Winning her duke, p.22
Winning Her Duke, page 22
But she was not a coward, and this needed to be done. She would endeavor to do it with the utmost care for his feelings.
“I’m afraid there has been a change of plans.”
“They are not coming back to London? Perhaps we will have to move forward with our plan to marry without his blessing.”
“That is not the change in plans. I’m afraid I am unable to marry you, my lord.”
“Unable to marry me? Whyever for?”
“I don’t know that we need to get into the why of it, since it doesn’t change the fact that I cannot marry you.” She repeated that last part a bit more sternly so he would pay special attention.
“Are you throwing me over?”
“I’d rather not word it like that, but as I’ve said, I cannot—”
“Marry me—yes, you’ve said as much a few times now. You’ll forgive me if I persist on knowing why you can no longer marry me when you previously told me you would.”
“If you will recall, I never actually said I would marry you, because you have not officially asked for my hand. Therefore, I’m not officially throwing you over, if you are determined to use that phrase.” Things were turning quite official.
“We had an understanding.”
“Yes, and an understanding is not the same as a betrothal, my lord. So, you see, no one has been thrown anywhere.” She offered a bigger smile than the conversation warranted and held it tightly in place.
“Again, you’ve neglected to explain why our understanding is now void.”
Giving up, she let out a breath. There was no sense avoiding the answer as the man would surely see the truth of it when banns were read on Sunday announcing her betrothal to Jeremy instead.
“Upon his return to London, the Duke of Roxburghe asked for my hand. As you are aware, he and I held a friendship before he went to the country. I assumed he was not interested in marriage but am happy to say I was wrong in my assumption.”
The man laughed, a harsh sound that hinted at anger.
“I can assure you, Miss Gia, you were not wrong in your assumption at all. In fact, this is all my fault. You see, after I learned you planned to gift Arabella to the duke, I visited him to explain that the mare was part of the dowry promised by your father. What I neglected to realize was the level of deviousness the man would go to in order to get what he wanted. I should have allowed him the one horse rather than tempt him into marrying you to get all of them.”
Gia suddenly felt cold in the warm room.
“I’m afraid I don’t know anything about the horses being included as part of my dowry.”
“As is common for the daughter who is to be married off. It is a matter for the men to discuss.”
She didn’t like his tone as if she were a silly girl who didn’t understand the business dealings associated with marriage.
“My father told me my dowry was a modest sum.”
“It had been, until right before he quit London. He let it be known at his club that all of the horses at his Surrey estate and the few you had with you here in town were to go with you when you married.”
“But it makes no sense. Why would he offer such a thing? The value of those horses is astronomical.”
“He has a new wife to provide for. One with expensive tastes as you well know.” He held out his hand at the elaborate drawing room they were currently occupying. “He couldn’t very well keep her in the way she is accustomed to while also supporting his spinster daughter. He had to spice up the pot.”
“And my dowry is the reason you suggested marriage?” she asked, already knowing the answer.
“It surely was no deterrent.” He glanced down at her chest in a way he had never done before. She felt a fool for believing he respected her.
She cleared her throat.
“Thank you for your visit today, my lord.” She stood and gestured toward the open door, wanting him gone so she could breathe and think.
“If you think it’s not the reason Roxburghe offered for you, ask yourself why he didn’t offer before I told him of the dowry.”
His parting words found purchase in her chest and burrowed deep.
So much for breathing.
“Miss, I’m certain he is mistaken, your father wouldn’t have done this,” Bess said immediately after Lord Duncan left the room.
Gia shook her head.
“Before he left, father told me not to count the Season over just yet. As if he had a plan. You know how desperate he was to have me married off. He even faked an illness to bring me to London. And he’s not above using the horses in place of blunt when necessary.”
“But His Grace cares for you, I’m sure of it.”
“I’m sure of it too. But would he have wanted to marry me if not for…”
She knew the answer and Bess’s silence confirmed she wasn’t able to dispute the truth.
“My father has gone too far this time. If he is so desperate to get me out of the way, then I should go. Please pack my things. We leave within the hour.”
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Gia didn’t answer, mostly because she wasn’t certain yet. She only knew she planned to get as far from London, manipulating fathers, and lying dukes as possible.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
If Hale hadn’t been so eager to see his betrothed upon entering her home, he might have asked Luther why the man looked so upset as Hale breezed through the foyer in his haste to get to the drawing room.
Finding it empty, he returned to the hall to find Luther had moved to the study to announce him.
Gia hardly ever spent time in the study and when Hale entered, he barely hid his disappointment at finding Lord Waverly sitting at the desk instead of his intended.
It was for the best though. Now that the man had returned, they had a bit of business to attend to.
“Welcome back. I was told you wouldn’t return for a fortnight. I trust you had a lovely honeymoon.” He greeted the man who would soon be his father-in-law.
“Thank you, we did. We came home immediately after we heard the news.” The man didn’t offer a smile and his words were stiff. Hale had assumed her father would approve the match, but perhaps he’d been mistaken.
“I apologize for not speaking to you before offering for her hand. Time was of the essence, and she is of age. We do not—”
Lord Waverly put up a hand to stop Hale’s words.
“It’s not that. I, of course, would have approved. I’ve thought for some time now that your friendship had blossomed into something more. Something that would get you through life’s trials. But I knew you were not of a mind to marry. I’m glad to see that has changed.”
“I see. But you do not seem pleased. And you said you would have approved.”
“I’m afraid Gia is not here,” he said while slumping in his chair and rubbing his forehead.
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
“I’m sure wherever she is, she’s safe. It’s… It’s all my fault. The bloody dowry was too much. And Lord Duncan apparently told her of the arrangement along with some other ideas as to why you had offered for her. Her letter was difficult to follow. Perhaps there is more in the one she left for you.”
Hale was still processing the words as the man held out a sealed letter with Hale’s name on it. Not Jeremy as she had taken to calling him, just Hale.
Your Grace,
I’ve decided we will not suit after all. I have left London.
As promised, I have ordered Owen to see that Arabella is delivered to you. I can think of no one else who has worked so tirelessly to get what they wanted. Any other horses you wish to acquire can be handled through my father.
I’m afraid you will have to purchase them straight out rather than get them in trade for taking someone so unsuitable to wife.
G
“I-I don’t understand. She doesn’t want to marry me?” That seemed the only fact Hale was able to focus on at the moment.
Another person had left him. Someone he’d grown to care for—bloody hell, he loved her. And she’d left him.
“I believe she does wish to marry you. The problem is, she thinks you only wished to marry her to obtain the bloody horses. That it was the only reason you asked for her hand.” He tilted his head. “Is that true?”
“Nay. I want her. I thought she would want her horses. I would never make her give them up. I’ve been in Scotland at one of my homes making it ready so it had room for the horses. I just want her to be happy,” he said quietly.
Finally, her father smiled, but Hale didn’t understand why. Did the man take pleasure in seeing Hale suffer?
“You need to tell her how you feel so she knows the truth.”
Hale nodded in agreement.
“Aye. I must see her.” But Waverly had said he didn’t know where his daughter was. “Where?”
“She’s not at Elmhurst. I wrote to my other country estates and she’s not at any of them. She didn’t take Lydia’s carriage, so I can’t question the coachman. She doesn’t wish to be found, and my daughter is quite clever.”
Hale nodded again.
“Bess?” Surely her lady’s maid would know everything.
“Bess went with her. I’m sorry. I am still looking.”
“And you’ll tell me when you find her? So I might go to her and explain…”
“Of course. She’ll turn up.”
Hale returned home and went to his study. Strange how his townhouse now felt as cold as the country homes where he’d spent his youth. He realized it wasn’t the location of the homes that made them feel so bloody empty. It was the whispers that seemed to echo in the dark corners of the room.
“No one wants you.”
He was on his seventh or tenth glass of whisky when Hutchinson announced Julian, Graham, and Kit.
“We were heading to the club and saw you had returned. Do you want to join us?” Julian asked.
“Nay.” It was a small enough word, yet it didn’t come out clearly.
“What’s happened?” Kit came closer.
“Gia left. I don’t know where she is. She thinks I only asked to marry her to get the horses.”
Julian winced.
“I have to say, when I heard what was being offered, I almost thought to marry the chit myself,” Kit joked, but cleared his throat when both Julian and Hale glared at him.
“It was a jest, I swear it,” Kit said quickly when Hale took a step in his direction.
“You are in a bad way,” Graham said while putting a restraining hand on Hale’s chest. “Do you truly wish to marry her that badly?”
“Yes. I hadn’t realized how much until she was gone.”
“Isn’t that the way of most things?” Julian mused.
“Now it’s too late. Duncan told her I only wanted the dowry. She believed him. Why would she believe him? Why wouldn’t she wait and ask me?” Hale wasn’t certain if his friends understood anything he said since the words slurred together. But even in his drunken state, Hale thought he knew the answer to his own question.
Gia had left because she didn’t trust in his love, because he hadn’t told her he loved her.
“I dinna tell her. I was afraid she wouldn’t love me back. I never wanted a cold marriage, an arrangement made for convenience.”
“I can say this doesn’t seem convenient at all,” Kit joked again.
“You have to find her,” Julian said as if no one had considered this already.
“No one knows where she is. I’m expected to wait here until someone hears from her.” He waved his hand and only realized he was still holding his glass when whisky sloshed out onto his desk.
“How long do you think that might be, because if you keep waiting like this, you may not be fit to do anything about it when you find her,” Kit pointed out.
“I should go looking for her. I won’t stop until I’ve searched all of England.”
“That sounds quite time consuming.” Graham rubbed his chin. “Someone in the house has to know where she went. Her maid would have mentioned it to one of the other servants.”
Hale shook his head. “Lord Waverly and his new wife questioned the servants already. He was certain they dinna know.”
The fog of drunkenness kept him from forming an idea that hovered just outside his grasp. His friends must have helped him off to bed because Hale slept restlessly through the night still trying to piece together the puzzle.
The next morning, he thumped down the stairs to find them sitting in his breakfast room helping themselves to the sideboard.
“Good morning. How do you feel?” Kit asked, his voice too chipper.
“I feel as if the woman I love has run off and taken my heart with her. And I have no idea where she might be. I thought the rejection would be the worst part, but I find the worry that she could be in danger or need my help is nearly overwhelming.”
“Now that you’re in your right mind—or a bit closer at least—we wanted to offer our assistance. You said last night you planned to search all of England, but we will ensure you only have to search a third while we search the rest.”
“You are good friends.”
“We’re aware.” At another time, Hale might have called Kit out on his arrogance, but Hale felt he deserved to be smug. For the time being, at least.
Julian, Kit, and Graham had never left him.
“I still can’t believe no one knows where she might have gone,” Graham said as he stuffed another biscuit in his mouth.
The thought Hale had struggled to grasp hold of through the night came back to him with a snap.
“No one in the house knows. But I know who might.” With that he left them to go find the information he needed.
The normal peace Hale felt when surrounded by the sweet smell of hay, leather, and horses did not come when he entered the stables this time.
He found Owen easily, brushing out one of the mares. The man greeted Hale with his normal frown and grunt.
“Where is she?” Hale asked, or rather demanded.
“Second stall on the left,” Owen answered.
“No. Not Arabella. Where is Gia? I must see her.”
His frown deepened. “I canna say.” The words were deliberate. He didn’t say he didn’t know.
“But you know where she is. She asked you not to tell anyone. She wouldn’t have left without telling you where she was going.”
Owen shrugged. “She’s given you what you wanted. Now, leave the lass in peace.”
“You don’t understand. I don’t want the horses. I only want her.” He paused.
He’d rather not tell the groom something Gia had not heard yet herself, but it was clear the man would not budge.
“I love her, Owen. Dowry or no, I just want her. Need her. She… She’s my best friend.” Hale put everything into those words. “Please help me find her. She’s under a misapprehension that I only want the horses and she must know the truth. If she still doesn’t want to marry me, I promise I will respect her decision, but she can’t decide based on a misunderstanding.”
Owen’s face had not changed, and Hale wasn’t sure if it was because he only owned the one expression.
“Are you saying you would refuse the dowry? The value of those horses is quite a large sum.”
“Aye. Aye, I refuse the dowry. Please help me, man.”
“I don’t understand why you dinna say ye loved her so this doubt wouldn’t ha kicked up such a fuss.” He crossed his arms impassively.
“You’re right. I should have told her. I got caught up in the moment and missed saying the most important thing. But you must have noticed how much I care about her.” Hale stopped pacing to look the Scotsman in the eye. “You had to have seen how much she means to me. You know I don’t give a bloody damn about any dowry.”
Owen’s mouth lifted on just the one side the smallest fraction. Even that tiny hint of a smile caused Hale to worry the man’s face might splinter and crack.
“Aye. I did think you were true with her, but needed to hear you say it and watch ye answer before offering to help.”
“Now you have the truth. Will you tell me where she is so I can go find the woman I love and tell her?”
“Waverly has a hunting box in Scotland. Right near the border. It’s not rough since the lord spent more of his time there hosting house parties than hunting, but she knew her father wouldna expect her to go there because she’d never gone there before. The stable is quite small.”
“She’s in Scotland?”
“Aye.”
“Thank you, Owen. Thank you.”
With a slap on the man’s back, Hale swept out of the stable and headed to his own mews to ready a carriage.
The last thing he wanted to do after weeks of traveling to and from Scotland was to set off for his homeland yet again, but he would journey to the ends of the Earth if it meant finding Gia and convincing her to marry him.
Chapter Thirty
Gia frowned at the blank canvas in front of her, then squinted at the beautiful valley spread out before her. Everything was lush and green. The stream cut deep curves into the land as it traced a path as old as time.
It would make the perfect landscape. If only she could decide on the proper paint color for the grass and whether she wanted to include the hills in the background or keep the focus on the twisted tree to the right.
She’d come to this spot nearly every day and had nothing to show for it but dried up paint and frustration.
The view was lovely but this wasn’t what she yearned to paint.
The curves of the stream made her think of the curve of Jeremy’s lips. The blue of the sky reminded her of his eyes crinkled in a smile so bright she couldn’t help but join in.
Except he wasn’t there to make her smile and she noticed she hadn’t smiled much since arriving in Scotland. The manor house was lovely and the couple that tended it were kind enough, but so far this place didn’t feel like home.
As was becoming their daily routine, Bess brought luncheon in a basket and spread out a blanket on the cool grass in the shade.
