Chapter 18

Dominic stared out the window of the sitting room as he sipped his cup of tea.

Why didn't I tell her the truth?

The look of betrayal in Marie's eyes still haunted him the following day. He knew deep down that he should have told her about his parents, about the fact that he didn't want to bring children into a cruel world. Yet he couldn't bring himself to utter a single word in his defense. He hardly ever talked about that night with his parents, not even with his grandmother. How could he tell Marie?

"I see you are up bright and early," Elizabeth spoke up from behind him as he turned to look.

"I'm always up at this hour, grandmamma; nothing is shocking about my presence."

Elizabeth's eyes twinkled mischievously as she tightened her fingers over the tip of her cane. "I thought you might want to sleep in after getting home so late last night."

Dominic rolled his eyes before placing his cup back on its saucer and carrying it to the tray that stood on the cart just beside the door. He had wanted a moment alone to come up with a plan to win Marie over again and make amends, but he should have known that his grandmother wouldn't be able to resist poking fun at him.

"I went to White's for a drink last night after spending some time with Miss Webster." He told a half-truth, not wanting his grandmother to know that he had been with her until late.

"I see." Elizabeth nodded.

"I am glad; now, if you will excuse me, Grandmamma, there are a few things that I need to see to on the estate." Dominic turned toward the door but paused and shut his eyes when his grandmother's sharp voice called him to a stop.

"Before you leave, dear, I wanted to inform you that we will be having dinner here tomorrow night. I have not yet issued an invitation to Miss Webster and her grandmother as I thought you would like to do the honors. The invitation would be better coming from you in any case."

Dominic could practically hear the smirk in his grandmother's voice as he shook his head and turned. "You can't just arrange a dinner at a moment's notice and expect everyone to show up Grandmamma. People have lives, businesses to run, and families to see to," he grumbled in annoyance.

"This is not a last-minute dinner; I have been planning it since you told me that you were courting Miss Webster. I have even invited your friend Christopher Wyre to join us. He said he would join, and I am glad; a dinner can fall flat if there is only one gentleman to keep us company." Elizabeth lifted her chin triumphantly in the air.

His irritation grew as he clenched his jaw. The situation with Marie was precarious enough without his grandmother meddling in his affairs. He had wanted Marie to agree to his proposal before he introduced her to his grandmother.

"May I ask why the sudden fascination with Miss Webster? We haven't been courting long enough for the ton to know that we are to be married."

Elizabeth waved her hand in front of her nose as if she were trying to dispel a disgusting smell. "To hell with the ton and any of their opinions. I need to meet the woman who is to assume the role of duchess after your mother and I did. It's not an easy job, you know, despite what you men may think." She narrowed her eyes at him in accusation. "There is also the other matter of my grandchildren that we shall not discuss at present."

Dominic decided to push the matter aside, not wanting to get into another argument about siring an heir. "And what will come of your dinner if Miss Webster and her grandmother already have plans?" He raised an eyebrow in question and crossed his arms over his chest as his anger began to ebb. Although his grandmother's meddlesome ways annoyed him at the best of times, he suddenly realized that a dinner invitation that wasn't his doing could be a solution.

"I don't see why they would. Miss Webster schedules all of her appointments during the day hours. I know this because your carriage goes to fetch her every day at exactly half past five in the afternoon. Although I do not know her grandmother, the woman should be around my age. I hardly think she has any plans that stretch beyond nursing her ailing body." She reached down and rubbed her knee through the fabric of her dress.

"Miss Webster's grandmother happens to be something of a healer; she spends her free time helping others with salves and tonics that she creates herself." Dominic tapped his foot impatiently, trying to catch his grandmother out while trying his best not to show his willingness in the matter.

"I'm sure she would be relieved to have respite from her philanthropic endeavors in that case, and perhaps she can have a look at this blasted knee of mine. Heaven knows I have seen enough odd men with scalpels." The mischievous twinkle in Elizabeth's eyes only brightened at the mention of Marie's grandmother.

His heart softened a little at the easy way his grandmother was willing to mingle with people beneath her station. Most of the ton would more than likely kick up a storm when Marie finally accepted his proposal, but at least he would have his grandmother on his side.

"Very well, although I think that your plan is most inconvenient for everyone involved, I will take the carriage to Miss Webster this evening." He unfolded his arms and turned to leave.

"That's right, dear, you pretend to be upset with my plans!" Elizabeth called to him with a cackle as he left.

Shaking his head with a hidden smirk, Dominic trotted from the room and turned down the corridor. He hadn't thought that a solution would have presented itself so easily, even if that solution involved a great deal of meddling from his grandmother. Marie couldn't possibly refuse an invitation when it came directly from a dowager duchess.

Marie felt as if she were about to scream as she paced back and forth in front of her shop window. All of the appointments for the coming week had been canceled in a matter of hours. She would have to dip into her savings to make ends meet if something didn't change soon.

There was also the matter of Dominic and their carriage ride back to her house. She stopped pacing and stared blankly out of the window. None of the passing carriages or even the people registered with her as she thought of his reluctance to say he wanted to start a family with her.

Why is he pursuing me?

It didn't make any sense to her that he was adamant about making her his wife if he didn't truly care for her.

Do I want him to care for me?

The thought shocked her a little as she wrapped her arms protectively over her waist. When had her feelings changed? She had gone from never wanting to get married to wondering if the Duke honestly cared for her.

The intimate moment they shared in the carriage had opened an entirely new world of pleasure to her, one that she couldn't possibly envision sharing with anyone else. Her heart clenched uncomfortably as if a heavy weight was pressing down on her chest.

The tinkling of the bell over the door almost made her jump as Marie turned to see a woman holding an infant entering her store. She frowned when she raked her mind to try and recall who it was. She had double-checked the ledger to make sure that everyone had indeed canceled.

"Miss Webster?" The woman with light blue eyes and blonde hair cradled the infant protectively against her chest. Her clothes spoke of elegance and wealth.

"Forgive me, my lady, but did I forget about our appointment?" she asked almost hopefully. At least her business would be saved if she still had customers. The matter with the Duke was another matter entirely.

The woman smiled warmly as she came forward, and her light blue eyes almost appeared purple in the late afternoon sun. "It's quite all right. We didn't have an appointment; I just thought that you may want to meet our daughter." She tilted her arms a little just as she reached Marie.

Looking down, Marie noted the thick mop of dark brown hair as the child turned in her sleep. "Of course, Lady Montclair, I am so sorry that I didn't recognize you; it's been quite a long day." Marie accepted the child and cradled the sleeping infant against her chest. The messy mop of brown hair could only have belonged to her previous client, the Earl of Montclair.

"It's quite all right. I had heard that you were having a spot of trouble. A few of the other ladies and I decided that we should at least show our support for you after all that you have done for us." Lady Violet Montclair lovingly touched her daughter's little pink foot as it hung from the blanket.

"I appreciate the support. I'm not sure what I shall do." Marie bounced the infant instinctively in her arms. The motions felt almost natural to her when she placed her hand against the child's soft hair, holding her closer to her shoulder.

"Well, I hope that our appearance here will help stave off some of the nasty rumors. We know all about those, don't we little one?" Violet sighed contentedly with a lazy smile as she fawned over her daughter who couldn't have been more than two months old.

Doing the calculations in her mind, Marie tried to think back on the match between Violet and Greyson. There hadn't been too much scandal surrounding their match. They had experienced a tragedy together, yet she couldn't see why that would have caused a scandal. Her eyes widened as the penny suddenly dropped. Violet and Greyson had had a child eight months after their wedding. This was their daughter, who by all appearances looked to be a healthy, bouncing little bundle of joy, so the reason for gossip was pretty clear to Marie.

"You know, you look so natural with an infant in your arms. One can always tell when a woman is born to be a mother. You have those instincts." Violet's eyes sparkled with love.

Marie's heart ached with a longing she hadn't felt before when the tiny body began to move. The baby fussed and turned her head to the side, revealing her perfectly little puckered lips and button nose.

"I hope we will see you happily married one of these days. After everything that you have done for me and the rest of the ladies in our little club, I think you deserve that and so much more." Violet reached out and took the fussing baby from Marie's arms as she began to fuss.

Her arms instantly felt empty with the absence of the tiny body nestled against her chest. She wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about the child that smelled familiar to her.

Love.

The infant smelled like love in an intrinsically strange way that she couldn't explain. A hole suddenly opened in her heart as she recognized the longing for one of her own.

"I had better get little miss home; her father might come looking for me if he gets back and realizes that I'm no longer there. We just came to say that you have our support. None of us believe any of the rumors. Arabella Arrindell was going to chase her heart even if you hadn't advised her to." The warm smile on the woman's lips brought a certain sense of relief to Marie.

"Thank you so much for coming to see me, Lady Montclair. I appreciate the support; I only hope that the rest of the ton will be able to see things that way as well." She reached out and tucked the little girl's blanket into her mother's arm.

Violet's neat little brows curved into a frown as she chewed the inside of her cheek. "You know, I find it a little strange that Lady Arrindell would spread rumors. She doesn't strike me as the kind of woman who would go around spreading gossip. She can be quite hot-tempered at times, especially when it comes to her children, but she's never so much as engaged in any gossip in the past."

Marie listened to Violet speak. The situation certainly seemed strange to her. Rumors certainly had a way of circulating amongst the ton, yet Janey had always heard them first in the past. It seemed quite unlikely that any of the servants who served the Arrindell household would not have come to Janey before now.

There was the possibility that the onlookers who had been outside her shop had been the ones who had fanned the flames of gossip, but that didn't sit well with her either. Surely the appointments would have been canceled the following day. It had taken a week for things to truly get out of hand. It was almost as if there was another catalyst that she wasn't seeing.

James McFunnugh.

"Well, I hope to see you soon again, Miss Webster; perhaps the earl and I will host a ball that you may attend. Making a public appearance with all the rumors can only do good for your reputation," Violet suggested to her over the head of her sleeping daughter and made her way back toward the door.

The bell tinkled softly again as Marie turned back to the window. People had certainly taken note of Violet entering the shop. A small crowd had gathered across the street as ladies whispered to one another behind their fans.

Nothing in life seemed to make sense at all to her. She didn't know how she felt about the Duke, nor did she know how he felt about her. A new sensation of longing crept in as she caught the scent of the baby from her clothes. The pit of her stomach clenched with longing as she let out a deep breath and reminded herself that there were bigger problems for her to face.

The only way that she could be certain of where the gossip was coming from was if she visited Lady Arrindell herself. Perhaps they could sort things out if they just sat down and discussed the matter.

The small crowd that had gathered across the street began to disperse as everyone went about their afternoon.

Marie swallowed hard and held her head high. It had always been up to her in the past to make things right. It wasn't any different now, and she couldn't lose her nerve. If Lady Arrindell wasn't behind the gossip, then at least she would know who else to confront.