Page 29 of The Duke Meets His Match

“I need time to consider all you have told me,” she explained. “I need time to consider all that you havenottold me.”

“Miss Jennings—”

“If you press me on this, my answer will be no,” Susan said firmly. She had not asked for any of this. It mattered not to her thathehad not asked for the dilemma he was currently facing either.

The door opened as if on cue, and Lady Walmsley bustled in, followedimmediately by Foster bearing a silver tea service. “I know I said I’d leave you two alone to converse,” Lady Walmsley said, “but it dawned on me that I was neglecting my duties as hostess.” She crossed the room and seated herself in the settee that was at right angles to the chair in which Susan had been seated. “I shall pour. How do you take your tea, Aylesham? Milk or lemon?”

“Milk, please.” The duke had risen to his feet at Lady Walmsley’s entrance and reseated himself now while she poured a dash of milk into two teacups.

“I already know Susan prefers hers with sugar,” Lady Walmsley said as she picked up the teapot and began to pour. She set down the pot and handed the duke his tea. “Come, Susan, join us.”

"Thank you." Susan reluctantly returned to her chair and took the teacupoffered by Lady Walmsley. Lady Walmsley beamed at her, and Susan had more than a sneaking suspicion that her hostess had been eavesdropping prior to her arrival in the room. She sipped her tea. “Such a coincidence you returned when you did, Lady Walmsley. The duke and I had just finished our conversation.”

Lady Walmsley’s expression was one of utter surprise.

Susan didn’t believe it for a moment.

“And here I was, thinking that two such intelligent people as yourselves would have a great deal about which to converse,” Lady Walmsley said. “Andmuch to discover about each other too. My dear friend Judith—Lady Bledsoe, you know, Susan—was so fond of Aylesham’s mother. They came out togetherand became bosom friends. I am a great deal older, of course, and thereforewas only somewhat acquainted with the duchess. Such a beauty she was! I do remember that about her.”

“Thank you, Lady Walmsley. Lady Bledsoe has said much the same to me,” the duke said.

“But surely you have portraits of her, Your Grace. You must miss her—andyour father—greatly. I imagine people have shared stories about them withyou.”

“Occasionally,” he said. He abruptly began sipping his tea, implicitly saying the subject of his parents had concluded as far as he was concerned.

“Susan, on the other hand, has a rather large family, from what she’s told me,” Lady Walmsley said, apparently not picking up on the duke’s implied message. “How many siblings was it again, Susan? Five? Six?”

“There were eight children born to my parents,” Susan replied. “Including myself.”

“Gracious! Can you imagine that, Your Grace?Eight children—of course,youare acquainted with her brother James; I saw you speaking to him at Lady Bledsoe’s ball the other night.”

“I am,” the duke said.

“Clever young man. A solicitor, I understand,” Lady Walmsley said. “Youare much like him in that regard, Susan. Such a reader, she is, Your Grace! Not content to sit idly by, no. She has already prowled the stacks in my library, looking for this and that to read.” She chuckled. “In my day, young ladies learned to sew and play pianoforte and manage a household. Imagine what young ladies now could accomplish were they educated in the same subjects as the young men!”

“Radical thoughts, Lady Walmsley,” the duke said, but Susan noticed that a corner of his mouth had tipped upward just the slightest bit.

Lady Walmsley chuckled, obviously undeterred. “You are every bit as clever as your brother, Susan. Would you have cared to become a solicitor, do you suppose, had the opportunity for it existed?”

How was Susan to reply to that?

Before she could say anything in reply, the duke spoke up. “As a matter of fact, Lady Walmsley, before your arrival, I was conversing with Miss Jennings on a particular subject, and her observations were keen and to the point.” He shot Susan a speaking glance.

“Ah, there, you see, Susan? Even the Duke of Aylesham agrees with me,” Lady Walmsley said. “More tea, Your Grace?”

“No, thank you,” he said, setting his cup and saucer on the tea tray and rising to his feet. “Miss Jennings, perhaps you would care to walk with me? A stroll through Lady Walmsley’s garden, perhaps?”

“Oh, what a delightful idea! The weather is particularly cooperative today,” Lady Walmsley said. “And I shall rest my eyes briefly while you are gone.”

It seemed Susan was not yet rid of the His Loftiness after all. “Thank you, Your Grace. It’s kind of you to offer,” she said.

***

Whatever Lady Walmsley had going on in that scheming mind of hers, it hadworked to George’s advantage. He suspected she was doing her own bit of matchmaking, unaware that George had every intention of getting Miss Jennings to agree to his suit. Having Lady Walmsley as a surprise ally had saved him from leaving before he had secured Miss Jennings’s acceptance.

He offered her his arm. “Miss Jennings?” he said as politely as possible. He could see that she was not feeling particularly agreeable—not that she’d been all that agreeable thus far.

She set her hand on his arm and allowed him to escort her from the room, after which her hand immediately dropped to her side. “Lady Walmsley’s garden is best accessed by the french doors in the dayroom,” she said.

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