Page 31 of The Duke on Her List
“Yes, and that experience has taught me that nothing bad happens when your name appears in the scandal sheets,” she pointed out. “People chatter about you for a few days, and then they forget and move on. Already they’ve stopped talking about the so-called scandal that led to our involvement in one another’s lives in the firs place. People move on from that sort of thing.”
“They’ve stopped talking about it because we’ve given them something else to talk about,” he said. “Because we’re courting one another now, and that’s bigger news.”
“Maybe. But there will always be bigger news,” she said. “That’s what I’ve learned, Gabriel. No matter what you do in this life, something bigger will always come along. There’s nothing that will hold the attention of London society—not for very long. They’re too thirsty for the next story, the next scandal. They’ll look under every rock. What they won’t do is keep their attention on the same person. They can’t manage that.”
He looked out the window, apparently having nothing more to say, and Agnes fell silent as well. The carriage began to move, drawing them out of town and back toward the duke’s manor.
One more item crossed off my list.
Three left to go.
CHAPTER 15
“Oh, Bridget, you look wonderful,” Agnes enthused, embracing her sister-in-law . “But are you sure you were well enough to travel? I don’t want you to put yourself or your baby at risk.”
“I’m perfectly well,” Bridget, wife to Agnes’ elder brother and Duchess of Greystone, assured her. She rested a hand fondly on her belly and glanced up at her husband. “You needn’t worry. Reeves wouldn’t have let me out of bed if he hadn’t had every assurance from the physician that it was going to be all right.”
“And how is Emma?” Agnes asked.
“You know how she is,” Reeves said with a laugh. “She had to run right down to the stables to visit your horses. Before even coming up to the house! Horses are her only interest these days.”
“I suppose I wasn’t any different at the age of nine,” Agnes mused. “Well, she’ll come in when she’s ready. In the meantime,you two ought to come into the sitting room. I have tea ready for all of us.”
She led her brother and his wife into the sitting room, and they all took seats around the fire. A maid came forward from her place by the wall to pour the tea and then withdrew from the room, leaving the three of them to talk.
“So,” Reeves said, leaning forward, clearly not wanting to waste any time. “Are the rumors true, Agnes?”
Of course, Agnes had expected this conversation. She knew she would’ve been a fool not to. Still, she tried to dodge the question. “You know that you’re going to have to be more specific than that, Reeves,” she chided. “When it comes to me, there are nothingbutrumors.”
“You have a point,” he allowed. “But this particular rumor was so surprising that I felt the need to speak to you face to face in order to address it. I’m sure you must know what I’m talking about.”
“You’re not going to fall victim to gossip, I hope?”
“So it isn’t true that you’ve been courting the Duke of Bellmoor?”
Agnes let out a sigh.
“It is true,” Bridget said. “Just look at your face. That’s the look of a lady who is keeping secrets, Agnes. But you don’t need to keep secrets fromus, you know! We want to know all aboutthis new courtship—all about the gentleman who has finally captured your heart!”
This was exactly what she had been afraid of. The last thing she wanted was for her family to get their hopes up about all this. Reeves had never been unkind to her about her spinsterhood, had never pushed her in the direction of a marriage he knew she didn’t want. But even so, she knew that he had never really understood her decision. He had always harbored a quiet hope that she might someday change her mind.
I haven’t changed my mind. Not at all. And I don’t want him to face disappointment when he realizes that.
She spoke slowly. “It would be…premature to say that he had captured my heart,” she said. “The two of us are simply spending some time together. Getting to know one another. It’s enjoyable, certainly, but I don’t know that it’s the kind of thing that will lead to anything more.”
“Then you mean to tell me that he is not courting you with intent to marry?” Reeves frowned.
“I can’t say that we’ve discussed it.” She was being intentionally coy. Of course, they had discussed it. It was true, though, that she couldn’t say anything about that.
“Well,” Reeves said, his features darkening, “if he has no intention of marrying you, I’d very much like to know what his intentionsare. That doesn’t seem like a very respectful way for a gentleman to treat a lady.”
“He’s been nothing but honest with me, Reeves,” Agnes soothed her brother. “And I don’t see why I ought to stay in the house all the time and never get to know anybody just because I don’t intend to marry. I’m rather enjoying having a new friend.”
“I’m on Agnes’ side in this,” Bridget spoke up loyally. “Come now, Reeves, you know she’s thought about the implications of what she’s doing. Hasn’t she always? And she’s right. There’s no reason she shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy her life just because she’s unmarried.” She turned to Agnes. “Will you be seeing him at Norman’s ball?”
“I hope to.” Norman, the Duke of Heathmare and one of her brother’s oldest friends, would be having his annual ball in a week’s time, and it was the reason Bridget and Reeves had come to stay. They would be attending the ball, and Agnes had always meant to go along with them—even before everything had happened between herself and Gabriel.
She and Gabriel hadn’t yet discussed the ball at Heathmare, but she was sure he’d want to go. And besides, after what had happened at the gentlemen’s club, she knew that it was her turn to make good on a part of her end of the deal. They’d done one of her list items, so now it was time to appear in public with Gabriel and let people see that he was spoken for.
