The Duke and the Accidental Bride (Duchesses of Convenience #5)

Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

" I must say, this is all very surprising,” the viscountess said.

“Hopefully a welcome surprise,” Duncan responded pleasantly. “My intent was not to cause you any duress.”

“Certainly not,” the viscountess assured him. “A surprise but one that I could not be more over the moon for – truly, when I read your letter yesterday evening, I had assumed that you were referring to Louisa.” She chuckled. “But that it was Isabella to whom you meant, well...” She glanced at her daughter. “Even better.”

“I am glad,” Duncan said simply, doing his best to not look at Isabella. “Of course, I did not mean for things to transpire in this manner – my intent was never to insult or assume. But sometimes...” He forced a smile. “To put it simply, the heart wants what it wants and in this instance it has spoken.”

“And it shall be heard.” The viscountess was quick to raise her glass; filled with water, but the gesture was what mattered. “A wedding, a most wonderous occasion, and indeed a reason to celebrate. And might I say, Your Grace, welcome to the family.”

And what a family it is.

Things had calmed down dramatically since Duncan had first arrived at Greenfield Manor. There was no more screaming. No more shouting. And no more crying, thank God. The pregnant woman, who he learned was the viscountess’s oldest daughter, the Duchess of Northwick, had retired to a spare bedroom so that Duncan and her mother might talk in peace and work through this most unexpected misunderstanding.

They adjourned to the drawing room, joined by Miss Gouldsmith. Duncan took a place on the single couch while mother and daughter squeezed onto a couch across from him.

Once settled, Duncan explained carefully what it was that had brought him here in the first place – the details of his and Miss Gouldsmith's engagement. It was a story he had expected the young woman to have already gone over with her mother, only to learn that she had decided to keep her mother in the dark for reasons that Duncan did not have to guess very hard at.

As such, he did all the talking, while Miss Gouldsmith watched him with a devilish look in her eyes that he worked hard to ignore.

Obviously, he could not tell her the true nature of their engagement, opting to lie instead. A tale of love at first sight. An accidental meeting whilst he was visiting their uncle. An unexpected but deep connection which saw him propose because he had been unable to imagine living in a world that did not involve the newly found love of his life.

“Isabella?” the viscountess had confirmed, sounding somewhat shocked by this decree.

“Could there be any other,” Duncan had said. “I confess, our pairing might seem strange...” He had then looked to Miss Gouldsmith and smiled before turning away. “But it works. And who are we to question the peculiarities of love? Rather, I say that we simply enjoy them and thank God that we were lucky enough to find one another as we did.”

“I could not agree more,” the viscountess had then purred.

The lie was a necessary one. This entire engagement was predicated on the need to save face and hide from the truth, so what better way to lean into the concept of love at first sight and hope that stuck.

Of course, that would require Duncan and Miss Gouldsmith to play their role enough that they could fool the viscountess and everyone else into thinking that they were in love.

“That brings us to the next point,” Duncan continued, keeping his attention firmly on the viscountess. “The date for the wedding. Your wonderful daughter and I have agreed that we wish to wed as soon as possible. So, I shall organize the banns for the first available date, which should not be longer than a few weeks.”

“Perfect,” the viscountess purred.

“Hold on a moment,” Miss Gouldsmith spoke up suddenly. She had been quiet until this point, a blessing it had seemed, the slim chance that maybe she had changed her ways and resigned herself to this fate without seeing the need to argue.

So much for that .

“Is something the matter, Isabella?” the viscountess asked her daughter. Her smile was friendly but the look in her eyes spoke of a silent warning.

“Do I not get a say as to the date of my own wedding?” She fluttered her eyelashes. “This has all happened so quickly and I might wish to double check a few things first. If that is agreeable with you, Your Grace?” She fluttered her eyelashes again, the look behind them speaking volumes to her intent.

“Of course,” Duncan said. He shifted where he sat, bracing himself. “Although as we both discussed, best that the ceremony is scheduled as soon as possible, no sense delaying.”

“But what is the rush,” she said with a smile that was as mischievous as it was wicked. “It is not as if our love will faulter in that time. If anything, a delayed wedding might see it grow – giving us a chance to better get to know each other.”

“I think we know one another well enough.”

“Oh, there is always more to learn.”

“Which we will have the rest of our lives for.”

“Exactly, so why the rush?”

Combative. Argumentative. Purposefully frustrating. She was as Duncan remembered, and that was a problem that he could not ignore. Made all the worse by the way his eyes refused to behave themselves, constantly glancing at her in that dress, feeling his pulse quicken, and then looking away before he lingered for too long and lost control of himself.

Ordinarily, Duncan was not attracted to more curvaceous figures. But Miss Gouldsmith... his eyes strayed to her hefty bosom, he could not help but look at her curves, and the way she sat forward, pressing them together as if trying to lure his eyes and tempt him. Well, Duncan was only human.

He felt his heart begin to pound in his chest as his eyes strayed further. Sweat beading on the back of his neck. Legs tingling, up the thigh and toward his groin and --

No! Duncan could not allow himself to get distracted. And he certainly could not allow himself to rise to the bait and lose control. What he needed to do was get through this meeting, and then decide how he was going to deal with Miss Gouldsmith and her troublesome ways.

“Isabella!” the viscountess snapped, thankfully. “His Grace is correct. No sense delaying, now that the engagement is official. I am so sorry, Your Grace. She is just excited, is all.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“And another thing,” Miss Gouldsmith spoke up suddenly. She shuffled forward on the couch, pushing her beasts closer together. “I do not know how I feel about a June wedding. It is bad luck.”

“Bad luck? Whatever do you mean, girl,” the viscountess said.

“Well, I was speaking with my friend Charlotte about this, and she agrees that June marriages tend to yield the most unhappy of marriages. She was telling me of her sister, Audrey, married in June also. And her cousin, another June wedding, both of which have been nothing but calamitous and Charlotte cannot help but wonder if the month is the reason for it. Naturally, I thought this a little silly, but then I asked another friend of mine and --”

“Isabella!” the viscountess snapped. “What have I told you about listening to gossip? You are being silly, girl.”

“Am I?” She flashed her eyes at Duncan. “Just repeating what I have heard. I do wish for this marriage to be as wonderful and perfect as I know it can be and I would hate for anything to ruin it. Silly me, I suppose.”

She was acting this way on purpose. He was sure of it. As if she might be able to annoy him into cancelling the marriage. It might have been a good plan had she not underestimated how stubborn Duncan was.

Besides, it wasn’t as if he wished for this marriage either! He was doing it because he had to, because that was the sort of man that he was – one with honor! Regardless of how much she antagonized him, nothing was going to change. And she needed to realize that.

“I am sorry to hear of your friend’s sister and cousin,” he spoke, careful to meet her eyes and not look south. “But I am afraid that we cannot base wedding preparation, nor can we assume the future of our marriage, around something as tangential and unquantifiable as the month in which we are married.”

“I do not see why it would hurt.”

“We will marry as soon as we are able,” Duncan said sharply. “And that is the end of the discussion.”

“And I could not agree more,” the viscountess said.

“Oh, I just want it to be perfect!” Miss Gouldsmith cried out suddenly. She scrunched her face into a ball, looking as if she might burst into tears. “Surely, that is not too much to ask!”

“And it will be,” Duncan said, but with a bite. “Of that, you do not need to worry.”

“But I am worried!” she continued. “Yes, our love is strong – my heart yearns, Your Grace. Do not doubt that. But if it is not a perfect wedding then I fear for our future. I... I... I...” She sniffed and wiped her nose. “Oh, look at me! Getting all emotional.” She sniffed again. “I am just so happy! Please, do not blame me. I know you feel the same way!”

Again, she was prodding him. Poking. Trying to get him to rise to the bait. And Duncan very nearly did. He wanted nothing more than to scold her and tell her to stop being so foolish – that he would not accept such childish behavior.

He did not, of course. He stayed calm. Reasonable. Took a deep breath and continued to put on airs of a man very much in love with his soon-to-be bride.

“Of course not,” he said. “In fact, I admire just how open you are with your feelings. It shows heart, which was one of the reasons I fell for you in the first place.”

Her face dropped and her lip curled and Duncan raised an eyebrow at her as if to say ‘ Nice try .’

“Perhaps we should turn back to the date?” the viscountess spoke up. “Never mind my daughter, Your Grace. I assure you that she will be thrilled with whatever date you come up with.”

“I am sure she will be.”

“I am afraid, however, that I must be off.” He stood quickly. “So much to do, as I am sure you can imagine. Really, today was more about confirmation and making introductions.”

“Oh. Are you sure?”

“Yes, are you sure?” Miss Gouldsmith agreed. “Perhaps if you would like to spend the day? With all of us? I know what a treat that will be.”

“I would love to but am unable,” Duncan hurried. “But soon, my sweet, we have all the time in the world. I promise you.” He rose from his chair quickly. “I will make sure to write once the dates are set and we can begin to organize the affair.”

“But --”

“Until then, as always, it was a pleasure seeing you again and I shall...” He grimaced. “I shall think of you every minute of every day.”

He was quick to leave after that. A hastily said goodbye, not even stopping to allow Miss Gouldsmith or the viscountess to stand before he was down the hallway and making for the exit.

His mind spun as he stepped outside. A marriage that he did not want, made infinitely more difficult to comprehend because his bride-to-be was set trying to make him change his mind when she should have known such a thing could not happen.

He climbed into the carriage, glad to be free of that calamity, while wondering with great resignation what the woman was bound to try next. He did not know her well, but he knew her well enough to suspect that today was not the end but only the beginning --

The carriage door swung open suddenly and Miss Gouldsmith climbed in.

“Miss Gouldsmith!” he cried. “What on earth are you --”

“We need to talk,” she said as she closed the door behind her. “Now.”