Page 54 of A Wallflower to Seduce the Duke

“I…have decided to accept the proposal of the Viscount of Caney,” she finally said. She hazarded a glance at her father and found his kindly features greatly disturbed by her words.

“Are you sure, Emily?” he asked her, his fists clenching at his sides. “Your brother and I have had a discussion about that particular young man. Based on what Benedict has told me and what I had seen for myself, he isnota suitable match for you.”

Emily tilted her head and smiled wryly at him. “And who would be a better match, Father? His Grace?”

The Marquess frowned. “I have yet to see the shadow of that one.”

“I’m afraid we need not discuss him any further,” she shrugged delicately, turning back to the window so that her father would not see the sadness in her eyes. “He has made it clear that he does not want to be bound in holy matrimony, and I do not want to force myself on any man.”

“He needs to take responsibility for this fiasco as well!”

Emily laughed inwardly in misery. She had a good notion about what His Grace was like, and if he did not want to do something, no force on earth would be strong enough to move him to it.

After all, he did confess to having feelings for me…they just were not good enough reasons for him to marry me in his estimation.

“I have already decided,” Emily told the Marquess softly, her voice resolute and resigned at the same time. “It is the only way.”

A heavy silence descended over them as Emily bitterly stood her ground, staring out of the window stonily.

“We have failed you, Emily.”

She turned around in shock at the words and found the Marquess staring sadly at her. With a sigh, he sat down and took off his spectacles.

“All of us,” he repeated tiredly. “Benedict, Horatia, Amy…but most of all,Ihave failed you.”

She pursed her lips. “What are you talking about, Father?”

He smiled sadly at her. “For years, I have let Horatia carry on, thinking she knew what was best for you. Even when I felt that she went too far at times, I thought that she would still act in your best interests because your failure would affect Amy eventually.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “I never thought just how far she would go in her shortsightedness.”

Emily smiled sadly at her father. “I…It is not entirely your fault, Papa.”

The Marquess opened his eyes, and she could see the pain in their depths. “Dear child, you have not called me that in a long while. It pains me that you would do so just when I am about to lose you…and to a horrid person at that!”

She walked over to her father and placed her arms around his neck in a gentle hug. “Do not fret so much. I will be fine. I have always managed to be.”

The Marquess patted her arms. “If you have made your decision, and I cannot change your mind, then I can only ensure that you will not suffer needlessly inhishands.”

“What do you mean, Papa?”

“Your brother and I…we have decided that whoever you choose to marry, we will give you one of the estates that we own so that you will always have your own home. It will be solely yours and your children’s if you so choose.”

Emily looked at her father in shock. A married woman having her own estate apart from that of her husband? It was rarer than a white crow!

“In addition to that,” her father continued, “I have decided to give you your own fortune, so you will never have to be at the mercy of your husband.”

Emily blinked at her father. “H—how?”

“Oh. I have decided that Amy shall have exactly thesamebudget for her coming out as Horatia spent on you,” her father told her with a shrewd twinkle in his eye. “The money that she has squirreled away for Amy will be yours to dispose of as you wish.”

An estate and money of my own…?Emily was stunned. Rarely were fathers and brothers in the Ton so generous as her father and brother were planning to be. Not to mention that they intended to have a huge part of it taken fromAmy’scoming out.

“Lady Horatia will never agree to it,” she mumbled.

“She has no say in the matter,” her father reassured her, his tone firm. “The woman has squandered what little she did own, and all that is left is whatIgive her on a regular basis.” The Marquess paused thoughtfully and then smiled at Emily. “But that is about to change, too.”

Still, Emily had one more question. “But Papa…how did you know just how much Lady Horatia spent onmyseasons?”

“Oh that?” the Marquess scoffed and smiled at her. “I merely questioned that maid of hers and threatened her that I would throw her out without a single recommendation if she did not tell meeverythingmy wife had been up to the past few years.”

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