Page 9 of Lusting for the Duke's Kiss
“That is good,” said her father slowly. “I promised you, also that I would let you write the letters which I have. But there is something else that has come along in the meantime, which can change those plans, quite significantly.”
Hetty gazed sharply at him. “What do you mean? What has come along?”
Her father smiled. “Hetty, there has been an offer put in for your hand in marriage.” He paused. “A very good offer. An offer which makes me think you would be a foolish girl, indeed, not even to consider it.”
She stared at him, dumbfounded. “An offer of marriage?” Her voice rose high. “How can you say such a thing? I am obviously already married, Papa! You escorted me down the aisle towards my future husband. Have you forgotten?”
His nostrils flared slightly. “I am very well aware of that, Hetty. Please, remember to show respect.”
Hetty coloured. “I am sorry, Papa. But I am so very confused …”
“Yes, of course you are,” he said. “And to be frank, I was astounded when the gentleman approached me. We had a long talk, where I told him that you are legally wed, although you have been deserted. Any offer of marriage was conditional on being able to free you of the marriage to Frank Blackmore.” He paused. “He accepted those terms. In fact, his eagerness to marry you is such that he is prepared to wait for you.”
Hetty gasped, her head spinning. She simply could not believe what her father was telling her.
“Who is this gentleman?” she breathed.
Her father took a deep breath. “He is Louis Montague, the Duke of Warwick.” He stopped, letting his words sink in.
Hetty felt even more confused. A duke?A duke wanted to marryher? She was disgraced. It made no sense whatsoever.
She had never heard of the Duke of Warwick, whoever he was. At least, she didn’t think that she had ever heard of him. The name did not sound familiar to her at all. Why on earth would a grand duke, who could marry any lady that he liked, seek her out, and put in an offer of marriage, knowing that she was not free to marry?
“I still do not understand,” she said eventually, shaking her head. “Papa, did you seek him out, in some way? How could he even have known about what has happened and that my husband deserted me?”
“He heard the rumours,” replied her father, staring at her steadily. “You must realise that this could not be contained indefinitely, Hetty. Your mother and I have avoided most social situations, so as not to be forced to talk about it, but the wider community do know. Frank Blackmore’s family know, and we cannot control who they speak to about it.”
Hetty’s flush deepened. Of course, she should have known that. Shedidknow it. But she had not wanted to think about it. To think that her personal life was being bandied about the community, that the scandal was spreading. She had wanted to put her head into the sand and ignore it entirely. But it was part of the reason that she wanted tojoin a convent so fiercely – she knew that it could not be contained forever. She wanted to run ahead of it before it engulfed her entirely.
“Why?” she whispered. “Why does this gentleman want to marry me?”
Her father smiled slightly. “He claims that he has met you, Hetty, and was charmed by you,” he said slowly. “Unfortunately, he was not in a position to offer for your hand, previous to your engagement. But now that your …. Circumstances … have changed, he wanted to put in the offer immediately.”
Hetty was dumbfounded again. She racked her mind, trying to remember if she had ever met the gentleman. She would have thought she would recall quite clearly if she had been introduced to a duke. But once more, she came up with nothing.
“It is a great honour,” said her father, looking pleased. “A great honour, indeed. And a far cry above the life of servitude which would await you at a nunnery. You would have prestige and honour above anything that you could imagine, Hetty. Just think.”
“Is that what this is all about?” she said quickly. “Restoring my reputation? You are embarrassed by me, I know …”
Her father sighed heavily. “Hetty, you know that would never be my primary concern. Your welfare is far more important.” He paused.“But we may be able to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. We can contain the scandal, through a new engagement, and increase your status at the same time. We could douse the scandal when it is still an ember before it flares into a fire …”
She felt a chill fall through her. He wanted to place her in the hands of another man. A man that he knew nothing about. A man who could do the same thing to her that Frank Blackmore had done. A man who even if he did not do that, might treat her badly in other ways.
She could not endure it. She could not endure any further pain at the hands of a man.
“No,” she said, shaking her head vigorously, as a surge of panic overtook her. “No, I cannot do it. You cannot ask it of me, after what was done to me …”
“Hetty, listen,” said her father sharply. “His Grace is not Frank Blackmore. He is a peer of the realm, well respected, with a vast estate just over the county border, in Hampshire. If you agree to marry him, you will be well protected, wealthy, and have status above your wildest dreams. You would sacrifice that, to go to a convent, to take on a life that I know you do not truly want?”
“You do not know anything about what I want!” she cried, feeling as if her heart was about to break in two, once again. “I trusted Frank Blackmore. I thought that I would be married until the day that I die. And he lied to me.” Her eyes were wild. “He lied to me the wholetime that we were engaged. He discarded me like refuse. He never cared about me. All that he wanted was my money. And you expect that I would smile delightedly, at the thought of being handed over to another man, who I know even less about than I did my husband?”
“You cannot think that every man is like your rake of a husband, Hetty,” said her mother, looking stricken. “Not all are untrustworthy. Most are honourable, my daughter. And with this marriage, you could redeem your reputation! You could become the wife and mother that you always wanted to be!”
“I no longer want those things, Mama,” she said, her voice shaking with emotion. “I have spent the past weeks since my desertion, dealing with the fact that I will never have them. I am resigned to the fact that I shall never be a wife and mother. And now you wish to turn it all around, in an instant, and think that I should be grateful?”
There was silence in the room. And then, her father sighed. “His Grace is here now, Hetty. He arrived while you were on your walk. He is waiting in my study to speak to you.”
Hetty felt her mind begin to reel again. In the space of fifteen minutes, they had told her that this gentleman wanted to marry her and that they wanted her to consider it seriously. That was shocking enough. But now, they were telling her that the gentleman himself was in their home and had been here the whole time.
