Page 28 of The Duke Meets His Match

He ignored her and kept speaking. “You will have wealth at your disposal. Connections. Think of what you would be able to do for your family.”

“Ah, but that depends largely upon the marriage settlements, does it not?”

“Which I assure you will be liberal. You seem the sensible type, so I doubt you will be frivolous in your requests.”

George saw that his reply took her by surprise. “A compliment,” she said dryly, although she looked rather astonished. “I thank you.”

George nodded in acknowledgment.

“And yet, I have no basis upon which to trust your assurances,” she continued.“You did, after all, lie to the Prince Regent about our nonexistent betrothal.”

“Touché, Miss Jennings,” George said. “So let me ask you this: which do you consider the worse offense? Lying to the prince about a nonexistent betrothal or marrying into a family who has ingratiated itself to Bonaparte?”

Her eyes widened at his words. “Obviously, there is much you have yet to explain,” she said. “For starters,whywould the Prince Regent require that you marry into a family that supports our sworn enemy?”

“I doubt he knows, Miss Jennings. You will simply have to trust me that I know it to be true. And I suspect our sovereign’s judgment may be clouded by the opportunity the marriage offers him to acquire additional funds.” He wished he hadn’t had to share even that much with her.

She looked thoughtful as she considered his words. “I will concede that your motives are much clearer now. But it still doesn’t tell me whatImay expect from this.” She stood and began to pace the room. “If I were to lay out my options, they would be these: firstly, to refuse you,” she said. “Secondly, would be a marriage in name only, with the compensation for my agreeing to the match outlined in the marriage contracts.”

It sounded unpalatable when stated so bluntly, George thought. It alsobrought up an issue that he must deal with immediately. The complicated business at hand was getting even more complicated. “Not entirely, Miss Jennings,” hesaid. “I must have an heir, you see.”

The color in her cheeks bloomed. “Ah,” she said, trying not to look flustered.“And so you chose an older, potentially less fertile woman whom you have alreadyclaimed you dislike to be the mother of your heir,” she said.

“Yes,” he said. What else could he say? It was what he had done, after all.

The blush in her cheeks made her look younger, and she was biting her lip in such a way that George was suddenly drawn to that lip. “I had given up hope of ever being a mother,” she said softly to herself.

And he thought he might finally have his bride—she wasn’t his ideal choice, but she spared him being put firmly under Prinny’s thumb.

Marriage to Miss Jennings was the lesser of two evils.

***

Was it worth it to agree to marry the Duke of Aylesham?

Susan was practical by nature. She wasn’t overly romantic—any thoughtsof romance she’d ever entertained had withered and died after her third Season.Correction: any thought she’d had of romancefor herselfhad died after thatSeason. But here she was, her first week in London, being offered marriage to the Duke of Aylesham. She could be a duchess. She could have wealth at her disposal. The whole business was incredibly ironic.

There was a great deal of good she could do were she to accept the duke’s offer. Susan could sponsor Rebecca’s come-out next Season—it was long overdue and well-deserved. She could repay Lady Walmsley for her incredible generositythus far—Susan had been here but three days and had been overwhelmed byLady Walmsley’s effusive manner and open purse strings.

If Susan were to marry the Duke of Aylesham, she could have a child of her own. Perhaps more than one. Could she be intimate with the Duke of Aylesham in that way? Close to him inanyway? She’d barely been willing to touch him at the ball two nights before. She considered him pompous and aloof. They had nothing in common.

She studied him now as he sat there, and she searched for answers to thecountless questions his offer raised in her mind. He was an attractive man, especially so today, wearing such fine garments. His dark hair was perfectly cut and styled. In fact, he was immaculate in his entire bearing, with no visible flawsat all. It was disconcerting, really. And while his dark eyes drew her into theirdepths, they gave her no indication of what he was thinking.

She refused to look away from him. It would be so easy to lower her eyes. But looking down would be submissive, andthatshe would not allow herself to be. Not with him.

“You’ve given me a lot to consider,” she said

“I am aware of that,” he replied.

She blocked from her mind the images of her happily married parents and those of her siblings, Thomas, Martha, and Isaac, who were all in happy unions—as well as her brother Lucas, just younger than she, who’d been married two years and now had a babe of his own. She had no assurances of such a happy union with the Duke of Aylesham. It was highly unlikely, in fact.

“I have made a decision,” she said at length.

“Yes?” he said, straightening in his chair.

“While I thank you for your offer of marriage, Your Grace, I cannot give you a reply today,” she said.

His countenance darkened.

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