Page 80 of The Duke of Seduction
Gage rushed to open the door for them. “May I be the first to congratulate you both,” he said with a smile as they left.
Lavinia turned her head and thanked him. When they were on the pavement heading toward Grosvenor Square, she said, “I like your butler.”
“That’s good.” He began to think of what it might be like to share a house—his space—with someone and began to feel a bit strange. He blamed it on the letter awaiting him. He was desperate to read it.
They turned into Grosvenor Square and made their way toward Grosvenor Street. “Why are you expecting a letter from your sister?” Lavinia asked.
“I wrote to her about Helen. When I sent for the fossils I gave you, my stepmother sent everything that had been in the box, including a letter written by Helen. In it, she mentioned what Lady Abercrombie and Lady Kipp-Landon had said—that she would be better off dead. She also talked of a gentleman who’d danced with her. He gave her hope, and I wondered if Margaret might know who he was and what happened to take it away.”
“Take what away?” she asked softly. “Her hope?”
He nodded, remembering his petite sister with her gray eyes and dark hair. She’d possessed a sweet and gentle soul, with a very dry sense of humor few understood. “She died alone and sad.”
“How did she die?” Lavinia’s query held a weight of empathy.
His heart constricted. He struggled to find the words, despite having already told Felix the truth. “She was poisoned.”
Lavinia stopped near the corner of Park Street and turned toward him, her face suddenly pale. “Someone killed her?”
“No, they presumed she did it.”
Lavinia lifted her hand to her mouth as her jaw dropped briefly. “Oh, Beck, I’m so sorry. Why would she…do that?”
He started walking, gently urging her along. He didn’t want to stand there and talk about this in the street, particularly when they were perhaps already drawing attention as they were unchaperoned. “She was very unhappy. Desolate, really. She had no luck on the Marriage Mart—she was too shy and too quiet. She didn’t have any friends like you do.” His voice hardened.
“No, but she had enemies. Or at least others were cruel to her. I understand why you wrote that poem.” She stroked his arm as they turned onto Park Street.
She suddenly stopped walking, and her hand dug into his arm through his coat. She squinted down the street. “I think Sir Martin may be there already.”
He looked ahead to her house and saw a coach out front. “Damn and the devil. This is going to be awkward.”
“We can sneak in the back through the mews, and I’ll have you wait in the morning room.”
He looked down at her. “I can’t let you confront them alone.”
“Do you really want to come face-to-face with Sir Martin?”
His features creased in a slight wince. “Do you?”
“No, but I must,” she said with a hint of resignation. “I owe him an explanation.”
Beck couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man. “And what will you tell him?”
She averted her gaze. “That we are better suited.”
He sensed she wanted to maybe say something else but didn’t press her. They were well and truly out of time. “No, we’ll go in the front door,” he said, looking at her in question. She nodded in response.
As they walked up to her door, he felt the tremor in her body. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered just before the door opened.
It wasn’t a retainer, however, who stood on the threshold, but her father. And he looked ready to commit murder until his gaze settled on Beck. Then his brow wrinkled with confusion. He opened his mouth, then snapped it closed before stepping aside so they could walk into the hall.
Beck spoke up immediately. “I realize you’re entertaining another caller, Balcombe, but I should tell you straightaway that I’ve come to ask your blessing that I marry your daughter.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” The earl wiped a hand over his brow. “When I saw her walking back to the house on the arm of a gentleman, I was ready to call you out. My wife thought it was you, but I couldn’t tell.”
“You should wear glasses, as Lavinia does,” Beck said. “As shewill.”
Lavinia beamed up at him.
