Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"I am delighted that Lady Emily has invited us to a ball," Anna announced to Bridget and their mother in the drawing room. "I adored her art show, and I can scarcely wait to see the artwork she has in her home."

"And I am sure Mr. Russell has received an invitation as well," said Bridget, smiling.

"Girls, your father and I wish to speak to you about these gentlemen," their mother said. "In truth, I suspect we have waited a little too long for such a conversation, but it is better to discuss the matter late than never at all."

Bridget's heart hammered against her ribs. She covertly pressed her thighs together, her mind racing. Anthony's fingers between her legs had felt heavenly, and she had lain awake the following night, wondering if she might be able to find such pleasure with her own fingertips. Of course, she had not tried that, but the thought was there.

She hoped she had not ruined her plans with that single moment of pleasure, especially when it seemed they were going to discuss the courtship, at last. Even though Bridget had never explicitly said to the ton that Anthony was courting her, she had implied it in every other way. She and Anthony had attended several social events together and spoke often to one another. It would be impossible for her parents to have not noticed how often she and Anthony shared one another's company.

"Indeed," their father said, entering the drawing room. "It seems as though we will see both of you wed this Season, and I could not be happier."

He seated himself beside their mother. Bridget took a deep breath. The Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, her parents, were a formidable team.

"Anna," their father said, "we have noticed your attraction to Mr. Russell. He has asked my permission to propose to you."

Anna gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "You must have accepted!"

"I did. Although I have my reservations about wedding you to an untitled man, Mr. Russell is respectable, and he has the financial means to provide for you."

"And he loves me," Anna said, her voice soft. "That matters a great deal to me."

Their mother grasped Anna's hands in her own. "Of course! We are delighted that you have your love match!"

Bridget forced down the lump that rose in her throat. Anna would have no dowry if Bridget did not marry the Marquess of Thornton, and she doubted her father had mentioned this.

"I am so happy!" Anna exclaimed. "I do not know how I will manage to wait until he proposes!"

Their father smiled. "I imagine his proposal will come shortly after Bridget's own. Thornton has finally returned to London, and he is ready to formally announce his engagement to Bridget."

"The Marquess of Thornton?" Bridget said. "Surely you cannot intend for me to marry him when the Duke of Hamilton has expressed such great interest in me."

Her father's expression hardened. "You should not have encouraged His Grace's advances. You knew I had already promised you to the Marquess of Thornton."

"I do not wish to marry the Marquess of Thornton!" Bridget exclaimed. "How could I resist when Anthony showed such interest in me?"

"It is a perfectly suitable match," Anna said. "Besides, His Grace seems kind and sensible."

Their mother looked uncomfortable. She wrung the fabric of her skirts between her hands. "Maybe we should reconsider the engagement," she said carefully. "I am certain Lord Thornton will understand if we tell him that Bridget has found a love match."

"No. She will marry the Marquess of Thornton. I have already agreed to the match, and I will not break the engagement simply because of a duke's passing fancy. I had assumed this courtship was merely a rumor, and I am disappointed that you have instead allowed another man to court you while knowing that I have already arranged an engagement for you!"

"I am not a passing fancy!" Bridget exclaimed. "Anthony loves me!"

"Thornton will love you, too!"

Bridget fought to keep the revulsion from her face. "He will never love me!" she exclaimed.

"Sometimes, marriage does not begin with love," her father said, "but it grows into something more meaningful over time."

"But why must she marry him?" Anna asked. "She has a suitor who adores her!"

"And he will not agree to marry Bridget!" their father snapped, his face reddening.

Bridget felt ice settle into her veins. "Why, Father?"

She already knew. Bridget had no dowry; that was why Anthony would refuse to marry her. As she waited for her father to reveal the truth, she tried not to despair. She had only recently realized how much she wanted Anthony, and it seemed terribly unfair that she had no dowry and no chance to marry him.

"I would also like to know," the Duchess of Norfolk said. "Why can Bridget not marry His Grace?"

"Because she has no dowry."

Silence followed the admission. Anna was the first to make a sound—a small gasp.

"How can our daughter have no dowry?" asked Bridget's mother.

The Duke of Norfolk looked suddenly very tired. "Neither of them has a dowry. We are buried in debt, and we cannot possibly manage on our own. Thornton agreed to pay all of our debts if he could wed Bridget."

The Duchess of Norfolk shook her head. "You did not tell us."

"How could I? It was my burden to bear, my dear wife."

"No," Bridget said, "it is mine. If I do not marry Thornton, the family will remain in debt, and Anna will not have a dowry either. That means she will be unable to marry Mr. Russell."

"David will not care," Anna said. "I am sure of it."

"Bridget, my dear daughter." Her father gazed imploringly at her. "Do not think of it as a burden. You may save your family with this marriage."

It had been so very foolish of Bridget to think that she could avoid marriage to the Marquess of Thornton. Even when she agreed to Rose's plan, Bridget had been unable to articulate precisely how feigning being courted by Anthony would enable her to escape this fate. Perhaps she had been foolish to think that she might ever marry a man she loved.

"There must be another way," Anna said. "Surely you can settle the debts some other way."

"Perhaps…" Their mother trailed off.

The duke shook his head. "And endure the ton's gossip? The disgrace? Would you have me sell all our possessions?"

"If it means that Bridget may marry the man she loves, sell everything!" Anna cried. "She should be able to marry a man that she loves, just as I am! Bridget bears no affection for the Marquess of Thornton, and I cannot imagine that he feels any for her."

"He wants an heir," Bridget said. What care would he have for her happiness? She could not imagine feeling that same heat deep in her core that she did when she thought of Anthony.

"Charming," Anna muttered mutinously.

"That is enough," their father said. "Bridget will marry him. Thornton intends to announce the engagement at Lady Emily's ball, and I expect that everything will go well."

The duchess rose to her feet and shook her head. "How could you do this?"

"Louise…" the duke said, his voice softening. "I am doing what is needed to save us all."

She did not listen. Bridget slumped against the settee, as her mother left without another word. It was unfortunate that her mother's fury had no more power than Bridget's own.

Silence descended between them once again. After a long time, Bridget's father stood. "I will leave you to think about your engagement," he said. "I am sorry, Bridget, but you have no choice."

Once he was gone, Anna sighed deeply and grasped Bridget's hands. "There must be something that we can do," she said.

"I do not know that there is," Bridget replied. "I have—I have thought about this engagement for so very long, and I have found no means by which I may avoid it."

"Perhaps if you speak to His Grace," Anna said.

Bridget smiled sadly. "And tell him what? I do not know if he loves me, and even if he does, I cannot ask him to wed me without a dowry. No man in the ton would agree to that arrangement, much less a wealthy duke."

"But I am sure that he loves you!" Anna exclaimed. "If you love him, you must fight for him!"

"I cannot," Bridget said. "Even if I wanted to, Anna, there is no solution! I have spent weeks in agony thinking about this situation and trying to find any solution! I have seen nothing for my efforts!"

"But Bridget—"

"Anna, no," Bridget said, shaking her head. "There is nothing that can be done! I should not have assumed that I could have Anthony's love. I should have accepted that I would have to wed the Marquess of Thornton."

Anna frowned and shook her head. "No, Bridget…"

Bridget forced a smile. "You will have a dowry," she said. "You will be able to marry the man you love if I wed the Marquess of Thornton. Have you considered that if I refuse, Lord Thornton may ask for your hand instead? Surely you are not willing to surrender Mr. Russell's love to marry Lord Thornton."

"Neither of us should have to sacrifice our loves," Anna said.

"But one of us must," Bridget said.

Perhaps she was foolish for thinking that she loved Anthony. She had planned to win his love for real, but the conversation with her mother and father had made it apparent that she could not have his affection. Maybe it was time for her to change plans again to something more realistic. If she could not have Anthony's love, perhaps she could have some pleasure, at least, with a handsome man who she deeply liked.

Lady Emily's ball was just a few nights away. If she was destined to be like the poor woman in Lady Hastings's story, forcibly wed to a much older man for whom she bore no affection, Bridget would have at least one night of pleasure with a man who would be kind to her. Even if Anthony did not love her, even if he was just pretending, he at least thought of her as something more than a means to produce an heir.