we can rub along civilly, for Kalina’s sake.”
“I as well.That is why I came today.”
Something flashed across Mr.Little’s face.Relief?Satisfaction?Perhaps a little of both.Nathanial could not deny that he would have been miserable seeing Kalina marry someone else, especially one of his friends.
Knowing that her father had not been thinking of himself when he’d tipped Nathanial into Kalina’s bed, that he’d been thinking of them… well, it did not make everything better, but it helped.He was glad to know the man had a contingency plan if Nathanial had not done the honorable thing.
“I do not know if I can forgive you yet,” Nathanial admitted.“But I think we can at least get along for now.For Kalina’s sake.”
Now the expression on Mr.Little’s face was definitely one of relief.
“I am glad to hear that, Your Grace.I’ve missed my daughter.Though it does me good to see her happy… far happier than she was when we first arrived.”
“I am curious… what would you have done if I was not a duke?”This seemed the most opportune moment to ask such impertinent questions since Mr.Little was speaking so frankly.Whether or not they’d ever talk like this again… he wanted to strike while the other man was more vulnerable, more willing to share his inner thoughts.
“I should never have put the burden of reconciling me with my family on her.Though, to be fair to myself, she also took far more of the burden onto herself than I ever meant her to.It was something I had thought of, but it was never the requirement she took it as.”Mr.Little shook his head.“I wanted it, but she made it into her mission.That is something you have to be very careful about, Your Grace.If you tell Kalina that you desire something, she will ignore all her own needs to make it happen.”
