Page 14 of Sincerely, the Duke
“We’ve read accounts of the past and unfortunately some people still hold to outrageous superstitions about redheads with green or blue eyes, and, well, other things.”
“I don’t hold to superstitions, Miss Fine.”
His blatant answer delivered with such finality lifted her spirits and made her smile. Perhaps things had changed from when her father married her mother over twenty years ago. Maybe most of Society was now more accepting of people who weren’t just like everyone else.
“I’m glad. We’ve heard and read about the things thathave happened to women who look like us in years long past.”
He nodded to her with understanding. “There was a time when some civilized people didn’t realize that just because something was different about others or someone was an anomaly or rare there was no reason to be afraid or distant. I am not one of those people.”
His words touched her deeply and renewed her spirit that perhaps mankind had changed in recent years and no longer held to outdated and unproven superstitions. In any case, the duke held no such fallacies and her heart warmed toward him.
“That is reassuring, Your Grace.”
He walked back over to his desk and picked up her glass. He held it up for her to see and asked, “More water?”
She lightly shook her head.
“There’s something else you should understand,” he offered, replacing her glass and taking hold of his own. “If you are my wife, I will take care of your sisters. Neither of them would ever have to worry about whether they would ever wed. I could bestow a generous allowance on them that no one could take away. They will never want for anything, married or not.”
Once again, the duke took her breath away and filled her with excitement over such a possibility. She hurried over to the desk where he stood and looked into his eyes. “That would be wonderful for them. It would give them freedom. Time to figure out what they really wanted. That would—” Edwina’s words stopped as the excitement ebbed from her body. She glanced away from the duke as the reality of what she was saying became clear in her mind.
“Go on,” he encouraged softly and then sipped from his drink. “Finish.”
After a soft cough to cover her feelings, she gave her attention back to the duke. It took every bit of the daring she could muster to say, “That would not change my vow to my father.”
The duke placed his glass on the desk again. “I should have known you wouldn’t be appeased by a simple answer to your quest.”
It was telling that he already knew her so well. Edwina folded her arms across her chest and squeezed her upper arms nervously. “That would be most kind and generous, Your Grace, and like giving me and my sisters the world, but you see, that is not the point to my stipulation.” She paused and moistened her lips. “Before Papa died, I gave my word I’d see all of us properly wed or betrothed before the end of the Season. That was his last wish. I must fulfill my promise.”
“I appreciate the ramifications of an oath to a dying person, Miss Fine; every lady wants to marry just as every man wants to be master of his house. Together they want to have sons and daughters. I will do my best to find your sisters husbands before the end of the Season. What other stipulations do you have?”
She hesitated. The thought that she wasn’t telling him the whole truth, but only part of it, flitted through her head in an aching way again. She felt badly about it but couldn’t possibly get a better offer than the duke’s. No matter who she accepted an offer from, she would have to keep the secret that they were triplets to herself. Her father had been firm in his beliefs they should be considered as proper as any other lady in Society. His fear was that no man would want to marry a lady who had been born with two sisters at the same time.
Finally, she said, “No others.”
“That’s all? Good. I’ll stop by your house tomorrow and meet them.”
“That won’t be possible. You see, I couldn’t get them to come to London with me.”
He gave her that irritated expression she was getting used to but still found annoying. “Where do they live?”
“In the south of York.”
“York?” he exclaimed with an edge to his voice. “Hell’s gate, Miss Fine. What are they doing there?”
Not very good at hiding her true emotions, Edwina raised her eyebrows at his language as well as his tone to her. “What do you mean, sir? They live there.”
“But you want me to find them husbands in London!” he exclaimed with what seemed the same passion she was feeling. “They may as well be living in the wilds of Scotland or somewhere in France. I can’t be traipsing men up to the moors of York and back again for your sisters to take a gander.”
“I know it’s a long way to travel,” she defended quickly.
“It certainly is, if you want to woo a lady,” he shot back, “and by the end of the Season. It’s damned well impossible. If they are as eccentric and difficult as you claim, you’ll have to get them to London with you so I can see them and understand their reluctance to marry.”
Edwina huffed. “Difficult? You are putting words in my mouth. I never said they were difficult. Particular maybe. Peculiar even. At times. However, their reasons to remain unwed are understandable and justifiable. We just need to change their minds.”
“In order to do that, I need themhere.” The duke pointed toward the floor and then ran both hands through his hair and tangled it more. “I need to talk to them, andthen find the proper man to woo them out of their unnatural state of not wanting to marry.”
“I tried to get them to come with me and be a part of the Season,” she stated adamantly. “I swore to them it would be wonderful seeing all the sights of London, which both said they would like to do at some time, but neither of them were interested in the possibilities of parties and dancing every night. The problem is that they are both happy with their lives where they are and have no interest in being a part of a different life.”
