“How dare you make a scene like this!”
“I wouldn’t have had to do it if you hadn’t spread lies about my intentions and our future. It seems to me now that this is the only way to get the truth out in the open—and I want the truth known, Lady Hannah. You ought to want that too. Youdon’twish to marry me. Don’t you want to even try for the things you truly want in all this?”
“Don’t do this,” she said. Eleanor thought she looked as if she was about to cry.
“I’m sorry,” the duke said remorselessly. “But you and I have been manipulated for too long, and it’s time for the truth to come out. I know how you feel about Phineas. He is the one you truly want to marry.”
Eleanor’s jaw dropped. Could this be true? Did Lady Hannah really want Phineas? Phineas wantedher! If that was the case, why was there such commotion about her being with the duke? If it was true that neither of them wanted the other, then why was the arrangement still intact?
“Tell me the truth,” the duke said. “Tell me what’s really happening. Why have you pushed for a marriage that you don’t even want to be a part of?”
Lady Hannah covered her face with her hands.
“It’s all right,” the duke urged, his tone becoming gentle for the first time.
“My father wishes it,” she said.
“And if I speak to your father?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what will happen.”
“Perhaps I should speak to him, then. Perhaps we should put it to the test.”
“I don’t think this is wise, Your Grace.”
“Lady Hannah,” the duke said softly. “I’m not going to marry you. Neither you nor I want that. You want to marry someone else. I know it won’t be easy to persuade your father. But wouldn’t it be better if I helped you seek the outcome you truly want instead of the two of us forcing ourselves into a loveless marriage? A marriage that would only exist to satisfy a man who wouldn’t be part of it? Lady Hannah, I haven’t always been the sort of man to believe in love. But I’ve seen enough of it now to think that it’s real. I believe your feelings for Phineas are too important to be laid aside. Let me help you both.”
“I suppose you will do what you feel you must,” Lady Hannah said. Eleanor thought she heard something like hope in her voice for the first time, though her words didn’t reflect it.
“I have one thing I must do first,” the duke said.
Lady Hannah nodded.
The duke turned to face Eleanor. Eleanor was startled, for she hadn’t realized that he had noticed her standing there at all. But now he was looking at her as though he had been aware of her presence the entire time and had even known that she was listening to their conversation. Had the whole thing been a show for her benefit? Surely it hadn’t been—but what if it had? Could she allow herself to take it seriously?
He held out his hand to her. She looked at it, and then up at him.
“Dance with me,” he encouraged.
“Your Grace…”
“You can’t turn me down,” he said. “Not in front of everyone like this. It will cause a scene, and there will be questions I know you don’t want to answer. Dance with me. It will be the easiest thing for you to do in this moment.”
She knew that he was right, little though she liked to admit it. With a sigh, she took his hand and allowed him to lead her outonto the floor. He pulled her into position for the dance and the two of them were off.
“You heard all that,” the duke said as they turned.
“I heard it.”
“What did you make of it?”
“I’m not very surprised by anything you said,” she told him, keeping her tone cool even though it wasn’t quite true—he had surprised her. “I can’t trust you, Your Grace. You string ladies along.”
“I don’t,” he said. “Truly I don’t.”
“I don’t even know for certain that you were the one I met at the masquerade. I never saw your face, and how can I trust the evidence of anything except my own senses when it comes to you? How can I let myself believe that you’re telling me the truth? One night you ask me for a courtship, and the next morning I discover you’re engaged to someone else. You can’t expect me to ignore that.”
“What I’m saying to you now is the truth,” he said. “There will be no marriage between Lady Hannah and myself. Neither of the two of us ever wanted that, and neither of us will allow it to happen.”
