Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

T ime with Lady Samantha had been quite enlightening, indeed.

There had always been the same things said of the two sisters, no matter where he went. Colin was to marry the wrong lady, for the one more likely to succeed as a duchess was the younger one. The more intelligent of the two was Lady Samantha, the more amenable one was Lady Samantha, the sweeter one was Lady Samantha.

But he was not to be married to Lady Samantha, and he much preferred it that way, and he could not fathom why the ton did not understand that.

Fortunately, at least Lady Samantha understood. She was everything that the ton had claimed her to be, but she was not the sort to think that meant she was above her sister. In fact, she said outright that she owed everything to her, and she knew that her sister marrying him meant that she could live out her dreams too, dreams that did not involve dukes.

"Are you alright, Your Grace?" Lady Samantha asked, and his attention snapped back to her.

They had been invited to a garden party hosted by some lord or other, and had it not been a part of their plan to make the ton see them as a cohesive unit, he would have rejected the invitation altogether, but he and Lady Diana had things to prove, and garden parties were not the worst things ever if he was being honest.

"Yes," he replied, "I am perfectly well, thank you."

"It is only that you seem quite distant."

"There is something on my mind, but it is nothing, I assure you."

What was on his mind more often than not those last two days was the way Lady Diana had fled the room whilst he was speaking with her sister. He had been confused instantly; she had wanted the two of them to find some sort of friendship, only to seemingly disapprove of it when it happened. Then he thought about the expectation of the ton , and how they had all seen her as the lesser sister. It was no surprise that she expected him to feel the same way.

"Might you wish to promenade, Lady Diana?" he asked, and it was her turn to shift her attention to him.

"Oh! Well, I guess so."

"Wonderful."

They walked in silence for a while. The weather had at last improved, and the air was filled with the sound of birds, which Colin certainly appreciated.

"Are you well now, Lady Diana?" he asked.

"I am much improved, yes. Why? Do I seem unrecovered?"

"Not at all! I only mean that you had me quite concerned about you. I felt your absence when I called on you."

"I'm quite sure my sister made up for it, though."

"If you would like my honest answer, I would have to tell you that she did not."

"That is nonsense, and you know it."

"Not at all!"

"But you were enjoying her company. The two of you were getting along perfectly."

"I also get along with mothers of young debutantes if I must, that does not mean I prefer them to you."

"But—"

"Lady Diana, if we must have a dispute each time I see you, then our marriage will be quite difficult."

She laughed softly. "Very well, I believe you."

"Good. Now, you seem ill at ease. Might I be able to help?"

"Walking me away from those in attendance was the best thing you could have possibly done for me."

"Ah, are you not a fan of garden parties?"

"I cannot stand them."

"Because of the people?"

"Well, something like that."

"Then we need not return to it. I should be quite happy to remain here with you until the end of the event, I assure you."

"No, it is quite alright. Samantha will be left with our father if we do not return, and I cannot do that to her."

"I understand. In any case, shall we walk a while?"

"I am sure she will forgive that."

It was pleasurable walking with Lady Diana in silence. She was beautiful when she was outspoken and told those around her just what she thought. She was the same when they were arguing, although it never occurred to him in the moments of the disputes, and she was a bright spark when she was passionate about something, as if a part of her came alive.

What he could not help but notice, though, was the way she did not sparkle when she was at peace, but she glowed . There was a softness to her that not many ladies had, and it was nothing other than beautiful.

"Your Grace," a gentleman said suddenly, and Colin hated that his thoughts about Lady Diana had been interrupted, particularly by a gentleman he did not know.

"Good afternoon, My Lord."

"My Viscountess and I couldn't help but notice that the two of you were out together."

"That tends to happen when two people are courting, does it not?"

"Yes, in any other courtship."

"Congratulations, Lady Diana," the Viscountess said with a smirk. "At last, there is a young lady amongst you that knows how to play the game on the marriage mart."

"I beg your pardon?" Colin asked, but Lady Diana's grip on his arm tightened.

"It is quite alright, Your Grace," she whispered.

"No, she was willing to say it, so she can be willing to explain what she meant by it."

"Well, we all know that the famous love matches are few and far between. All I meant is that it is good to see a young lady that understands what truly matters when finding a match, no matter how she will be seen because of it."

"And what exactly has she done that would warrant being seen in a certain way?"

"Well, it must have been something. We all know that the better of the two sisters remains unmarried, and so you must have done something to ensure that sister was not you."

"Aside from being the better match for me, no," Colin said firmly. "And you shall refrain from speaking that way about a lady, particularly one that is to be a duchess. Am I clear?"

"You will not speak to my wife in such a manner," the Viscount retorted, but Colin held his hand up, silencing him.

He could not stand a bully, especially not one that was doing such things to Lady Diana. Not her.

"You think that you have it all, don't you?" The Viscount smirked, turning to Colin. "You think that you have the title and your estates and the funds, but you need to remember one thing. None of it is yours by right."

"Stop talking." Colin sneered.

"That is what you want, isn't it? You want us to be silent, you want all of London to smile and nod and pretend that you did not do what you thought you had to do, but it is not going to happen. We all know, Your Grace. No amount of willing and insisting will change that."

"And how is it that you inherited your title?" he asked. "Because I hate to inform you I do not know who you are. I have never seen you before in my life, likely because you are so purely inconsequential to us all."

"I am the firstborn son of a firstborn son. I was born for my role. My son was born for the role."

"And yet you are unknown."

"I would rather be unknown than be known for what you did. Your poor father. He must be looking down on you with shame."

"I have done nothing to be ashamed of. Let me make that perfectly clear to you. Everything that I have ever done is something that I am proud of, be it good or bad, for I can at least say the decision was mine. My father knew that, too."

"Knew it and then some."

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean, and it is important to remember, Your Grace, that I am not some weak older man. I am capable of starting and ending a fight."

"What kind of gentleman threatens another in front of his wife? I would say in front of his child, but it appears your dear firstborn son is not worthy of coming to these events with you. I wonder why that is. Perhaps it is the quality of his lineage?"

"Do you wish to meet me at dawn?"

"I shall meet you fifty meters away if necessary." Colin sneered. "Now I shall only tell you once more. I will not hear anything more about Lady Diana. She is a lady, and a good and kind one at that. She will be your duchess, and you will either be a friend or an enemy to her. The choice is yours."

The Viscount looked at Colin, but Colin was taller and far broader than him. Physically, the Viscount was no match for him if push came to shove, not that he would know the first thing to do if they came to blows, not when Lady Diana was watching.

With a scoff, the pair walked away. Once they were a reasonable distance away, Colin watched as Lady Diana breathed deeply and her shoulders slumped. He did not know what to say to her; they were cruel to her, and she had done nothing in response. She had always been happy to stand up to him, but whenever it was someone else, she seemed to fall apart.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Now that they have taken their leave, I certainly am." She laughed gently. "They were awful, were they not?"

"Positively dreadful, although it surprised me that you did not have anything to say to them about it."

"What is there for me to say? They are entitled to think that way of me. I suppose if I were them, I would think much the same. I am a spinster, after all, and you are a duke, and a wealthy and handsome one at that, and?—"

"What did you just say?"

"That I am a spinster and you are a duke."

Had her cheeks not been scarlet, he might have thought that he had misheard.

"Regardless," she continued, flustered, "the point stands that I have my place and I need to remember it."

"Your place is going to be a duchess, my wife, and I certainly agree that you are going to need to remember that. You are going to be among the most important members of Society."

"But we are not going to be a part of Society. You do not wish to be."

"If you wish to, we can, but that is not the point. The point is that you will be respected as my wife and their duchess. I do not care what is thought of me, but they are going to respect you. I will not give you a choice in the matter."

"But it is alright. I promise that it is."

"For you, yes. For me, no. From the moment that ring is on your finger, you will be my family, and nobody that walks this earth is going to treat my family in any way but perfectly."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and hopeful, and at that moment, he wanted to give her the world. He knew that he could give her it, too, but only if she allowed him to.

"Lady Diana?" he asked, as she was not saying anything to him.

"Why are you so kind to me?"

"Why would I not be?"

"I have been nothing but a burden to you."

"You have been anything but that."

"That is not true. You were happy to be a bachelor, and I ruined everything by being willful and spiteful and stubborn, and no matter what I do, I keep falling into trouble and you keep trying to pick up the pieces for me, but how long can we do that for? That cannot be our lives."

"For a start, I would be happy to rescue you and keep you out of trouble, no matter how many times. For another, it is not your actions that led to this, it is mine. When we kissed that evening, I realized that I was the common thread. The only way that I would become anything more than a rakish duke with no real love in his life would be if I married."

"And so you chose my sister, and I ruined that."

"I never wanted your sister," he said, exasperated. "Do you truly think I would wish to marry a girl barely out of leading strings? I had never seen your sister before, it just so happened that your father was at White's and he said he had a daughter of marriageable age and I pitied the poor girl, regardless of who she turned out to be."

"So you were marrying out of pity?"

"If I were to marry, I at least wished to improve my wife's life from the one she had known. I still hope to do that, of course."

"It is not as though my life could be much more difficult." She laughed emptily. "Very well, but you must promise me one thing."

"Yes. Anything."

"We will see my sister as often as possible."

"That is not in question. You may see her as often as you wish. She could stay with us if the two of you want."

"If only that were possible. She wishes to care for our father, but I wish to offer her a sort of respite from it all, especially from him."

"Has he not improved since we met?"

"He has, but who knows how long this will last? He is fragile right now, and if you ask me, I believe it is only a matter of time before he goes back to how it was, and Samantha doesn't deserve that."

"No. No, she does not. It is not a question. She is welcome to stay any time. You need not ask me permission, either. She need only arrive, and we will handle the rest."

"Thank you," she whispered.

"You need not thank me," he said gently. "It is as I told you. We are to be a family, and that includes your sister."

"A family." She nodded. "I do like the sound of that, you know."

"As do I."

They returned to the others, and it was as though Lady Diana had become the lady he met once more. She smiled and laughed and told people precisely what she thought, which seemed to earn a few gasps and glances, but Colin did not care.

She was bright once more, and she was beautiful.