Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

I t had been his first week in town, and upon receiving an invitation to a ball he almost declined, but he decided that he had been through quite enough and deserved a moment to himself, not that such events typically permitted time to oneself.

He almost did not attend. He knew what the rumors were, and that he did not wish to hear of them. However, he was also quite aware that no appearance would be even worse, only further provoking suspicion. It was better if he simply put on a brave face and suffered through it.

And then he met her.

She was not the sort of lady to be prim and proper. She spoke to him as if he were a friend of hers or more so her enemy, but that was beside the point. What mattered was that she was speaking with him and that she seemed to be the one person in the room that did not know who he was, and he craved more of that.

Perhaps that was why he followed her out into the garden.

He had never been the sort to act in such a way, not with anyone. He was not a rake, and if anything, she had almost seemed to want the ruin. She was going to take him down with her, and he was more than happy to allow her to. It was all well and good until she was gone again, and he realized that he would not be salvageable if he did not make a conscious effort to change.

Drowning his sorrows in whiskey was not a change, not in the slightest, but it was something. He needed to forget about her, no matter the consequences, even if those consequences entailed finding some drunkard slurring his speech and offering to marry his daughter. The gentleman did not ask him for a rank or title, and Colin certainly did not offer it to him. If anything would turn a father away from marrying his daughter off, it would be a man with scandal such as his own hanging over him.

At least whoever the poor young lady was, becoming a duchess would be better than being her father's daughter. Then he would be a husband, and he would have no choice but to stay on the straight and narrow. It was as infallible as a plan can be.

Then she was in front of him again.

"You," he said, fortunately quietly.

"Girls," the father said, "this is… My sincerest apologies, Sir."

"The Duke of Abaddon," Colin answered for him, bowing and greeting the two of them.

Both ladies had a very different reaction to him. The older one, Lady Diana, scowled at him, making him feel most unwelcome, although he could hardly blame her. He was not a welcome visitor in her home and given the circumstances, he understood such a position. Lady Samantha, however, seemed to cower, as if afraid of him.

Clearly, one of the sisters had heard about his reputation.

"Go on, Samantha," her father pressured her. "You know what to do."

"Hello, Your Grace," Samantha said, eyeing her sister. "My name is Lady Samantha Winston. It is a pleasure to meet you."

It was not a pleasure, of course, and Colin was well aware of that, but he was grateful to her for at least trying.

"There. That was not so difficult, was it? Tea will be served momentarily."

"Father, might I have a word?" Lady Diana asked, and her father looked straight past her.

"But we are celebrating, Diana."

"And we can celebrate with them soon enough. For now, I require a word."

Colin quickly realized two things. The first was that the youngest of the sisters had been trained impeccably well, as she served him his tea and then managed to ignore her sister and father, which went along with the second thing he learned—Lady Diana had a few choice words for her father, and she did not care who knew it.

"How could you do this?" she demanded, speaking in what was quite possibly the loudest whisper that he had ever heard. "You are marrying off Samantha to that man? You do not know the first thing about him."

"You do not know the first thing about how society works."

"And you do?"

"How is your tea, Your Grace?" Lady Samantha asked.

"It is wonderful, thank you. I do apologize for all of this, I know that it is not what you want, but?—"

"It is perfectly fine. I know that it is not exactly ideal, but there are worse fates that can befall a young lady."

"If you are not happy, it is perfectly alright. You can tell me."

"I am very much content."

He knew that she was not. No person could sit with knuckles as white as hers and a face as drawn as hers and be happy. But she was not going to argue with him, and so there was no use in forcing the issue. She was certainly not like her sister, that was for sure.

"So, have you been in the city long?" she asked, before shaking her head. "You need not answer that, I already know."

"Oh? How do you know that?"

Judging by the way her face fell, he knew exactly how she had come to know about it.

"Well, I have not seen you before, and I did not know who you were at all, and I am quite good at remembering faces."

"I will not stand for this," Lady Diana said in the silence between them. "Samantha has dreams, and they will not be dashed simply because you do not wish to do things correctly."

"I found her a husband. That is the correct thing to do."

"Not when she is not ready. Look at her. Does she look like a duchess to you?"

"Why do you not have any faith in her? You would think that you would care for her enough to encourage this."

"It is because I care for her that I am against this. You should be too."

"So," Lady Samantha continued, "what do you propose we do about this?"

"What would you like to do about it?"

Run as far from him as she possibly could and not look back, he assumed.

"I am not entirely sure, but you must know that I was not planning on marrying for a long time."

"Yes, your sister was telling me that you are quite the academic."

"When did she tell you that?"

It was his turn to be uncomfortable.

It was not a surprise to him that Lady Diana had not told her what had transpired between the two of them, but he hadn't expected to have mentioned it himself. He was not typically that careless, although given his recent actions, he had to wonder if that was truly the case.

"I must be confusing the two of you with someone else."

Whether she believed him or not, she accepted his excuse. That was all that he could ask for.

"Well, you are correct in your assumptions in any case. I would much rather engage in more scholarly pursuits, but given my status, let us just say that it will not be possible to. That does not mean, however, that I am so willing to give up on my dream. I should still like to fill my days with the things I love. In that respect, I would be a terrible wife. I would be far too selfish."

"It is not selfish to do what you must," he said firmly. "And if this is not what you want, then?—"

"No, it is as I told you. I am perfectly fine with this. If I must be a wife, then I might as well take the opportunity to become a duchess, but you must understand that I need some time to adjust."

"But you are not listening to me. I will not force you to do anything that you do not wish to do. If you do not wish to marry me, I shall find a wife elsewhere."

He saw her relax at that, as if she believed him. It was exactly what he wanted, for it was the truth. He was not going to force her hand. There had been no contracts signed, only a handshake between the two men, and even if it did come down to a duel, Colin was quite confident that it would go in his favor.

"That will not be necessary," the Earl declared, joining the two of them. "My daughter has something to say."

Colin turned to Lady Diana, who was flushed scarlet. He couldn't help but think that she was perfectly lovely, before cursing himself for thinking about her that way. She was the sister of his would-have-been wife, and now she was nothing to him.

"If it is all the same to you, Your Grace, I do not wish for any scandal or rumors to fly around. I would like to take my sister's place."

"There would be no rumors," Colin explained, but she raised a hand to silence him.

"There would be. You know how things are in London, whether you spend time here or not. You will have been seen walking into our home by someone, and soon enough there will be questions. I do not want that. I also wish for my sister to have everything that she wants out of life, and so I will take her place if that is alright with you."

"There is no need for that," Lady Samantha began. "The Duke and I have?—"

"That will be fine by me," Colin said without thinking.

The three of them stared at him.

"But, Your Grace," Lady Samantha said softly, "we agreed not to marry. It is alright."

"But your sister makes an excellent point. There will be rumors, ones that could damage your reputation, as well as that of your family. I could not do that to you, you do not deserve that. No, this is the right thing to do. Your sister is wise."

"That she is, I suppose."

"Then the matter is settled." The Earl beamed. "I must thank you, Your Grace, for taking pity on my daughter. She may not be what a gentleman wants in a wife, but she will be good to you. Isn't that right, Diana?"

She looked at him, and Colin wondered if she was thanking him or cursing his name. It would be too late for her to refuse him now.

"Yes." She nodded. "That's right."

He returned home with his mind racing. Fortunately for him, he had already asked his solicitor to meet him at his home, and he knew that he would be waiting for him. And there he was in the hallway.

"Charles, you could have gone to the drawing room. What is mine is yours, you know that."

"Of course, but given the circumstances, I thought it best to wait for you here."

"I am a fool, aren't I?"

"Yes. I do not like to say that of you, but yes."

"I do not know what came over me, and it has only gotten worse this morning."

"All will be well, but perhaps you might like to tell me what exactly you have done?"

"I decided that it was time for me to find a wife. I was not looking for anything spectacular, just a quiet, little wife that would do her duty as a duchess, and I thought I had found that in Lady Samantha Winston."

"I have only heard good things about her, I must say, save for her family situation, but that is no fault of her own. She would have been perfectly acceptable."

"Indeed, had she been in want of a husband. She is not, however, and I am not going to have a wife that resents me for marrying her. Besides, she is but twenty, still a bit young for me."

"It is for the best, you know." Charles nodded. "You ought to avoid any entanglement with that family. They are not known for keeping up with Society."

"Then it is just as well that I am to marry her sister."

"Lady Diana?" he gasped. "Why on earth are you doing that?"

"She told me she wanted to." Colin shrugged. "Well, not that she wanted to, but that she would rather marry me than have her sister do so."

"But Lady Diana? Are you sure? I know that she is not exactly unfortunate looking, but did you truly envision yourself with a bluestocking?"

"I do not believe that she is a bluestocking, it is more that she is uninterested in being the perfect lady. In a way, that is part of the reason why I accepted her proposal."

"You accepted her proposal. It is a funny thing, you must agree, a bluestocking proposing to a duke and the Duke accepting."

"She is not a bluestocking," he repeated. "She will be a better wife than the sort I was looking for, in any case. She is not proper and demure, and thus will not lie to me, nor try to use me for her benefit. She is the simplest option, do you not agree?"

"I agree that you have lost your mind if that is what you are telling me."

"I have never once suggested otherwise, but I have to admit that it could be far worse."

"Yes, you could have been rejected by both ladies. Then where will you be? Besides living a simpler life, of course."

I do not think the life of an unmarried duke is any simpler than that of a married one. At least when I am no longer available, there may be fewer whispers about me."

"I somehow doubt that."

And as much as he wanted to argue, Colin knew that Charles was right. People did not simply forget rumors such as the ones about him. It was not something that typically happened, even if the one the rumors were about was someone as upstanding as a duke.

But then, that tended to happen when one was accused of murder.