Page 37 of Sincerely, the Duke
“Yes, of course it’s wonderful for you.” Eileen kissed Edwina’s cheek and then gave Elle a quirky smile. “She also needs to be sensible. There is nothing wrong with waiting until the end of the Season, is there? The viscount gave us until then to vacate the house so you have several weeks.”
Challenging as it was to think about, she must satisfy her end of their arrangement. Edwina started picking up some of the design sheets from the table between the settees and stacking them together.
“No, nothing wrong with waiting.” Edwina placed the drawings on top of a stack of cloth. “But we’re not going to. You know I never could have imagined a duke would seek my hand. A distant relative of a titled man with an adequate allowance was the best I had hoped for, and you know I was prepared to accept an offer from a merchant’s son if I had to. The viscount has left us no choice. We must believe him when he said he’d be turning off the servants and closing the house in York by the end of the Season.”
“We do understand that.” Eileen’s eyes searched Edwina’s. “But, you aren’t forcing yourself to marry him just because one of us needed to say ‘I do,’ are you?”
“No, of course not,” she denied with conviction. “I mean, just look at him. He’s the handsomest man I’ve ever seen and he’s quite persuasive. I’m sure we’ll be happy together once we know each other better.”
“How did you meet the duke?” Elle asked. “The Season hasn’t started.”
Edwina supposed there was no harm in telling her sisters the whole story. Most of it anyway. She’d always shared everything with them throughout their lives. She started with, “I received an offer of marriage from the duke by post,” and finished with when she and Aunt Pauline left the duke’s house. Her sisters hung on every word she spoke and had many questions about the kiss that prompted her letter to them. Edwina conveniently left out the part about how passionate the duke’s kiss was and how the sensations had stayed with her even until now.
They didn’t need to know every little detail.
“What kind of man picks a bride from a list?” Eleonora blustered after talking of the kiss died down.
“A beast,” Eileen said, as she picked up a handful of the fabrics and tossed them into one of the boxes. “And that man is no beast.” She quirked a smile at Edwina. “There must have been a reason other than it was simple. I’m not believing that. Why didn’t you question him further about it?”
“Eileen is right. A list of possible brides is the least romantic thing I’ve ever heard. Usually, men at least ask for a painting of the ladies before they choose one, if they don’t plan to get to know them first.”
“Elle, I wasn’t searching for romance and neither was the duke. We were looking for an arrangement that worked for both of us.” But as the words left her mouththe duke came to mind as easily as slipping a shift over her head and down her body. His heat, scent, and power were suddenly as present with her as if he were standing beside her. She could have done far, far worse but wasn’t sure she could have done better in her hunt for a husband to take responsibility for her and her sisters.
“I suppose that is true, but it would have been nice.” Elle sighed. “I’ve read that dukes think they have the right to do as they please and ignore all rules that don’t suit them.”
“So have I,” Eileen echoed. “They are not ordinary people. They go around with their heads in the air.”
Edwina huffed a short laugh. “What do you think you do all day and all night with your looking and studying the skies?”
“Their heads are in the clouds because their noses are in the air. I am trying to learn something when I look at the skies. However, I admit it was highly clever of him to give you a little kiss without permission to get us here.” The edges of Eileen’s lips twitched with a smile. “You’ve probably never been so shocked in your life.”
“I don’t think I have. Until…”
“By Jupiter, you can’t leave us hanging. Until what?”
“You two started attacking the duke with your reticules.”
Suddenly, the three started laughing. It was delightful to feel something other than anguish or desire over the incident. “I must stop thinking about all of it. For my own peace of mind so I can enjoy being with you again.”
Eileen shook her head and plopped down on the settee. “Not yet. We want to know more. What did he say when you followed him outside?” She cut her eyes to Edwina. “You were gone a long time.”
Her sisters seemed reluctant to give up the conversation and continued to pepper her with questions about the duke. Edwina remained firm that she had nothing more to say other than she had to be ready to marry him come Friday and needed their help. It was more how he looked at her and how he made her feel than what he said, but Edwina didn’t want to share everything with her sisters. She’d told them enough.
Eleonora picked up a strip of white border lace from the settee and looked at it as she asked, “Did you tell him we are triplets?”
“No,” Edwina said without hesitation but with a full measure of guilt at what she was doing. She was constantly asking herself if it was fair not to warn him and be completely honest about their births. But it was best she just go forward and not look back.
“We all agreed we wouldn’t tell anyone,” Eileen reminded. “That hasn’t changed.”
“He’s promised he’s going to find husbands for you,” Edwina said cheerfully.
Eileen leaned forward, stretched her back and shoulders, and pinned Edwina with a bold stare. “Youare the one who wanted a husband. Not us.”
“Papa wanted all of us to wed,” Edwina answered without equivocating.
“Only to prove we are normal and accepted,” Eileen insisted. “We already know that.”
“There are people who still have superstitions.”
