Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

" L etter for you, ma'am," the butler announced as he walked into the breakfast room, one hand at his back and the other holding out a letter with a regal seal.

Lavinia knew who it was from even before she took it, "Thank you, Ruben."

The man nodded and walked away. Ignoring her aunt's curious glance, she hurriedly ripped open the letter and read it.

"Is that from the Duke?" Lady Hartfield asked.

"Yes," she ducked her head, "He has invited me for a ride through Hyde Park in his phaeton."

When she looked up, she found two pairs of eyes fixed on her. Her uncle had even lowered his newspaper to stare at her with surprise.

"Is there a problem?" She asked worriedly.

"Not at all," Lady Hartfield smiled, "I don't think we've just never heard you sound so excited about being in a societal gathering."

"It's not a societal gathering," she argued.

"What's not a societal gathering?" Noah stumbled in, hair standing on end and eyes bleary.

"Good morning," she smirked at him, "Did you get any sleep at all?"

He dropped into the chair beside her with a groan, "I am never going out with Remington again."

His mother scoffed, "We've heard all of that before and yet here you are, looking like something the cat dragged in."

"Not so loud," he winced, burying his head in his hands.

"You should have just stayed in bed," Lavinia pointed out.

"And miss the early morning gossip? Never," he peeked up at her from the spaces between his fingers, "What is this I hear about you thawing out the Dowager duchess? Someone at the club said the both of you were seen walking down the street arm in arm."

"I used to think it was only ladies that were known for gossiping," she shook her head.

"With age comes wisdom," Lord Hartfield teased before picking his paper back up.

"What's not a social gathering?" Noah repeated, fixing a plate for himself.

"A ride through Hyde park in an open carriage," Lavinia replied, marveling at the amount of food he piled onto his plate. If she ate like that, she would have been the size of a horse.

"There's not a more social gathering than that," he replied, "Everybody is going to be gawking at you and calling out greetings from their own carriages. It's almost as bad as a house party."

"Do not discourage her," Lady Hartfield chided, "She is very excited to see him."

Her cheeks heated up as her cousin's head snapped to the side to stare at her, "She is?" Then, "I should not have turned so fast."

"Shall I have Ruben make you some medicine for your head?" His mother asked worriedly.

Lord Hartfield snorted from behind his paper, "Ruben's care may just be worse than the sore head he has."

The young man shuddered dramatically and Lavinia let out a peal of laughter, "You do not have any of my sympathy. By now, you should know your limits and stick to them."

Then she rose to her feet, "Thank you for breakfast, and I wish I could dither, but I must go get ready for my day."

Her cousin narrowed his eyes at her, "I cannot believe it. She's positively glowing! I used to think the Duke was such a stick in the mud but I have changed my mind. If Lavvie can find his presence tolerable, he must be swell."

She rolled her eyes at him, refusing to confirm or deny.

"Young love," she heard her aunt sigh wistfully before she went out of earshot.

She couldn't help but wonder if she was really just fooling everyone into thinking she felt something for the Duke...or if she wasn't.

"May I come along?" Georgie batted her eyelashes at him as he made his way to the foyer.

The Duke propped his hat up on his head and raised his brows at her in surprise, "You may not."

Her sudden interest in wanting to join him was suspicious and he wondered what her ploy was.

"Do you need extra money?" He scowled at her, "You cannot just spend all your allowance in a matter of days, Georgie. You must learn some discipline."

She rolled her eyes, "It's not about my allowance. I do not want to stay at home all day and I have no suitors coming to call on me."

"It is entirely your fault that you do not."

She gaped at him, "You called them all fortune hunters!"

"And you told Lord Marksen that he is starting to resemble the horses he breeds. Honestly, Georgie, you are going to find yourself firmly on the shelf and Mother is going to blame me for it."

"Have you seen him laugh? The resemblance is uncanny," she retorted, "And I shall not end up on the shelf. A ride through the park will offer me opportunities to scout for decent gentlemen."

His eyes narrowed and he tried to keep his voice even when he said, "and how are you to know they are decent? From the way they handle their horses or their conveyances? You're not coming with me, forget about it."

He continued on his way to the front door. To his surprise, he pulled it open to find Patrick standing there.

"Are you leaving?" he asked.

"He's going for a ride with Miss Proctor," his sister piped up behind him. "And he will not let me come along. My brother is being quite greedy with his betrothed's attention."

"That so, chap?" the Viscount smirked, "I never thought I'd see the day."

He shot his sister a quelling glare over his shoulder, "what is that supposed to mean?"

"How about we both come along? That way I can keep Georgie occupied while you are busy with Miss Proctor," Patrick suggested.

The Duke bought time by adjusting his dark green jacket. In truth, he didn't want either of them to come along because he planned to discuss some marriage terms with her after what his mother had told him about her run in with them the other day.

He supposed they could have the discussion at a later date, "all right, you may both come along."

Victor ordered the footmen to switch the phaeton for a barouche and climbed onto the vehicle.

"Are you taking a fancy to the chit?" Patrick asked as soon as he climbed on.

Victor jerked, surprised by the blunt question, "what the bloody hell are you on about?"

"Georgie was right when she said you don't want to share Miss Proctor's attention. Like the other night when-"

"I'm this close to tossing you over and riding off without you," he said through clenched jaw. "She's different from the other wax figure debutantes and that is as good enough reason as any to marry her."

"Hmmm."

He was about to ask what exactly that sound meant but his sister's footsteps against the cobblestone made him snap his mouth shut.

Of course he didn't fancy Lavinia. She was just a means to an end for him. He needed a duchess to get his mother off his back and she was as good as any. That was all there was to it.

Victor was silent throughout the ride to the Hartfield town house while the Viscount and his sister made idle conversation which they tried and failed to rope him into.

He stepped down from the carriage and made his way to the front door of the Hartfield house. The door was pulled open by the dour faced butler after the first knock.

"Your Grace," he bowed, "if you-"

"Your Grace," Lavinia cut in, rushing into the foyer, still tying her bonnet into a knot under her jaw.

He took his time taking her in. Her cheeks were flushed in excitement and her eyes were bright. He wondered if that flush in her cheeks would be there when he covered her body with his and...

Pushing that thought away, he cleared his throat and then held out his elbow, "My lady, shall we?"

She placed her small hand on his sleeve and together they walked out of the house. Her steps faltered as she caught sight of the other two occupants of the vehicle.

"They insisted," he explained with a wince.

"It's alright. I appreciate the company."

The same couldn't be said about him unfortunately. He scowled at her as he helped her onto the carriage, wondering why he felt irritated that she wasn't more annoyed by their unexpected company.

"My lady, you look lovely, as always," The viscount said with a rakish smirk that made Victor itch to knock out a tooth or two from his mouth.

"My lord," Lavinia nodded a greeting with a smile.

The greeting between her and Georgie was quite stiff to his surprise, the raised eyebrow Lavinia shot him clearly told him that she too was puzzled by his sister's sudden hostility. He scowled at his sister, regretting allowing her to come along.

"I hope I'm not intruding on any prior plans you had for the day," he turned to face her.

She smiled, "As a matter of fact, I planned to browse through the bookshop for something new."

"We can make a stop along if you wish."

"An entire day is wasted on that endeavor. It is an errand best done by myself. I would hate to bore everyone else out."

"You underestimate yourself," he said frankly, "I could never be bored with you."

He only realized what he had said after the words left his mouth but he didn't regret them when he saw the open pleasure that filled her eyes.

"Then perhaps we may turn it into a future outing?" She asked.

The sun slanted above her, burnishing the ringlets that escaped her bonnet, a brilliant chestnut and the barest hint of copper. He only just realized that her eyes weren't just green, they were a brilliant mix of gold and brown.

Where he had once thought she had completely ordinary features, now he realized how lovely she was. Her beauty was quiet, but it hit like a bullet.

He wanted to kiss her.

He wanted to take that plump lower lip in his and suckle at it.

"Yes," he finally said when he remembered that she had asked a question.

The carriage rambled into Hyde Park and Victor braced himself for the staring and gossiping that awaited them. He wasn't disappointed when a matron and her brood of daughters ducked their heads and began to whisper furiously.

"I'm reconsidering waiting through the bans being read and an elaborate wedding," he bent his head to whisper to her.

"Oh? I'm assuming you have an alternate plan."

"Gretna Green and then to my country seat, never to be seen again."

She giggled, "How scandalous, Your Grace. You would send the dowager Duchess to drink."

"I do not think that is necessarily a bad thing."

Lavinia slapped a hand over her mouth to cover her laughter but the mirth was apparent in her eyes.

"How naughty," she said, "And here I was thinking you were a model of decorum."

He recoiled, "Whatever made you to think that?"

She gazed at him like they were alone in the world, and that nothing else outside of him mattered. It was enough to make a man a little crazy. He was used to being deferred to and seen as important everywhere he went, but never in his life had he felt such singular focus.

It made him feel greedy.

"Maybe it's just something about your-" he never got to hear the rest because at that moment, her eyes caught something in the distance.

"Oh no," she cried.

The barouche had slid to a stop because of some traffic ahead, and she took advantage of that to unlatch the door and jump out.

"Lavinia!" He roared as she raced forward.

"What is she doing?" Patrick asked but the Duke was already leaping out and racing after her.

Ahead, he saw the white ball of fur in the middle of the street and a distracted phaeton driver about to crash into it.

"Goddammit," Victor cursed under his breath. Lavinia was extremely fast for a lady and the phaeton was now dangerously close to the terrified dog. Even if she managed to rescue it, she would unlikely get hurt in the process.

"Stop! Stop!" He roared at the driver, attracting attention.

The man turned to him confused, and that was when the reckless chit jumped right in front of the vehicle and grabbed the animal.

Lavinia's impulsiveness must have been contagious, because the Duke didn't think. He jumped straight into bedlam and snatched the lady and dog out of the way.

Lavinia tumbled into him with a surprised shriek and they ended up sprawled on the side of the street, the Duke lying under her and his arms around her.

Barely a second later, the phaeton rushed past them in a blur of wheels.

"Are you well?" he asked her.

She blinked wide eyes down at him, looking lost, and then a moment later she scrambled away, color high on her cheeks, "yes, I believe I am fine."

"Now that that is out of the way. Are you out of your senses?" Victor bit out, climbing to his feet and trying to ignore the way his heart was pounding with terror.

If he had hesitated even for a moment...

He refused to think about what could have happened.

"Me?" She reeled back, "he would have hurt poor Andrew."

He looked between her and the dog she was petting lovingly, saw her defiant stare and realized there was no use chastising her.

"You named the dog already?" he asked instead. "You do not even know if he belongs to someone."

She held the ratty thing up. "Anyone who will let their dog look so sickly does not deserve it."

The thing was already staring up at her with a disgusting amount of devotion and he made a face at the pair they made. "You would have gotten yourself killed. Never do that again."

"But the dog-"

"I do not care about the blasted dog, I care about you!" he roared.

Lavinia went so still that she could have passed for a stature, "oh," she finally said after several moments of simply staring at him wide eyed.

"Is she alright?" Patrick asked from behind them.

"She's fine," the Duke responded.

"I've just realized I cannot take the dog home," Lavinia said, mouth turned down at the corners and then she turned those brilliant eyes at him. "I cannot leave Andrew here."

Even before the words left his mouth, he knew he was a fool for falling for those puppy dog eyes and he knew he was getting more entangled in her than he ought. "I will keep him for you."