Chapter 7

Helen had to make a conscious effort to close her mouth. She could not believe he just said that. Of course, she was not oblivious to the fact that in recent times, he had made advances towards her, but he had never been this brazen before. If he had been aiming to shock her, he had definitely succeeded, and the smirk on his face showed that he was satisfied with the effect his declaration had on her.

"I can sense the direction your mind has taken. You have a dirty one, do you?" he said, with a mocking smirk on his face.

Well, when he said he wanted her to spend three nights with him, what was she supposed to think? Virile young men definitely did not invite young ladies to spend three nights simply to make conversation with them. She would agree that she might be naive, but surely she was not that naive.

"While I can't deny the appeal of such an arrangement. I have an entirely different plan for those nights."

"Pray tell, Your Grace. What could you be planning when you invite a young lady to spend three nights with you?"

"The plans are quite harmless, and I will tell you if you would allow me to explain," he said, raising his eyebrow.

"Well, go ahead. I am all ears."

"I wonder if you have ever made the acquaintance of the Earl of Frampton and his lovely Countess?"

"Well, I was introduced to them during the last Season, but I fail to see what that elderly couple has to do with the issue at hand," she said, raising an eyebrow in question.

He ignored the look and continued, "What impression did you have about the couple when you met them over the course of the Season?"

"I met them a few times during the Season. They are known to own a very profitable business enterprise, having invested in a lot of railways and construction both in London and overseas. They are not quite popular with the ton, since we know members of the fashionable set look with disdain at people who make their money through trade, but they are invited to events because the ton need their money and are willing to do anything to stay on their good side. I won't say I am surprised that the ton is quite hypocritical that way."

"Careful there, kitten. Sheath your claws, will you. Do remember you are a part of this ton you castigate."

Helen snorted rather inelegantly and waved her hand in dismissal. "That is beside the point. What does this have to do with your invitation?"

"My darling, it appears that just like other members of the ton, I need a favor from the good Earl."

Helen had to restrain herself from pointing out the fact that he just used an endearment when referring to her. The word, spoken in the low timbre of his voice, did interesting things to her insides. She made a conscious effort to compose herself.

"I am sure that doesn't have to be very difficult. You could go talk to the man. You are quite eloquent, so I am sure you could convince him to see reason."

"While I am flattered by the compliment," he said with a crooked smile, "I am afraid I have done just that, and he turned down my offer."

"Why?" Helen asked, a furrow of concern forming on her brow. His hand itched to smooth it out.

"He cited several reasons—and they were all reasonable reasons, I might add. But I failed to take something into consideration when preparing to persuade such a shrewd businessman."

"And what, pray tell, is that?"

"Apart from his shrewd business sense, Frampton has been known to favor married men in his business dealings more than their unmarried counterparts. His reason is that he believes that married men are more financially responsible and that the presence of a woman usually calms a man's spendthrift tendencies. I do not agree with the man, but he is a business genius, so I guess he is entitled to his idiosyncrasies. That is why I need to announce our engagement, and you will attend the theatre with me on the first night. Hopefully, the Earl will count me among the ranks of responsible men," he said drily.

"Am I to infer that your plan to marry me was born out of the need to impress the Earl?"

Alexander squirmed uncomfortably in his seat. "Well, that was just one of the reasons. There were others."

There was a pregnant silence for a while.

"I fail to see why this business deal is so important to you. You are a duke, so why do you need this deal with this man so much that you are willing to get married to a lady you barely know just to secure it?" she asked in a curious tone.

Alexander's expression changed from sarcastic to closed off. This was the cold Duke she had met at first.

"I fail to see how that is any business of yours. You came here seeking to make a deal with me. I gave you the terms. So are you willing to keep your end of the bargain or not?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I will accompany you to the theatre," she said in defeat.

It was obvious he was not willing to explain why he needed the business arrangement with the Earl of Frampton.

"What about the second and third night? Are we to attend the theatre on those nights? I must warn you, I am not particularly fond of plays."

"Fear not, kitten," he said, his smirk returning. "The second night, you are going to accompany me to an engagement ball."

"Well, that sounds exciting," she said, a wise smile appearing on her face. "Who is getting engaged?"

"My half-sister," he replied, looking away and busying himself with pouring a drink.

This was the first time he had mentioned anything about his stepfamily to her. The tension in his body and his facial expression warned her that prodding him about it would be unfruitful and dangerous, so she decided to take the path of self-preservation.

It was a well-known story among the ton that the Ruthless Duke had driven away his stepfamily and claimed the seat of the dukedom as his place of residence. The ton attributed this action to the Duke's greed, but if there was anything Helen had learned in the years of sharing gossip with her friends, every story had more than one side. She would love to hear the Duke's side of the story, but she was discerning enough to know that the present moment was not the appropriate one to find out.

Besides, the members of his stepfamily made believing that story a little difficult if anyone actually analyzed it, but unfortunately, members of the ton were not prone to doing such. Rather, they thrived on the satisfaction of being among the first to dole out fresh gossip, whether it made sense or not. Helen had to admit, they were shallow-minded.

If anyone went by the way the Duke carried himself in social gatherings, they would never guess he had a stepfamily. But then again, members of the said family made sure that members of the ton never forgot.

His half-sister had crowned herself the princess of the ton. Using the fact that she was the daughter of a duke, she amassed for herself a dozen simpering girls who helped her bully the mild-tempered debutantes who made their debut every year. Any debutante who made the mistake of trying to shine by being different or refused to pander to her whims was promptly disgraced in the most humiliating way.

Even Helen, during the early days of her first Season, had to develop a meek relationship with the half-sister in order to enjoy a Season free from bullying while she pretended to agree with all the girl's airheaded ideas.

Sophia, the Duke's half-sister, prided herself on being a fashion trendsetter, hence the reason why she was never seen in the same gown twice. Helen sometimes wondered if Sophia made daily trips to the modiste for her to maintain her fashion sense. She concluded that Sophia had a lot of money to be that extravagant—too much money, in fact, for someone who claimed they were driven away from their home.

That idea was explained away by Sophia's claims that the late Duke had settled an allowance on all his children at their births. Helen noticed that there was recently a change in the trajectory of Sophia's persona. Over the last few weeks, Sophia had started to wear clothes from earlier in the Season, altering them in such a way as to keep anyone from noticing she had worn them previously, and she deceived everyone but Helen with her analytical mind and eye for fashion.

Something was going on, and Helen was sure of it.

Looking at the Duke's simple but tasteful attire and even the decor of his home, it was quite obvious and interesting how different his lifestyle was from that of his stepmother and siblings.

"And the third night, Your Grace?" she asked

"We will be attending my half-sister's wedding and the wedding breakfast, of course. The couple expressed their wish to get married as soon as they were engaged. Apparently, they do not wish to have a long engagement. And I quite agree with their arrangement, since I am partial to a short engagement period myself."

"Let's say I agree to your proposition, what happens after we spend those three nights together?"

"Well, then you will be free."

"I am not quite sure what you mean?"

"Why, you would be free to live your life as you wish. We can go our separate ways if you like—that is the beauty of a marriage of convenience. We get to lead separate lives. You can do whatever you want as long as you do nothing to tarnish the image of the dukedom."

"That is anticlimactic, don't you think? I get to do everything I want so long as I don't tarnish the image of the dukedom. It is quite ironic, since most of the things I want to do have the potential of damaging the image of your precious dukedom. While we are at it, do you have any other rules you would like to add before I start planning my fabled independent life?" she asked sarcastically.

Helen was furious, and her anger stemmed from her disappointment that Alexander would write her off so easily, compressing her to fit the box that stored his business deals. She was not deluded enough to expect a grand expression of love from him, but she had thought that going by what had transpired between them yesterday, she would be getting more out of their marriage arrangement than just a business deal.

But it seemed the Duke was resolved to separate business from pleasure if he sought to also deny her the pleasures that came with marriage. She wondered briefly if he were entirely unaffected by what had transpired between them that he never wanted to broach the subject, but even though she wanted to ask, it would be entirely improper.

"I guess I should just prepare to spend the three nights, after which I get to live my life as a free woman—well, as free as a married woman can be," she answered, beside herself.

"You would still be married to me regardless, so I would advise you to act with utmost discretion and decorum." A dark smirk appeared on his face. He stood up and started stalking towards her with a predatory gleam in his eyes. "Besides, I think you want something more from this arrangement than you let on."

He kept approaching her, forcing her to move backward until he had crowded her into a corner.

Coming even closer, he dropped his head to her neck, and then dropping his voice to a seductive timbre, he said, "Why else would you, a young innocent lady, be visiting a bachelor home alone without a chaperone, eh?"

His breath caressed the skin of her neck, exacerbating her acute awareness of him. It was quite some time before Helen gathered herself enough to formulate an answer.