No wonder Phineas had been so angry. No wonder it had been so hard for him to see Nicholas rejecting Lady Hannah—rejecting the lady he loved! Of course that would pain him, and yet, at the same time, his feelings about it must have been deeply complex. It must have hurt him terribly to know that there was still a chance for him, and to know how small that chance really was.
Nicholas felt horrible. What terrible things he’d said about Lady Hannah, and all the while, his friend had been in love with her! Of course, he hadn’t known—but he had also been wrong in the things he had said. Lady Hannah hadn’t been chasing him for his title. She had been doing it because her father had made her feel as if she had no choice in the matter. She hadn’t wanted it any more than Nicholas himself had. And all the while, he had been ridiculing her to others and making her feel as if she wasn’t even worthy of his friendship. What a mess this all was.
What was he going to do? Of course he wanted to go to them both, to tell them that if they had feelings for one another then they ought to be together. But he suspected they knew that was how he felt about it. Neither one of them could possibly suspect that he wanted to marry Lady Hannah—he’d made his desires clear when it came to that—so it wasn’t his intentions that were getting in the way. Lady Hannah had obviously decided that what her father wanted from her here was so important that she was willing to sacrifice everything—even her own wishes. Even love.
“You know he has feelings for someone else,” Phineas said.
“I know that,” Lady Hannah said. “It’s perfectly apparent to anyone with eyes how he feels about her.”
“We ought to leave them to one another, since it’s what they both want,” Phineas said.
“The duke and Lady Eleanor? That will never come to be.”
“Why do you say that? They’re always so affectionate with one another. It seems obvious to me that they can make a relationship work if they make the effort.”
“But they won’t make the effort,” Lady Hannah said. “Lady Eleanor might be outspoken, but at the end of the day, she’ll do what her parents expect of her. And everyone knows that her parents think the duke is going to marryme.”
“If you only told the truth?—!”
“I can’t do that, Phineas. It’s like you’re living in a fantasy world. Don’t you see how difficult this is? Don’t you understand what my father will do if I fail to meet his expectations? He won’t be happy with me at all. He’ll probably punish me. If I refuse the duke…”
“If you refuse the duke, he’ll have to accept that you’re going to marry someone else.”
“And I suppose you believe that would end with him allowing me to marry you? It would never happen that way, Phineas. If I defy him, he’s not going to reward me by giving me what I want. I can’t know exactly what he would do, but I can assure you that it wouldn’t be pleasant for either one of us. He wouldn’t give in and allow us to marry. No, he’d find someone else for me—someone I’d find far less agreeable than the duke, I’m sure! What Father cares about most of all is money, so he would be sure to find me someone wealthy. Wealthier than you, Phineas.”
“I would give you all the money in the world if I had it to give, Hannah,” Phineas said. “You know I would.”
“I do know. But youdon’thave it. And if I thought there was any chance of persuading Father that you and I should be allowed to marry, I would end this charade with the duke and go to Father tonight. I would insist that he give us a chance. But, Phineas, he never will. Don’t you see that the only thing either of us can do is try to find happiness with the cards life has dealt us? All I can do is try to be happy with the duke, even though it’s not what either one of us truly wants. And the best thing you can do now is to let me go and find someone else.”
“You can’t really want to see me with someone else,” Phineas said sadly.
“Phineas, none of this has ever been about what I want.”
Footsteps moved toward the door. Nicholas jumped. He didn’t want to be caught here. He couldn’t have them knowing that he had overheard that conversation. He hurried away, his mind in awhirl, wondering what he was going to do with the information that had been revealed to him tonight.
Lady Hannah didn’t want to marry him after all.
She wanted to marryPhineas. And Phineas wanted to marry her as well.
Nicholas could certainly refuse to marry her—and he would. But was there anything he could do to help ensure that she would end up with Phineas when all this was over?
And what of Lady Eleanor? Lady Hannah seemed to believe that there was no hope for the two of them to find their way to one another.
Was that the truth? Or was it possible that there was still a chance—that even now, she might still have him?
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
“Lady Eleanor, I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Eleanor recognized the voice and almost didn’t bother turning toward it. She didn’t really want to see the duke right now. After last night, she had allowed herself to believe that there was something real between the two of them, but in the cold light of day, she no longer thought so. Just seeing everyone celebrating his alleged engagement to Lady Hannah had soured her on the whole idea of him. She certainly didn’t want to speak to him now. She didn’t even want to look him in the eye.
He called after her again. “Lady Eleanor!”
She was going to have to face him. If she didn’t, he clearly had no intention of leaving her alone. She turned slowly toward him, hoping that it would be quick and easy. “What is it, Your Grace?”
“I looked for you at breakfast,” he said.
“I didn’t come to breakfast. I was in my room.”
