Chapter Twenty

"Lord Proudfoot has asked Father for his permission to court me!"

Louisa looked up from where she had been attempting to read, though she had not taken in a single word ever since she had opened the book. "Lord Proudfoot?"

"Yes!" Rachel twirled around the room, her eyes bright. "And Lord Sibminster has only just now gone to speak with father about courting Ruth!"

"Lord Sibminster?" Louisa repeated, setting her book aside and then rising to her feet. "The Earl? I know he has danced a great deal with you both and come to take tea only once but I did not think that he had any real interest."

"But he does!" Rachel came towards her and then caught her hands, whirling Louisa around. "And Ruth is quite taken with him also, just as I am with Lord Proudfoot! Is that not wonderful?"

Louisa nodded and tried to smile. "Yes, of course it is," she murmured, taking her hands away from her sister as she stood quietly rather than dancing around the room. "I am truly delighted for you both."

The door opened and closed and Ruth came in, smiling gently. "You have been told the news, then?" A good deal more demure than Rachel, Ruth smiled and came closer to Louisa, reaching to take one of Louisa's hands and squeezing it for a moment. "I am very happy indeed at his offer of courtship."

"That is good." Louisa took in a deep breath and then let it out as surreptitiously as she could, fighting back the sudden rush of tears, wishing that she could have been as happy as her sister from the very first moment she had been in company with the Duke. The brief happiness and hope she had permitted to enter her heart had gone now, lost in the darkness which had followed Lady Clement's revelation.

"Are you quite all right?" Ruth came a little closer, though Rachel went to ring the bell for tea, clearly not in the least bit concerned about Louisa's present state of mind. "I know that you must be upset about what was said, but I am also certain that you will have absolute clarity about it."

A frown pulled at Louisa's forehead. "Clarity?"

"Yes." Ruth offered her a small shrug. "That letter you received, yes? It must be the reason behind Lady Clement speaking as she did."

The room itself seemed to tilt as Louisa was reminded, with great swiftness, that she had received a note from an anonymous lady, seeming to promise her that she would do whatever she could to encourage Louisa's father to end the engagement. Why had she not thought of that? "Do… do you think the two could be connected, Ruth?" Her voice was unsteady as she felt, a slight break in her words given the strength of her sudden emotion. "Lady Clement was very convincing and –"

"But you do not believe her, surely?" Ruth's eyes rounded at the edges. "It all seemed rather convenient, do you not think? The way she came up to the Duke and yourself, announcing in a loud voice that they had not only shared a previous connection but had been in each other's company very recently indeed. Why would a lady such as herself do that?"

Louisa blinked rapidly, her heart beginning to quail. Had she made a dreadful misjudgment here? "I thought that she would have said such a thing because of her desire for the Duke."

"But that would not do!" Ruth exclaimed, coming to take Louisa's hand, perhaps seeing the anguish now which Louisa felt spreading out across her heart and up into her chest. "What purpose would there be in spreading news of her time with the Duke through all of London? That would damage her own reputation, even though she might well be known for that, and it certainly would do nothing to draw the Duke back towards her! Think about it, Louisa!" Ruth gazed into Louisa's eyes for a moment, her hand squeezing Louisa's. "Lady Clement stated that she had been in company with the Duke of Yarmouth only a few days ago. In speaking as she did, in revealing her connection to him to all of society, she would only damage that connection, rather than improve it! If it was true that she had that closeness with the Duke, then to speak so boldly would risk ending that, would it not?"

Putting one hand to her forehead, a chill running through her, Louisa closed her eyes. "I did not think of that."

"You believed her, then."

"I – I did not know what to believe," Louisa answered, a little weakly. "I thought that there must be truth to it, given the way that she spoke."

Ruth's eyes flickered with what Louisa took to be anger, though not directed at her. "Lady Clement spoke with determination and boldness, yes and I can see why some might be convinced by her, but surely you have enough wisdom now to realise that it could not have been the truth! And couple that with the letter you received, then is it not possible that the letter writer is the reason that Lady Clement spoke so?"

Louisa's hand dropped to her side and, feeling weak, she sank down into her chair. This appeared to catch even Rachel's attention and she came over to join them both, her eyes filled with a sudden concern.

"You ought not to believe a word that Lady Clement said," Ruth told her, decisively, though she too came to sit down. "I am certain that it was a ploy to end your connection to the Duke once and for all – just as the letter writer said they would do."

"Because they think they are saving me from an engagement I do not want," Louisa whispered, a single tear dropping to her cheek. "Goodness, why did I ever think that there was truth to this? I stepped away from the Duke, I told him that I did not want to hear another word from him when, in fact, he was telling the truth."

Her sisters fell silent for a moment, glancing at each other.

"I do not think that you should blame yourself." This time, it was Rachel who spoke up, rather than Ruth. "We all know the reputation of the Duke of Yarmouth, so it is to be expected that something like that might well have brought your doubts to the fore."

"And Lady Clement was very convincing." Ruth smiled briefly, just as the maid knocked at the door, no doubt with the tea tray. "But I would be inclined to believe that the Duke of Yarmouth was telling you the truth. He was not in her company, he was not with her from one evening to the following morning. It appears, my dear sister, that he has been loyal to you."

"Just as he said he wished to be," Louisa whispered, closing her eyes against a sudden torrent of tears. "Oh, what have I done?"

"It was Lady Hannah."

Louisa's head shot up, her breath catching in her throat as the Duke rushed towards her, his eyes rounded and fixed to hers. "Your… Your Grace!"

"Please, if you would come with me, I would like to call upon Lady Hannah this moment," he said, holding one hand out to her. "Please, Louisa, come with me."

Louisa swallowed tightly. "I cannot," she rasped, aware of her need to be in the company of her sisters as gentlemen came to call. "I – "

"We will have the maid and father can come to do his duty, just as he ought," Rachel interrupted, firmly. "You should go with the Duke. Go now."

Ruth put one hand to the small of Louisa's back, urging her forward. "Go. Take another maid with you if you wish but I think you ought to do as is asked of you."

The Duke said nothing, his gaze melded to hers and the slight flicker of hope in his eyes made Louisa's heart break. How much she had pained him with her distrust!

"You think it was Lady Hannah?" she asked, taking a single step towards him as he nodded fervently. "Why?"

"I spoke to Lady Clement at length. I spoke to her in Hyde Park. I did not climb into her carriage but I insisted that she come and speak with me," he told her, his hand still outstretched. "The ton saw me, no doubt, but I do not care. I had to hear the truth from her and hear it, I did."

"And she told you this?" Louisa blinked, a little confused. "Why did she speak so openly to you?"

The Duke pressed his lips together. "I did not like to do it, but I threatened to expose some of her connections to the ton. As it turns out, that was the very same threat that was made to her by Lady Hannah."

Louisa closed her eyes, breathing hard as she took in all that had been said. "Why would Lady Hannah do such a thing?"

"Let us go and ask her."

Opening her eyes, Louisa took in the Duke's outstretched hand, then let her gaze go to his face. His expression was one of tormented hope, his face drawn, eyes a little darker than usual, his mouth pulled tight as though he was anticipating her refusal.

"Very well."

The Duke's eyes flared.

"I will go with you," she said, softly. "And I will hear what Lady Hannah has to say." She trembled as her fingers wrapped around his hand, his heart threatening to leap up into her chest, though she quietened it with an effort.

"Thank you, Louisa." Without warning, the Duke lowered his head, lifted their joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of her hand. "You cannot know what this means to me. It is the only chance I have to prove to you that I am not what you might think of me, not any longer. I have changed, I have altered completely – and it is all because of you."

Louisa said nothing, though her whole body slowly began to warm. Without so much as a backwards glance towards her sisters, she walked out of the room beside the Duke, her hand still in his and with hope beginning to grow with every step she took.