Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

T he frightened sister that Diana had left behind seemed in much higher spirits upon her return. Samantha was sitting at the pianoforte, playing a happy little tune—expertly, of course. Diana struggled to remember a time when her sister did not play it perfectly.

"Did you enjoy yourself?" she asked brightly as she heard her enter. "It seems to have been quite a lovely day today."

"It was lovely indeed." Diana nodded, though her brow furrowed as she approached. "Where did you find that gown?"

"Oh, isn't it wonderful?" Samantha asked, standing and twirling. "Father says that given our good fortunes—your good fortunes, I should say—it was time to have some new clothes fashioned for us. He took the gowns we wore at the ball and instructed the modiste to make us twenty each."

"Twenty?" Diana echoed. "How did she make them so quickly?"

"We do not have twenty each yet." Samantha giggled. "But she did happen to have two on hand that were quite close to the ones he gave her, and she modified them to make them our size. I shall be wearing this at the ball on Saturday, of course, but I couldn't resist trying it on! We have not had new clothes in so long."

That was why she was in higher spirits. At least that was one mystery solved.

"Samantha, you have never cared for such things. What has gotten into you?"

"It is not the clothes, Sister, it is the meaning behind them. Father is right, our fortunes are changing for the better, and it is all thanks to you. It is as you said, perhaps I judged the Duke too soon and I ought to give him a chance. If you believe his intentions are good, then I will believe in you."

"Oh, Samantha, it is good to see you happy."

"It is good to feel happy. You know, I thought that I was at my happiest when I was engrossed in one of my papers, but right now, at this moment, there is this feeling in me that I do not think I have ever felt before. Is this what true happiness is?"

"It is hope, and I dare say that I am feeling it too."

"Di, I love you, but you are not the sort to feel such a way. Has the Duke won you over, after all?"

"No, I wouldn't say that, but he is a very nice gentleman. Had we been in another family, I might have invited him to dinner so that you could meet him properly, and the two of you could start again, but unfortunately, I would prefer it if he and Father do not cross paths unless absolutely necessary."

"Have you not seen Father today?"

"No, why? I assumed that he was in bed, nursing himself after overindulging last night."

"Quite the contrary. It is the afternoon, and he has yet to drink. Can you believe it?"

Their fortunes seemed to be changing, indeed.

Diana almost did not believe her sister and thought that it was nothing more than a joke and she would see their father and quickly be proven wrong. He was still gruff, and not too pleased to be around them, but the stench of alcohol was no longer there. She wondered what had brought it on, though she was quite sure that it was her courtship with the Duke. That had been the only change of late.

Regardless, he remained that way until the ball. He was almost human by then, but then again this would be the first time that he would be around alcohol. Neither Diana nor Samantha dared ask him what he planned to do, as they did not wish for him to be defensive about it. It was better with nobody mentioning it and the Earl quietly continuing in his efforts.

"You look beautiful, Sister." Diana beamed as they left the house. "Green truly is your color."

"I am inclined to agree, although I must say that I never thought I'd see you in pink."

"It is winning me over, as I hope the Duke will do."

"Will he be there tonight?"

"He wrote to me and told me that he would. He thinks it is for the best that we are seen together more. If we do that, then perhaps these rumors may die down a little and we will be seen as relatively normal."

"One must be normal to be seen as such." Samantha smirked. "In any case, I do hope that between your dances, I shall have time to speak with him. I wish to know his true intentions with my favorite sister."

"Your only sister."

"Which also makes you my least favorite sister, so be careful."

Diana laughed. Her sister was charming and lovely, and should she ever change her mind about marriage, she was sure to make a most incredible match—Diana had simply never considered the idea of getting married before her.

"I wish you had married first, you know."

"Why? You are older than me, and so it is your birthright."

"But you are my pride and joy. My work is not finished with you yet, and now I shall be going away. It was never meant to be your burden to stay with Father. That was my true birthright, not marriage."

"I hope that one day you allow yourself to be happy. It is not fair that you have done everything for me, yet you refuse to do anything at all for yourself."

"I do not deserve this. I have not worked for it like you have."

"You and I both know that I have not been working towards being a good wife, and even if I had, it would be due to you working twice as much as me. Who else would have trained her sister whilst caring for her father and trying to learn everything herself?"

"I like to believe that you would have, had it been reversed."

"Of course, but only because I am so brilliant myself."

The two of them laughed, but then Samantha took Diana's hands in her own.

"I mean it, Di. You deserve to be loved. If you believe that the Duke can offer you that love, then I will make no further comment on the matter."

"I do not want him to love me. I would like a husband that I can halfway tolerate. The Duke fulfills that role, and so I am perfectly content."

"Very well. In which case, I shall assume that you are happy and will not question you further."

"Then the matter is settled."

The ball was no different to the last, as far as Diana was concerned. There were too many people, and certainly too many with opinions that she did not wish to hear. Regardless, her gown was lovely, her sister was smiling, and her father was acting as human as she had ever seen him be. The rest of it was of little consequence.

Then she saw her suitor, and the opinions of others ceased to exist entirely. He was smiling, and she couldn't help but notice that the smile only appeared when he saw her.

"Would you do me the honor of a dance, Lady Diana?"

"It would be my pleasure," she replied with a curtsy.

Immediately, the whispers began once more.

"Can you believe it? I thought that it was some sort of joke."

"No, they truly do seem to be courting. I cannot imagine it ending well, of course."

"Nor can I. They are both completely mad, although I cannot say that I blame poor Lady Diana. After all, look at the only role model she has ever known."

"Shall I say something to them?" the Duke offered. "It will not be anything too terrible."

"Leave them be." Diana laughed. "It is as you said, they simply lead uninteresting lives, and there is no cure for that. We are far better off pretending that they do not exist."

"As you wish."

It had been years since Diana had danced, and she had always been the one to lead when she taught Samantha. She was terribly concerned that she would step on the Duke's toes, and that then he might truly be angry with her, but she seemed to remember what to do.

"So," he said after a while, "it appears that I am finally having that dance."

"Ever so begrudgingly, yes." She smirked.

"Would you like to stop? We could do so right now, and you could run crying out of the ballroom and really give them something to talk about."

She tilted her head as if she were considering it for a moment, just long enough for him to believe it.

"No, I believe this is quite alright." She laughed, and after a moment of surprise, he joined her.

She couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief at him.

"Surely you did not think I would truly wish to do that?"

"I never know what to expect from you. Sometimes I think you wish to marry me, then I wonder if this is all an elaborate way to learn my secrets, then I wonder if you are going to scream at me, then I think you are going to sing. I do not know what to do with you."

"Marry me, it appears. And I shall tell you my intentions once this dance is over and we can speak properly."

"Very well, although I do hope that they are good intentions."

"I like to think that they are. I can only hope that you will agree."

"I shall do my best to accommodate whatever your desires are."

Diana's desires, she realized, were heavily tied to the way his hand felt on her waist.

She had not expected to like the feeling of his arms around her. She had counted on one dance for the sake of being seen by those in attendance, having it be passable, and then never having to do it again. She had not counted on enjoying it, not at all, and now that she was, she did not know how to handle it.

At least she did not take the Duke up on his offer and flee the room. Instead, the dance came to an end, and she followed him outside with Samantha nearby, and she waited for the heat in her chest to dissipate.

"So," he asked, "what is it that you wished to tell me?"

"It is about our partnership."

"Partnership. Is that what we shall be calling this?"

"For now, yes. It is not quite a courtship, and we are not engaged, let alone married. Therefore, a partnership seems to be the preferable name for it."

"Very well, I can do that. Is that all?"

"Of course not." She laughed softly. "What I mean to say is that I have decided on a question to ask you."

"You can ask me anything. I am more than willing to answer."

"What do you want out of our time together?"

"That depends entirely on what you want. I am the one that has caused this, and so giving you the freedom to choose what we have is the least I can do."

"Well, if anything, I caused all of this, but if I am given the choice, I must admit that I would prefer a marriage of convenience. I do not want to fall in love with you and be completely enamored with each other forever. It is not what I have ever wanted. I never saw myself as a wife, and now that I must be one, I want it to be as far from what is considered a match as possible."

She wanted him to agree, but the smallest part of her couldn't help but want the opposite. She couldn't help but wonder what he would say if he had wanted her to love him, even if she knew it was ridiculous and unrealistic and not even what she wanted herself. She did not love him, and she did not want to love him, so she would refuse to. It was that easy.

"Very well, if that is what you want. We will be friends and never anything more. This will be a serious partnership, one with no feelings at all, almost as if it were a business transaction. Given our circumstances, it might be the best option that we have."

Diana smiled and tried to ignore the small flicker of disappointment within her. She had no reason to be surprised; he had agreed with everything she had said since they had met, only ever disagreeing to tease her, and she found that she had quite liked it even if she had found it incredibly irritating at first.

"I also want you to spend some time with my sister," she said quickly.

"Yes, you mentioned that. Has she warmed up to me at all yet?"

"A little, yes. She says that she trusts my judgment, and so if I am sure about you, then she will be too, but it cannot hurt for the two of you to at least find some common ground."

"I have already offered to stand beside her should she ever wish to engage in scholarly topics with gentlemen again. I refuse to believe that they would say anything against her with me present."

"I do not know that she would accept that. She is quite positive that she will eventually make her own way, with no need for a man to do it for her."

"I wish she could see that I would be doing nothing for her."

"But that is not the case. You would be frightening the other gentlemen into respecting her, which is not how we like to be. We like to command respect ourselves instead of relying on gentlemen to do it for us."

"It is not a reliance, it is help. I understand that it has been the two of you for a long time, but it is clear to me that you and your sister believe that you do not need anyone. If you only look, then you shall see that there are people willing to be there for you."

"Are you one of those people?"

"I could be if you could find a way to let me."

Once more she was too close to him, and once more she refused to change that.

"Let me show you how good it could be," he said quietly.

She could not help but nod.