Page 47 of The Duke's Indecent Match
“I do not think Miss Little was part of her father’s plot,” he announced.
The headache from this morning, which had finally started to subside, reemerged with a vengeance.Nathanial gritted his teeth before forcing himself to relax his jaw, as the tension only made his head throb even more.
Thankfully, one of the stableboys was already walking up with a horse for him, a frisky bay gelding who tossed his head like he was eager to run.Good.So was Nathanial.
“This is Caspian,” the stableboy said, handing the reins to Nathanial.
Rather than answering Christian’s inanity, Nathanial stepped into the stirrup and lifted himself onto Caspian’s back.He did not groan when Christian signaled for one of the grooms to bring his own horse.He just kicked Caspian into a gallop, getting out of there as quickly as he could.
Given his head, Caspian eagerly sprang into motion, and they ran pell-mell out of the stable yard and toward the drive.The air rushed by him, stealing his breath, his focus fully on keeping his seat, and he reveled in the rush of freedom.The urge to just ride into the distance, not stopping, never to be seen again, was so strong…
But it was not realistic.
He could not abandon his sisters.
He could not abandon the Milfords.
He could not abandon his tenants.
He could abandon his future wife.Christian, it seemed likely, would step into the breach and save her reputation.Of course, the thought of Christian doing so and being the one to wed and bed Miss Little made him grind his teeth again.Well, it was only natural that he should feel possessive now.
Regardless of how it came to be, she was going to marry him and be his wife.
Jealousy was now not only understandable, it was nearly expected.
It was no wonder that his mood had darkened again by the time Christian caught up with him.He slowed Caspian to a trot, giving the horse a rest, which he needed by now.Though Nathanial had hoped Christian would not be able to find him, he must have gotten lucky in deciding which way to turn down the road.
“Why do you think Miss Little did not know?”he asked.He felt marginally calmer, a little less constricted, but he wished it had been any of his friends other than Christian following him.
On the other hand, the fact that it was only Christian might indicate that Christian was also the only one who believed in Miss Little’s innocence.Or it might mean nothing at all.
“Because I do not think it is in her character to trap a man into marriage with her.”
“Yes, well, as you have spent so much time with her over the past few days, I am sure you have an accurate measure of every aspect of her character.”Nathanial snorted.“Before this morning, would you have said that her father had the character to trap a man into marriage with his daughter?”
“Well…” Christian’s hesitation spoke volumes, though he rallied quickly enough.“I have spent more time with Miss Little than her father and gotten a better measure of her.Despite the short length of time.”
“Yet somehow, I ended up in her bed last night, slept through the whole night, and she waited to commence her screaming until her maid found us.”Nathanial’s voice was flat.Emotionless.The anger that he’d been feeling had settled from hot to something deeper, simmering rather than raging.
“She is a very sound sleeper; she also slept through Lady Johanna’s departure, and by all accounts, that was a rather noisy production which woke most of the others.”
“Or was pretending she’s a very sound sleeper part of their plan as well?”Nathanial snorted, shaking his head.“Because she woke up before I did this morning.”
“You were snockered.”
Caspian danced sideways, and Nathanial realized he was gripping the reins too tightly.He relaxed his fingers as best he could.
“Regardless.She woke and screamed, bringing everyone to her room.I’m kneeling on the floor vomiting into a chamber pot while her dad is shouting at me like he’s on Drury Lane, ensuring everyone down the hall can hear him.And they can, becausenowshe and her maid have gone silent for him to be heard clearly.”The more he thought about it, the more certain he was.
Everything had ticked by like clockwork.
Surely, that could not be coincidence.
If he was convinced of anything, it was that Mr.Little loved his daughter.He wanted her to be happy.
Why would he participate in trapping Nathanial into marriage with her, unless he thought it would make her happy?Why they, or she, had chosen him rather than Christian, who had actually been showing interest in her, unless for some reason they thought he was the better option?
“For Mr.Little’s purposes, it hardly matterswhichduke she marries.Unless, of course, it matters to her.For some reason, though I have done my best not to encourage her, while you have done the opposite, she must have chosen me.”His tone was grim, his barely suppressed anger thrumming just beneath the surface.Caspian was becoming anxious again, reading his rider’s mood, but Nathanial was doing his best under the circumstances.
