Page 45 of One Night of Surrender
They had too.Twice.At least temporarily.“There is no future for Val and me.He is a duke.I am—at present anyway—a librarian.”
Viola waved a hand.“Bah.Do you love him?”
Did she love him?It wasn’t a question, at least not in her mind.Of course she loved him.She’d loved him as a naïve girl ten years ago, she’d loved him when she’d had nothing else to love, and she loved him now—not because of who he’d been or who she remembered, but because of who he was today.A man who cared for others and encouraged them to be who they were meant to be.When he’d told her about why he and Colehaven had founded the Wicked Duke, she’d been moved by their egalitarian ideals, which they’d possessed at Oxford and had clearly maintained even as they’d donned and worn the mantle of duke.
But her love for him didn’t matter.He didn’t love her, and he was a duke.Most of Society didn’t share his ideals, and they’d eat her—a librarian and the daughter of a teacher and the granddaughter of a country vicar—alive.
Viola exhaled.“Never mind.I can see that you do, even if you cannot.This must have been a whirlwind romance.You just met, what, a fortnight ago?”
For some reason, the truth spilled from Isabelle’s mouth.What did it matter to keep it secret from Viola?“We met at Oxford.”
“You’re joking.”Viola gaped at her, then realization dawned, and she nodded slowly.“Of course you aren’t.Continue.Please.”
“Val—His Grace—and I kept running into each other in town.”
“Knowing my brother, there was nothing of chance about those encounters,” Viola said wryly.
Isabelle smiled.“No, there was not.He was rather persistent.Anyway, that is how and when we met.”
Viola moved to the table, where she deposited her notebook and perched on the edge, a stance that would horrify her grandmother.“Why didn’t he just marry you then?”
“Because he didn’t want to?”Isabelle let out a nervous laugh.They’d never discussed marriage—at least not to each other.She’d told him that her father had a suitor in mind for her, and that man had eventually become her husband.Val had told her that his grandmother had a list of young ladies he should consider courting, even though he’d made it clear he didn’t wish to wed for several more years.None of those things had given her any encouragement that he might wed her, and why should they have?
“I don’t think that’s true.I think he’s just a blockhead,” Viola said, crossing her arms over her chest.
“It doesn’t matter since we can’t marry.As I said before, he’s a duke and I’m a librarian.”
“And I told you that doesn’t matter.Or if I didn’t explicitly, I meant to.Let me say it now: there’s no magic to being a duchess.You’re clever, graceful, and my grandmother likes you.You’re already leagues ahead of most duchesses.”
“But I don’t want to be a duchess.”There, she’d said it.She was terrified of being at the center of Society’s interest and gossip.
“Even with Val at your side?”Viola’s voice was so full of hope, her gaze so awash with anticipation, that Isabelle could almost be swept up in her enthusiasm.Almost.
“Not even with Val at my side.”An ache rooted in Isabelle’s chest and began to spread.“I need to go pack for my trip.”
“You’re still going?”
“Of course.Nothing has changed now that you know the truth, Viola.”Someof the truth.The real truth would remain buried deep inside Isabelle, where she could keep it safe and treasure it in the days to come.“I am still in need of a job, and your grandmother has been kind enough to help me in my time of need.She’s already arranged for my journey, and I won’t disrespect her by changing my mind.”
Viola made an inelegant sound with her lips.“All right.But I will say, I don’t think my grandmother would feel disrespected if she knew you and Val loved each other.She’d want you to marry.She’sdesperatefor him to remarry.”
So desperate that even Isabelle would do?She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, and thankfully, it didn’t matter since it would never come to pass.
Isabelle summoned a smile for Viola, sorry that their friendship was over just as it had barely begun.“Thank you for your support.”
“You shall always have it.”Her tone and gaze were both warm and determined.
Isabelle turned and left before the ache in her chest swallowed her whole.
CHAPTER 14
Viola swept Val with an assessing appraisal from head to toe.“Don’t you look splendid.”
Val blinked at his sister standing in the center of his entrance hall.He took in her heavy cloak and the boots peeking out from beneath the hem.She was not dressed for Almack’s, but then she never went to Almack’s.“Why is it Grandmama never forces you to go to Almack’s as she does me?”
“Because I am not husband shopping.”
He strode farther into the entrance hall.“And why not?Why are you excused from the Marriage Mart while I am not?I actually tried the bloody estate of marriage, unlike you.”
