Page 31 of The Duke's Rules Of Engagement
“Of course you will.”
Pressing her lips together, Lilly pressed a hand to her stomach. “Though it makes me sick to think about loving anyone else in this world besides Charles.”
Jo sat on the bed beside her friend. “I know it feels that way, but that feeling will fade, I’m sure of it.”
She actually wasn’t so sure, but she didn’t tell Lilly that. She believed there was one true love for a person in their life, and she’d always thought Charles was that person for Lilly. Perhaps she was wrong.
She glanced down at the letter in Lilly’s lap. “What were you reading?”
“It’s a letter from Martha.”
“Charles’s sister?”
“Yes. His sisters are so lovely and kind. I felt like…” Lilly swallowed hard. “Like they’d already invited me into their family.”
“Oh, Lil—”
“Anyhow,” Lilly said. “Martha said she considers me a dear friend and she and her sisters hope to see me soon. They said they’d be happy to receive me at their house—”
“Horrible idea,” Jo muttered, imagining Lilly breaking down in Charles’s drawing room.
“I know. At least for now. But maybe someday…”
Someday.
At that moment, the seed of an idea materialized, as if by divine intervention, right in the center of Jo’s chest. Her heart began to beat hard, and she clenched and unclenched her fist, trying to force herself to stay calm.
It might not work.
Then again, it might.
Oh, good Lord…it might!
She sucked in a shaky breath.Settle down, Jo.“Tell me about Charles’s other sisters, Lil.” She tried to modulate her tone to not reveal her excitement to her friend. It was far too early for that. “He has five of them altogether, doesn’t he?”
“Yes.” Lilly leaned back. “Well, the eldest is Mary. She is my age—a year younger than Charles. You know Martha, and she has a twin called Frances. They are two-and-twenty, two years younger than Mary. Then there is Harriet, who is one-and-twenty, and the baby, Esther, is eighteen. They are all out in society except for Esther, who wishes she were out, but Charles has told her she must wait another year or two.”
“What are they like?”
Lilly sighed. “Oh, Jo, they are all wonderful, just like Charles is. I honestly don’t know how all of them turned out so amiable, given that they are motherless, and his father was such a scoundrel.”
Amiable.The duke had said he wanted someone amiable.
“How did you know that about his father?” Jo asked.
“Charles told me.”
That he’d confided such information to her was further evidence that Charles had truly loved Lilly.
“He spent all his time away from home,” Lilly continued. “Gambling and whoring, leaving poor Charles to essentially raise the girls on his own.”
“What happened to their mother?”
“She died when Charles was thirteen.”
“If your description of them is accurate, then he has done a fine job with them.” Her estimation of Charles rose several notches higher.
“He loves them all dearly. They think he is the best brother in the world.”
