Page 53 of The Duke Meets His Match

He didn’t have to pace long, thank goodness, for soon the door opened, and Susan and Lady Walmsley entered the room.

“What is it?” Susan said, coming straight to him and taking his hands in hers. Her action meant a great deal to George. The Susan Jennings who had formerly despised him would not have greeted him in such a manner.

“Perhaps you would allow me to speak to Susan in private for a few minutes, Lady Walmsley,” he said, still holding Susan’s hands and looking straight at her.

Lady Walmsley left without a word.

“What is it?” Susan asked again.

“I scarcely know where to begin,” he said.

Her eyes grew large.

“Come, sit with me.” He led her to the same settee where they had satyesterday, where he had kissed her and lost part of his heart to her. This was allbecoming a farce in so many ways.

He turned to face her and kept her hand in his. “My dear Susan, I have imposed upon you so much already, usurped your free will and pressed you into undesired circumstances. And yet, here I am again, about to do the same thing.” He paused, unwilling quite yet to speak the words aloud, for once hehad spoken them, there was no turning back. Susan would either agree tohis plan and be at his side, or she would refuse, and he would be facing great pressure from the Prince Regent once again to marry Princess Sophia Augusta.

But upon receiving this latest invitation from the prince, he had realized it wasn’t fear of being under the prince’s thumb or marrying a stranger from a foreign country that motivated him today. He had realized he wanted to marry Miss Susan Jennings, the spinster harpy he would have vowed he hated before this past week.

He didn’t know how he could be so certain of this so soon after getting toknow her—truly, he still barely knew her at all—yet, hedidknow. And he knew her intellect, her courage, and her inability to suffer fools gladly. She had put himin his place despite his being a duke, but he’d also seen her address servants asequals. He’d seen her humor and felt her passion, too, a passion for life and, he believed, for him as well. He knew her beauty without and her fire within and ...

“I am listening,” she said, watching him with concerned curiosity.

He smiled briefly at her solemn face and took up his courage. “Today Ireceived an invitation—more of a summons, really—from the Prince Regent to attend a garden party to be held tomorrow afternoon,” he said. “It was worded in such a manner as to make it clear the invitation was for me alone.”

“I don’t see the problem here,” Susan said, her brows furrowing in thatway of hers. “I have no desire to be included in such an invitation; if you are concerned such an exclusion will have hurt my feelings, I can assure you that I will be more than happy to remain here while you mingle with the Prince Regent and his guests tomorrow.”

“There is more,” he said. “Prince Ernst Leopold and his wifeand daughterhave arrived in London ahead of schedule. It is for them that Prinny is hosting this party. I suspect it is a last-ditch attempt to press me into marrying the princess.”

“Ah,” she said.

George waited for her to say more, but she was silent. She gazed at their clasped hands and said nothing. George had learned by now that she needed time to sort out new details, so he remained silent as well to let her think.

Lady Walmsley would be returning soon, though, and George had more to say to Susan before then, so he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I have come here today to ask for your help. You may refuse. I brought you into this debacle through my own arrogance and selfish expectations. I will not do so again.”

“Oh, George,” she said.

“Despite the wording on the invitation, it is my intention, if you are willing, to show up at Carlton House tomorrow with my soon-to-be duchess on my arm.”

“What?” she exclaimed, her eyes now huge and flashing silver. “You wishme to show up,uninvited, to Carlton House to be presented to His RoyalHighness the Prince Regent willy-nilly, just like that? And what happens when the doormen refuse my admittance? Do you think I have the bravado to starethem down and browbeat them into submission?”

“I do, actually, yes,” he said bluntly. “And before you say anything more, I think it the finest compliment I could bestow upon you—at least the finest one that you would accept from me at present. I can think of many others.”

Her eyes narrowed at him. “You arenottrying to flatter me into agreeing to your preposterous plan, are you?” she said.

“Not in the slightest. I am allowing you to choose, even though I dearly hope you will attend with me tomorrow and be at my side. I plan to take another personal stand against Prinny’s machinations, but if necessary, I will face him on my own.”

“You may find that Princess Sophia Augusta is your perfect match, yet there I will be on your arm, ruining any chance you may have of securing her hand.”

“I have grave doubts about the first part and high hopes for the second, which is why I desire to have you with me tomorrow afternoon.”

She sighed gustily. “You may not realize this, having been schooled in such things since birth,” she said, “but there is more to attending this party at Carlton House than merely outstaring a doorman. I was never presented at court, never made my curtsy to Queen Charlotte. There is much I have not learned regarding royal protocol ... and what I did learn when I made my come-out has been long forgotten. I don’t know the first thing about chatting with the Prince Regent atan afternoon party. I honestly don’t see how this can work.”

“Ah, but that is where Lady Walmsley comes in,” he said. “May I include her in our conversation now?”

Susan looked at him for what seemed to George an eternity. Finally, she shrugged. “I suppose you may.”

He rose from the settee and strode to the parlor door, where he unsurprisingly found Lady Walmsley scolding Foster about something yet again.

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