Page 29 of How to Lose a Lord in Ten Days

He began a strange sort of walk, sort of swashbuckling and duck-footed, as if his hips had become abruptly loosened from his waist.

‘No, no,’ Lydia said. ‘Don’t do that!’

They were about to pass Sir Waldo’s study, the door to which was standing just slightly ajar when Sir Waldo’s voice boomed out:

‘—a complete disgrace!’

‘Your advice is kindly meant, sir, but I do not require it,’ Ashford said.

‘You evidently do,’ Sir Waldo said, ‘if you can countenance marriage to such a terrible creature!’

Lydia and Pip paused, mid-stride. They exchanged a glance, and then, by silent agreement, pressed themselves against the wall to listen.

‘I would thank you to speak more carefully of my betrothed,’ Ashford said, and Lydia had never heard him speak so coldly.

‘I cannot be silent,’ Sir Waldo said. ‘I consider you something of a younger brother, my lord.’

‘You are older, I suppose,’ Ashford said. ‘But aside from that I am afraid I do not—’

‘After all your family has endured, to make such a horrible choice as this!’ Sir Waldo went on. ‘I did not think you the type to lose your head over a pretty face.’

‘I am in total control of my faculties,’ Ashford snapped, ‘and – rest assured – I always act in my family’s best interests.’

‘Is it the dowry?’ Sir Waldo paid no heed to the anger in Ashford’s voice. ‘I understand the duchy is in a tough spot but—’

Lydia frowned. This was the first she had heard of such a thing.

‘Who told you that?’

‘Dear boy, one hears things,’ Sir Waldo said, his voice full of condescending sympathy. ‘How bad is it? You need capital, I take it?’

‘The duchy will be fine.’ It was the closest Lydia had ever come to hearing Ashford lose his temper. ‘I have it all in hand.’

‘Do you? This girl will debase your name! It is the very height of foolishness.’

‘Waldo—’

‘I know you have a devilishly difficult time with the duke, but you need not do this all alone. I wish you had consulted me.’

‘I owe you no explanations, Waldo,’ Ashford said in freezing accents, ‘but you may be reassured that I consider my business dealings very carefully. Miss Hanworth’s dowry is considerable, her family unobjectionable, and – ordinarily – her character is entirely docile.’

There was a pause. Lydia’s heart was pounding so loudly that she could hear it.

Dowry. Docile. Business dealings. It was far softer than any of the insults Sir Waldo had levelled at her, but Ashford was her future husband. And he was describing her as if she were a – a horse.

‘But her behaviour?’ Sir Waldo moaned.

‘Is motivated by nerves,’ Ashford interrupted, ‘which I assuaged this afternoon. I think you will find her far improved going forward.’

He had manipulated her, then. That little show of earnestness in the portrait gallery had been just that – a show.

‘This shall be the last time we discuss the matter, Waldo. My mind will not be altered.’

The sound of footsteps had her jolting back.

‘We must go,’ she hissed to Pip.

‘But—’ Pip looked at her face and bit back his protest. ‘Yes, of course.’