.
Even turned out in a smart ice-blue walking gown, Emily couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed at the door to the duke’s home on Grosvenor Street.
“Our family never needed a place so grand,” she murmured to Winnie, who was looking around as pert as a bird.
“Well, our family was never quite so wealthy,” she responded pragmatically. “His grace is a duke, after all, and of course, that means something.”
What it seemed to mean was a house of impeccable style and fashion with servants who wore their station with a gleaming and rigorous pride. Even when her parents were alive, she had never come to a house as fine as this one. She quelled her nerves by telling herself that this was all to the good. If the duke was going to help her, it was better that he was this rich, his home this prestigious.
They were taken to an elegantly appointed drawing room, where they waited... and then waited. A maid arrived to bring them a small tray of tea and delicate sandwiches, but there was a pinched look on her face that made Emily wonder.
“Excuse me, but is his grace aware of our arrival?”
The maid’s face twitched, and she ducked her head a little.
“His grace has been informed, Lady Emily. I’m... afraid he is not quite ready.”
The maid left before Emily could ask more.
It was at least another fifteen minutes before the door opened and revealed the Duke of Wellford, dressed only in shoes, shirt, buckskin trousers, and his waistcoat. His dark blond hair was ruffled, there were dark circles under his eyes, and he gazed at them as if marveling at their existence.
“Dear God, you weren’t some damned nightmare, after all, were you?”
“Hardly, your grace,” said Emily after the first shock had worn off. “I’m afraid that I am as real as you are.”
“I don’t feel very real myself,” the duke growled. “If you’re real, then we must talk. Come on. That’s best done in the library.”
As they both rose, the duke shook his head.
“No, just Lady Emily, I believe. She’s the one who’s made the most inappropriate bargain I have ever heard of, so I will be dealing with her alone. Lady Caverly, I’ll have the maid bring you some novels or whatever you like.”
“Your grace, that is hardly...”
“It’s all right, Winnie,” Emily said soothingly. “His grace is entirely right. Don’t worry. I don’t believe the duke is going to do anything to harm me. We simply have business.”
Her aunt subsided with a narrow look at the duke, which he ignored, and as Emily followed the man to his library, she wondered if she was entirely right.
I already told him that I was willing to accuse him of ruining me. Surely, he wouldn’t... decide to make good on that threat, would he? There’s not really anything stopping him...
Then she wondered why the idea of being ruined, at least by this man, didn’t turn her stomach with fear. Her belly fluttered when she thought of the kiss they had shared, but surely, it was fear... wasn’t it?
The library was a long narrow room lined to the ceiling with shelves. The desk was piled high with documents, which the duke removed to the floor so he could see her. Seated at one of the chairs opposite, Emily felt like a charity worker getting ready to convince a wealthy man of the plight of orphans.
The duke scowled at her.
“You hardly look like the chit who blackmailed me last night. Have you lost your nerve?”
“Certainly not, your grace,” Emily said, stung. “And you needn’t say that so very easily. As a matter of fact, I have never blackmailed anyone before, and I don’t intend to do so again.”
“Ah, there you are. I was wondering if you had lost all your nerve in the night. And if you’re going to be blackmailing me, don’t bother with the title. My name is Victor.”
She stared at him, astonished.
He grimaced.
“Military manners, I’m afraid. On the continent, we were not afraid to call a spade a spade.”
“And you are a duke,” she couldn’t help reminding him sternly. She needed him for his rank and his reputation, and she could use neither if he wore his title like a box over his head.
“So they keep telling me. However, the request stands. Just call me Victor. I have enough people toadying around without my very own blackmailer standing on ceremony.”
“I’m not—you know, fine. That’s not worth fighting about. Essentially... Victor, I am in need of a husband, and I am afraid that I must be very particular. I need you to introduce me to the right man and to help me... well...”
“Trick him into marrying you?”
“I have every intention of being a good wife,” Emily said. “I know I can be. I just have the idea that I am not going to find the right man at Almack’s.”
“Well, I was not having such good luck finding prospective matches there myself. All right. So, what should your husband be?”
“Old, first of all.”
Victor blinked at her, and despite the seriousness of her situation, Emily couldn’t help hiding a small smile behind her hand. He looked as if he wanted to pinch himself to make sure he was actually awake. Honestly, the man looked as if he had barely slept at all.
“And... how old shall your beloved be?”
“Oh, say, about my aunt’s age. She will be sixty this year, so perhaps sixty-five or seventy?”
“That would be a good match for... What are you, twenty-one years old?”
“Twenty-four, and for your information, it is beyond rude for a gentleman to inquire after a woman’s age.”
“Of course, I do beg your pardon. So, after we have selected the most doddering bridegroom we can find, what else?”
“Rich, of course, but I am not sure I care overmuch about titles. Actually, if he has a title, he should have no children. That is important. I’d rather a husband with no title and no children.”
“All right. That’s not usually how this goes, but apparently, I have been much misinformed about how courtships work back here at home. What else? Should he be sickly as well?”
“Oh, is that an option?” Emily asked automatically, and then, at Victor’s horrified look, she scowled. “I assure you, your grace, I am no murderess! It is only that with my aunt, I have spent some time ministering to ill family members. It is something I am proud to do. Perhaps if my future husband is sickly, I could be a support to him. It would be a way for me to show my affection.”
“Victor, not your grace. So... your husband should be old, rich, ideally on death’s door—”
“I most certainly did not say that!”
“Am I leaving anything out? Would you like him to have a limp and perhaps some very steep staircases?”
“Of course not. Stop being horrid, Victor!”
Suddenly the duke—Victor—smiled, and Emily’s breath caught in her throat. When he smiled, he looked years younger, showing even white teeth and dark eyes that sparkled with fun. Smiling, he was handsome, but there was more than that. Emily caught herself swaying toward him before she remembered herself.
“I like the way you say my name, Emily.”
“I didn’t give you permission to call me by my Christian name!”
“No, and unfortunately, since you are blackmailing me for my help in getting you a husband and not for my ability to call you by your proper title, I don’t care. So... before I actually try to move this folly forward, have you really thought this out?”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“I mean... have you thought about what life is going to be like with your wealthy, elderly, and possibly frail husband? Day to day?”
“I know what’s important,” Emily said defiantly. She did. It was back at Everly, far from London.
Victor sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
“I’m sure you think that...”
“Let me remind you, I do not need questions. I need a husband. Once I have accomplished my goals, you will never need to worry about my threatening you again. Isn’t that what you want?”
Victor leaned back in his chair and watched her. He still looked tired, but the speculative sharpness of his gaze made her shift uneasily in her chair. The air felt like it did before a lightning strike, or the way it did when they’d kissed outside Almack’s.
“What?”
“I find myself surprisingly unsure of anything where you are concerned, Emily.”
She swallowed hard. She had no problem answering him when he was being rude or incredulous. This curiosity seemed somehow far more dangerous.
“I am sure enough for both of us. Believe me when I say this is for the best.”
Victor let out a long breath, nodding reluctantly.
“All right. Are you free tomorrow night? A friend of mine is back from his country estates, and he has been asking to see me. I suppose a play is as good a time to do that as any, and it will not look so strange if I bring you and your aunt along as well.”
Emily had a strange moment where she was only pleased that she would get to see Victor in handsome formal black, and then she shook the thought out of her head.
“That will do very nicely, I think.”