Chapter 13

CHAPTER13

Matthew Clarke, Marquess of Irington was stupefied.

His only daughter had gone out for an outing in the Leonbridge Estate, only to come back looking dazed and... a little out of sorts.

She was certainly not ill as she had emphasized for the past couple of hours. She simply... was not feeling like herself at all.

"Do you think something is wrong with her?" he asked his cousin for the fifth time that morning. "I half expected her to complain about the men, but to my surprise, she merely shrugged me off and walked back to her rooms."

"Well, she did complain about one man—the Marquess of Repington," Dorothy pointed out.

"Just that one, but I have met the young man himself, and he can be a callous cad."

"You mean that he has absolutely no respect for women and thinks they are beneath him."

The Marquess of Irington watched as his cousin stabbed a needle spitefully into the cloth as if she was stabbing it into the eye of Charles Lock himself. He had no doubt that his cousin would do it, too. His daughter’s stubbornness had to come from somewhere, and it might be Dorothy Clarke who was to blame all these years.

"Thank heavens that we will not have to deal with him in any case," Lord Irington sighed. "Still, I am a bit concerned about our dear Amy..."

"What is there to be concerned about?" Dorothy sniffed. "Your young daughter has simply met someone who is her match in every way."

"You mean there is actually someone in this world who can outdo her stubborn insanity."

To his credit, Lord Irington knew his daughter very well, and as much as she frustrated him at every turn, he did love her so. He loved her so much, in fact, that he never married her off to whichever gentleman suited him, and instead, he left the choice of husband to his daughter.

For the longest time, it had seemed to him that Amy was set on becoming a spinster, like her aunt, as she had claimed she always wanted to be. Could it be that the Duke of Leonbridge had finally achieved what Matthew previously thought was impossible, and the Duke had broken down his beloved daughter’s barriers?

"I know what you are thinking, but don’t get too excited just yet," Dorothy reminded him with a stern glare. "Before you start sending out the wedding invitations, you know that something has to happen first."

"Why does something have to happen first?" Matthew threw his hands up in frustration. "Amy has already gone through so much, despite her young age. Can she not find a man and be happy with him for once?"

"You know what they say, cousin—true happiness is won through trials. How can she treasure it if she does not learn how to fight for it?"

Indeed, Amy had never loved anything hard enough to fight for it. The unfortunate circumstance of that young man from two years ago...Well, she had never looked back on him.

If anything, it only fueled her desire to escape matrimony at all costs.

Lord Irington had hoped it would be smooth sailing for his daughter so as not to give her a chance to backpedal, but his cousin seemed to have other thoughts on the matter, and she was the woman. She should know Amy’s heart better, should she not?

He sighed inwardly at that. A woman’s heart truly was a treacherous thing to navigate. If only his dear wife had not left them so early, Eleanor might have been able to help him make sense out of things.

Be that as it may, he at least had Dorothy... as cryptic as her advice sometimes seemed.

"Do not worry too much about it, cousin dearest."

"You told me that something dire has to happen first, and now, you tell me not to worry too much about it?" he snarled in frustration. "How can I not worry when I fear for Amy’s future?"

"Being a spinster is not so bad..."

"Then, why did you not convince her all the more to go down your godforsaken path?"

"Because," Dorothy smiled serenely at him, "the difference between me and your daughter is that I had given it everything and still came out all the more determined not to wed. Not to mention that no man in his right mind would consider me."

I can truly see why, the Marquess of Irington thought wryly in his head. His cousin would most probably drive her husband to insanity within two years of marriage if she had married.

"Besides, Amy is much too fiery to settle down to spinsterhood," she continued. "No, that energy of hers would be put to better use with a man who is her equal in every way. Perhaps the Duke of Leonbridge is just that man."

"Dear God, I truly hope so!"

As the Marquess of Irington paced the length of his drawing room once more, George appeared at the doorway with a blank expression.

"Lady Esther has arrived to visit Lady Amy," he intoned calmly. "Shall I show her into the salon, My Lord?"

"Of course, of course!"

"Well, if you wish to ask anyone, then your daughter’s closest friend would be a veritable trove of information," Dorothy smiled. "Although, I would caution you against it."

"Whatever for?"

"If you pry too much into her affairs, you will only scare her off."

"Which one? Amy or Esther?"

"Both."

At that point, he was already quite prepared to throw his hands up in frustration, for even after pacing for an entire afternoon, all the poor Marquess of Irington could infer was that he knew nothing about women at all.

Absolutely nothing.

But right now, he was trying his damnedest to make sure that his only daughter was happily wed before death claimed him.

"If I had known that retribution would be this bad, I would have never made fun of Uncle Joseph when he worried about marrying you off," he grumbled.

But Dorothy only laughed. "Well, we haven’t gotten to the best part yet. You might as well sit down and reserve your energy for pacing then. Besides, you are making me quite dizzy with what you are doing when it really is not helping at all..."

It seemed that his daughter had gotten his cousin’s barbed tongue as well.

* * *

Esther sipped at her tea delicately while peering over her cup to observe her best friend. Thus far, Amy had been rather...subdued when she should be bursting at the seams with schemes to derail her courtship with the Duke of Leonbridge.

The young bluestocking could only sigh inwardly in her heart at the predicament her best friend was in. Amy so desperately wanted to become a spinster, and Esther knew that deep in her heart, it was not because her dearest friend found all men unworthy.

Well, she did, but more than that, her friend was afraid.

She was afraid that the man she married of would take advantage of her and her affections. She was afraid that her husband would only ruin her life and make the rest of her existence miserable. She was afraid that marriage would condemn her to a prison she would never be able to escape.

At the heart of it all was fear, even though the ton viewed Amy as the most fearless woman alive, for she dared to flaunt convention at every turn.

"Amy, do try the scones. They are delicious."

Amy just shook her head and frowned. "I just do not understand, Esther. Why does he still want to see me? Did I not act embarrassing enough yesterday?"

"Of course, you did. I was even embarrassed for you."

"Then, why does His Grace still look forward to seeing me?" she asked. "Should he not be dreading the thought of laying eyes on me for the rest of his life?"

"His Grace seems to be made of sterner stuff than all the other gentlemen we had encountered thus far," Esther admitted with a soft smile. "Or maybe... it is because he sincerely adores you."

"You know that is highly improbable," Amy snapped.

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, I am nothing like all the other gently bred young ladies of the ton," she explained. "I was mean to him during our first dance, and I stomped on his toes all throughout our second dance."

Esther smiled and bit into her scone. "Go on."

"And then, I acted like an absolute ninny when he called on me the next day."

"And that did not deter him at all."

"No," Amy sighed dejectedly. "And you’ve seen what I did yesterday at the Leonbridge Estate."

"Yes, any other gentleman would have cried off at that point," Esther agreed. "But then, you are missing a rather important point—His Grace is not like other men."

Her best friend sat glumly and reached out for a scone. "I suppose not. Still, I cannot help but think that, maybe, he is just after... you know."

Esther narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "I’m afraid I do not know."

"You know," Amy reiterated, "that one thing that all men are after."

"Marriage? Heirs?"

"No!" her best friend cried out in frustration. "I meant that he merely wants to take liberties with my person!"

Esther felt her cheeks warm up a bit. "Oh... like kissing."

"Specifically, more than kissing."

Esther might have never had intimate dealings with men before, but she was well-versed in biology, so she knew more or less what that entailed—which was not much really, considering her mother had barely educated her on that matter, and from what she observed with farm animals...well, it was hardly anything to look forward to.

"I do not think it is that," she said doubtfully. "I think that His Grace is simply a good man and would not abandon a young lady just because she is a little... ah, intense."

"You mean crazy?" Amy muttered wryly.

"Intensely crazy."

Both young ladies shared a glance and then promptly burst out laughing.

"To your credit, if I had been the Duke of Leonbridge, I would have backed out, too," Esther teased her friend. "Even if you were the loveliest and most eligible young lady in Society, nobody wants to be married to a madwoman."

Just like nobody wanted to marry an intelligent woman.

However, the Duke of Leonbridge seemed to be different. His friend, Lord Drew, seemed to be different, too. Both men were much nicer than the other gentlemen that she and Lady Amy had the misfortune of knowing.

Although, the Marquess of Repington had seemed so unlike his two other friends...

"Maybe I should do just that," Amy brightened up.

Esther had a feeling that whatever her best friend intended to do, it was not going to be something the matrons of Society would approve of.

"What do you intend to do now?"

"Maybe... I could seduce him, and when he finally gets what he wants, he will finally stay away from me!"

"Are you out of your mind?" Esther paled. "You will be ruined, Amy. Ruined. Nobody will ever want to be associated with you ever again. Not to mention you will break your father’s heart!"

Amy seemed to take that into consideration for a while before she pursed her lips and said, "Well, nobody has to know. And if that is truly what His Grace is after, I doubt he would even mention it—unless he wants to be trapped in a marriage he does not want."

"So, you are planning to seduce him, so he will leave you?"

"Exactly."

"And if he doesn’t fall prey to your scheme, what then?" Esther demanded of her friend.

"Then, maybe he truly is as you say—a good man with a good heart," Amy murmured.

Esther shook her head. Not only was it a dangerous plan, but it was simply unheard of for a young woman to seduce her suitor in the hopes of turning him away. Only Amy Clarke could ever think of such a ploy.

"I still think it won’t work," she told Amy doubtfully.

"If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work."

"So... you are saying that it will be sort of like a test?"

Amy nodded. "Yes. Something like that."

"And if His Grace does not... take you up on your indecent offer?"

"Then, I might have to concede that he truly is as you say."

Esther looked at her friend in concern. She reached out and squeezed Amy’s hand. "Amy, don’t you think it’s time that you let go of your fears and learn to trust that not all people are out to hurt you?"

Amy looked at their clasped hands and gave out a wobbly smile. "Well, I do trust you..."

And this time, Esther sighed in her heart, for she knew that her best friend was as stubborn as a mule. Once she set her mind on something, nothing would be able to change it.

She had somewhat hoped that the Duke of Leonbridge would be the one to finally breach the high walls Amy had for herself.

Instead, he would be met with another test.

She could not say that she would support her friend in this. It was insanity to say the very least.

But how could she stop Amy when she was dead set on doing it?