Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

“ F inally,” Matthew muttered with an annoyed look. “Thought you would slumber for the rest of the ball.”

The strange, fainting woman blinked as she came back to reality. She reached up, rubbing her forehead. Matthew held her up with one arm, his other resting at his side rather awkwardly. He kept her from falling onto the library floor, but it was scandalous enough to have even walked into the room. Politeness swayed him from leaving quickly.

“I beg your pardon, sir,” she finally said.

“It’s Your Grace,” he corrected.

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Excuse me?”

“It is not sir, my lady. It is Your Grace. ” Matthew straightened and smirked sarcastically, not feeling patient enough for conversation. “Surely your governess taught you how to address a duke?”

The girl’s head shot up in surprise, intense green eyes staring at him. “Pardon me, Your Grace,” she whispered. “I had no idea?—”

“That’s obvious enough,” he interrupted without a moment to lose.

She gaped at him but shut her mouth quickly, meeting the cold stare he threw at her. “I apologize, Your Grace,” she said, “but might you extend your kindness and help me to my feet?”

Matthew eyed her. “Of course,” he said. He glanced at the door. There was a creeping sensation of something lurking around the corner as he loitered in the library with the nameless woman. The best solution was to leave as soon as possible.

Matthew gripped her elbows gently, helped her stand on her feet, and waited till she stopped swaying. She pulled herself away on her own, standing as still as possible.

Satisfied with her ability to stand independently, Matthew stepped away, bowing as he walked backward towards the door. “Thanks to you, at least I can leave Benedict House being thoroughly entertained,” he said. “Good evening, my lady.”

“Entertained?”

“Why yes,” he replied, almost about to open the door, “this is novel enough.”

With a furrowed brow, she frowned at him. “What do you mean by that?”

“If you’ll excuse me,” Matthew replied instead. “I’ll take my leave.”

“I demand you explain yourself, Your Grace!”

His eyebrows raised. “You demand?”

“You sound,” she began, a delicate hand pressed against her stomach, “as if you wish to accuse me of something.”

“Is there something to accuse?”

The girl shook her head as though something rattled within her. “What did you mean by being ‘thoroughly entertained’?”

“My lady,” he began, arms crossed behind his back, “I believe it is your goal to swindle me into overstepping propriety’s bounds until I am caught in your grasp, where you might force me into an advantageous marriage.” Matthew raised his finger. “And let me be clear. It would be advantageous for you rather than for me .”

The girl gaped at him. “How dare you?”

“Do not act so surprised, my lady, of the accusation. Why are you surprised you were discovered?”

“There was nothing to discover!” she shouted. “You know nothing—” the girl began, her voice getting louder. “You—” she caught herself off again, pressing her fingertips against her forehead. She rapidly blinked. “Forgive me,” she mumbled, “for I feel terribly dizzy.”

The lady swayed, almost on the brink of collapse when Matthew rolled his eyes, taking a few steps in her direction. Without a word, he set her down in a plush seat beside the wall. “You’re looking quite pale again,” he muttered, annoyance tainting his words.

She stared at her hands as though she hadn’t heard him. “I–I can’t remember the last thing I ate.”

“What a,” he paused, eyeing her sideways, “ peculiar thing to say.”

“No, Your Grace. I’m saying it is why I fell.”

He looked her up and down. “That would explain it.”

“There was so much time spent on being prepared, and with my brother, I couldn’t falter,” she said. Quickly, she added, “Not that it’s anyone else's fault.”

Giving her a perplexed look, Matthew patted her hand reassuringly. “Worry not, my lady,” he said with a curt bow. “You should regain your composure in no time and return to the festivities.”

Matthew took it as his final leave. The girl seemed well enough to be left alone once more. Color hadn’t yet reached her face, but time could repair that. He did his gentlemanly diligence and feared being trapped in an improper situation with a girl he did not trust.

“Your Grace,” she called out once more.

“My lady,” he said before she could continue, “I should be taking my leave.”

“There is brandy over there.”

Matthew looked over his shoulder. There was a short end table with a few glasses and a decanter filled with brandy. He raised an eyebrow at her. “Yes, my lady.”

“If you can pour me a glass,” she said, “I will be all right alone.”

Despite every instinct within him telling him to run, Matthew sighed, and slowly crept over to the brandy. “You must be quite desperate to try such tricks like these,” he drawled, taking his time with the drink.

She exhaled. “Your Grace?—”

“I wonder what kind of a situation your family must be in to try something so pitiful.”

The girl didn’t reply this time, just covered her eyes with her palm. There was a paleness in her that might be brought back to life through a drink, but he couldn’t ignore his instinct.

“Who taught you?”

“Your Grace, I was not taught anything unlike every other lady at this ball.”

“Truly?” he mocked. “No vengeful mama showed you the ways to trick a bachelor into a marriage? No angry brother told you the things that could make a gentlemen stay?”

“I find your words to be incredibly offensive, Your Grace.”

Matthew walked back to her, brandy in hand. “Your acting is much better than the others, I will say that.”

“Your Grace,” she began, “I don’t understand what I have done to make you say such things.”

He paused directly in front of her, still holding the drink. “Your tricks won’t work on me.”

“What tricks?”

“Try all you might, but they won’t work.”

The girl reached for the glass, but he pulled backwards.

“Your Grace?—”

“Even if we are caught here,” he said, “I would not marry you.”

She met his eyes. “What?”

“Don’t act so ignorant.”

“Your Grace,” she said with an exhausted huff. “I only wanted a glass of brandy.”

Matthew’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I don’t understand why you must keep the act up.”

“There is no act.”

He watched her, his gut telling him not to believe a word that came out of her mouth. Finally handing over the glass, Matthew frowned.

“Enjoy the fruits of Lady Tollock’s labor,” he said. “I’m sure she will be quite disappointed in your inability to wed me.”

Matthew had a hand wrapped around the doorknob when he heard the girl rise from her seat.

“Whatever I have done to invoke such a lie to be spewed in my direction will not be forgotten, Your Grace.”

He paused. “A lie?”

The girl raised her chin. “How dare you assume I have planned out this scene to entrap you as though I am a weed?”

“My lady?—”

“You entered this library, Your Grace,” she said. “There was no beckon, there was no call. I did not leave the door ajar for you to take it at your leisure. I came here for solace. I came here for a moment of peace. I became ill and took a solitary moment of respite. I have planned no such thing of which you so willingly accuse me.”

Matthew turned back towards her, shock stamped on his face. He began to march across the library to her. “My, you’re a peculiar one,” he said, “All this trouble to wed me?”

“ Wed you?” the girl didn’t bother to hide her ‘shock’ as she inched closer. “I don’t even know your name!”

“Well, I’m sure you were just thrilled I walked in, and not some lowly baron.”

She gasped. “Who do you think I am?”

An irritation took over Matthew’s face as he stood only a few feet away from her.

“My lady,” he began, “I think you’re an eligible woman looking to ensnare an eligible bachelor in your family’s grips. Let me guess, there’s been a divot in your wealth. There’s a need in your family for a new source of income, a large title that can save your name from falling into ruin. Is that right?”

“You know nothing of my family.”

“Really?” he snapped. “It’s always the same, my lady. Can you truly tell me I’m wrong?”

The girl faltered. “You are wrong,” she muttered, green eyes glossy with tears as she stood just below him, her face angled upwards. “I would do nothing to ensnare someone unwillingly. I will do whatever I need to do for my family. Can you say the same, Your Grace?”

The argument grew to a tumultuous head within moments.

Her voice echoed in his head. Can you say the same, Your Grace?

Matthew rolled his shoulders, the anger resting there. When he looked back down at her, she seemed almost afraid, as if she had been caught in something.

“Anything, my lady?” he sneered through gritted teeth. “Even sell yourself?”

Her face dropped, mouth slack open and eyes widening. A redness grew across her nose and cheeks, not something bashful but rather like a fire brewed beneath her skin. And as her nostrils flared, Matthew saw her hand raise out the corner of his eye, lifting above her head to strike down upon his cheek.

Matthew snatched her hand out of the air, gripping her by the wrist. He pulled her hand closer to him, practically lifting her towards him.

The girl stared up at him with bunched together eyebrows, her green eyes incredibly wide. He could feel her haggard breathing against his chin as he leaned, a snarl forming on his lips.

A gasp filled the silence.

Matthew dropped the girl’s hand, and glanced over his shoulder to see a small group of the ton huddling by the opened door, their mouths wide open and gawking. They were horrified as they took in the scene before them. Matthew stood there, frozen, staring back at them. For the first time in a long time, he was too stunned to know what to do next.

Suddenly, parting the crowd, came a young gentleman around his age. With curly brown hair and emerald green eyes, the man passed through the group and stood staring at Matthew and the girl.

“ Alicia !” he seethed.

Matthew almost guessed they were twins by how similar their features were.

“Brother, I?—”

Shoving a finger towards the exit, the man interrupted her with a stern shout. “Now, Alicia. And say nothing more.”

Alicia stormed past Matthew with her head hung low. The crowd parted before her and never met her gaze. They flinched away as though her impropriety would be contagious. She paused, waiting for her brother to escort her out in the hall.

The man shot a fiery look toward the duke. “Didn’t take the Duke of Garvey for a bookworm.”

Matthew nodded, finally recognizing who they were. “The library was a respite from the party, Egerton,” he snapped, no longer bothering to look toward Alicia. “No need to take it as something other than such.”

And with a curt nod, Matthew marched through the parted crowd, swiping past the thorn in his side known as Lady Alicia.