The Perfect Duke Read online

  Well, in this one case, she would do something sincere. “I give you my word; I won’t tell anyone about your financial situation.”

  To her surprise, a feeling of lightness came over her. Telling the truth and meaning it actually felt good.

  “I appreciate that. But there’s more I want to talk to you about.”

  His hopeful expression caused her to feel another crazy flutter in her stomach. “There is?”

  “If I don’t marry a lady with a large dowry, I’ll be sent to debtor’s prison on my father’s behalf.”

  “You will?”

  He nodded. “I can’t fend off my father’s creditors much longer. They’re insistent I come up with the money before the end of the month. I had planned to ask Miss Wilmington to marry me, but given the missive I just received, I can no longer do that. Miss Wilmington told me that your brother has a significant amount of money.”

  Before he could go further, she finished, “You want to marry me to get my dowry.”

  He gave a slight wince. “It sounds cold when you put it that way, but I suppose there’s no other way to say it. That would be the arrangement. In return, I’d be willing to do whatever I can to help you out. This doesn’t have to be something only I benefit from.”

  She lowered her gaze to her cup and thought over his proposal. Considering how upset her brother was going to be when he found out things hadn’t worked out with Sir Tristan Blakemoor and considering the fact that she wasn’t getting any younger, marriage to the Duke of Ravenshire could be a godsend.

  Also, he was a handsome gentleman, and he knew how to impress people. She, herself, had been impressed with him when Miss Wilmington had brought him for the walk at Hyde Park. Miss Wilmington had chosen him because she thought he’d help the image of Ladies of Grace. A marriage to him would be as profitable as a marriage to Sir Tristan Blakemoor.

  She glanced at him. Even knowing what he was proposing was a marriage of convenience didn’t stop her from experiencing a thrill simply by being near him. It certainly would be pleasant to live in the same townhouse with him and let him escort her to social events where he could talk to important members of the Ton. The Ton would soon associate her with him, and she was associated with Ladies of Grace.

  Yes, this could very well be a profitable move on her part.

  “All right,” she decided. “I’ll marry you so you can avoid debtor’s prison. What I’d like in return is for you to make people think good things about Ladies of Grace. I’d like you to work your charm on influential members of the Ton. Let little things slip in during your conversations with them about the respectability of the group. Let them know that the members of the group are reputable and worthy of the Ton’s approval.”

  “I’ll be more than happy to do what I can to improve your group’s reputation.”

  Good. At least that matter was resolved. She had helped save the group and avoided a very unpleasant conversation with her brother all in one decision.

  The duke put his hand over his heart and released his breath. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I wasn’t sure if you’d agree to marry me under these circumstances or not. I know marrying a gentleman who’s a pauper isn’t what ladies dream about, even if he does have a title. I will do anything you wish, whether it has to do with the group or not. I owe you for saving both me and my family.”

  “I’m sure we’ll find the arrangement beneficial for both of us,” she replied.

  The footman came into the room, and she turned her attention to him.

  “I hate to interrupt, but Lady Eloise wishes to have a word with you,” the footman said.

  Tara hesitated to agree to see her, especially when she had much more pressing matters to tend to at the moment, but the duke saved her from having to make a decision since he rose to his feet.

  “I won’t keep you any longer than I already have,” he said.

  She hurried to put the cup down so she could stand up. “When will we further discuss the arrangement we just made?”

  He glanced at the doorway, probably to make sure the footman wasn’t there, and sure enough, the doorway was clear. “Do you have any engagements tomorrow?”

  “No, I don’t have anything I need to do. What time will you be by?”

  “Can I come the same time I did today?”

  “Yes, that will be fine.” By then, she should have talked to her brother about the upcoming marriage.

  To her surprise, the duke took her hand and kissed it. His lips were warm, and a pleasant tingle went straight from her hand all the way down to her toes.

  “Again, I offer you my heartfelt thanks,” he said. “I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”

  If his touch and kiss were a foretaste of that promise, then she was definitely going to enjoy being married to him.

  She tried to tell him she looked forward to seeing him tomorrow, but her mouth dried up again, making it so that she couldn’t speak. Was it always going to be like this with him? Would she always be so flustered that she needed something to drink just so she could talk to him?

  He released her hand, wished her a good day, and left the drawing room. Tara couldn’t be sure, but she thought he looked just as magnificent leaving as he did coming.

  Mindful that the footman would be bringing Lady Eloise in, Tara hurried to drink the rest of the tea in her cup so that her throat wasn’t dry anymore.

  Chapter Two

  Nicholas Lidgate, the Duke of Ravenshire, made it to his townhouse with a spring in his step he hadn’t had ever since he found out how much debt his father had been in. Thanks to Miss Webb, all of his troubles were over. He wouldn’t have to go to prison, and he could provide for his mother and two younger sisters.

  When he began to seek a wife, he had no idea how difficult it was to secure a marriage with a wealthy lady. Even as much as he’d tried to woo several over the course of the past two months, they had all ended up choosing other gentlemen. If only he knew why. He was attractive enough. He had a title. He knew what to say and when to say it. But for one reason or another, none of them had taken an interest in him. Which was surprising since no one knew about his financial situation.

  Miss Wilmington hadn’t been as nice as he had desired, so he had been relieved to find out she’d decided to marry someone else. But it had left him in a bind. He had less than a month before his father’s creditors were going to haul him off to prison. He would have married Miss Wilmington at this point if he’d had to.

  Fortune, however, had prevailed, and he was able to avoid Miss Wilmington in favor of marrying Miss Webb instead. He hadn’t told any of the other ladies about his financial situation, but he’d done so with Miss Webb because he no longer had time to wait. Miss Webb, thankfully, had been incredibly understanding about the matter, and for that, he would always be grateful.

  He bounded up the steps of his townhouse. He didn’t have enough money for a carriage or horses, so he walked everywhere. His mother and sisters did, too. And there was no footman to open the door, so he did that himself. The only thing he actually owned was the townhouse, which was good because it was the only thing making sure he and his family didn’t end up on the street.

  His fourteen-year-old sister, Augusta, was in the drawing room, mending a gown. As soon as he passed by, she dropped the gown and hurried over to him. “What did Miss Webb say?”

  Unable to hide his smile, he said, “Miss Webb agreed to marry me.”

  Augusta jumped in excitement then gave him a hug.

  Laughing, he hugged her back. “Where are Mother and Cress?”

  “They’re in the kitchen making dinner,” Augusta said. “The maid is doing laundry, and you know Mother and Cress would rather make meals than clean the bedding.”

  “Soon, we’ll have other servants to help the poor maid. Then you won’t have to mend clothes, and Mother and Cress won’t have to make another meal again.” Also, they wouldn’t have to keep watching every single farthing to make sure they could
keep food on the table or the maid in employment. “Do you want to be with me when I tell them the good news?”

  With a nod, Augusta joined Nick, and they headed down the hall. Upon entering the kitchen, he saw his mother seasoning the uncooked rabbit while Cress, which was short for Cressica, cut the onion that would go into the soup.

  “Miss Webb said yes!” Augusta blurted out before he got the chance to say it. Her eyes widened, and she put her hand over her mouth.

  He chuckled and patted her shoulder. “It’s all right.” He didn’t mind the slip. It was much better than having to tell them that, once again, he hadn’t been able to secure a marriage.

  His mother turned her gaze to him. “Miss Webb agreed to marry you?”

  He nodded, and his mother and Cress let out cheers and hugged him.

  “I knew there was a lady out there who couldn’t resist you,” his mother said when she pulled away from him. “I told you that you’re just as charming and attractive as your father was. When I married him, I had to keep pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.”

  “Is Miss Webb nice?” seventeen-year-old Cress asked as she wiped her hands on a hand towel.

  “Yes, she is,” Nick replied. “I think you might like her.”

  “How old is she?” his mother asked.

  “We didn’t get that far into the conversation,” he said. “A lady came over to speak with her before I could find out. But I think she’s nineteen or twenty.”

  “Then you’ll need to get her guardian’s permission for the marriage,” his mother replied. “You already have mine, so we have no worries on that end.”

  “I’ve asked to see her tomorrow,” he said. “I’ll speak with her guardian at the time.”

  “Since she agreed to marry you and you have no scandal touching you, her guardian should consent to the union.”

  “Yes, that’s what I think, too.”

  His mother visibly relaxed, and it was then he realized how worried she’d been. Their only recourse had been his marriage to a lady who could bring significant wealth into his family. His attempts at winning money through gambling hadn’t done him much good. All it’d done was allow him to pay the interest on the debt. He hadn’t been able to sustain enough winnings to actually pay them off.

  But the creditors were getting restless. Considering the fact that he’d been putting them off for two years, he had to act. And the sooner, the better. Thankfully, now that he had a lady willing to marry him, all he had to do was go through with the wedding.

  “We should celebrate,” Augusta said.

  “She’s right,” Cress agreed. “Tonight, we’ll have a dessert. I was saving it for a special occasion, and this is definitely it.”

  “It certainly is.” His mother gave him another hug and then turned back to the rabbit she was preparing to cook.

  Deciding he’d let his creditors know he would be paying them within the month, Nick headed for the den.

  ***

  “And to make matters worse,” Lady Eloise said as she poured more sherry into her glass, “Stephen has no ambition. He thinks life is one big party. He has no sense of responsibility.”

  Tara shifted in her chair. Lady Eloise had been talking nonstop for the past hour, and she was on her third glass of sherry. Lady Eloise hadn’t touched the cinnamon tea Tara had instructed the butler to bring in for her. Instead, she’d bypassed the tea to go to the sherry, and by the looks of it, she had every intention of drinking everything in the decanter. Tara had never seen Lady Eloise drink this much before.

  Lady Eloise put the decanter back on the table and shook her head in irritation. “Stephen Bachman is going to be the end of me. I just know it.” She took a sip of the sherry. “This is all Lady Youngtown’s fault. She talked her husband into arranging a marriage between me and that dreadful brother of his. I don’t understand why my father agreed to such a thing. I’m his only child. You’d think he’d treat me better than this.” Then she drank the rest of the contents in her glass.

  Unable to push aside the uneasy feeling in her stomach, Tara got up and took the decanter so Lady Eloise couldn’t pour herself another drink. “Since you are married to Stephen, why don’t you try to work things out with him? What good is all this drinking doing you?”

  Lady Eloise narrowed her eyes at her. “I thought you were supposed to comfort me. That was your role in the group. Whenever anyone did something to upset me, you sat and listened to me. I order you to do so again.”

  Though Tara was sure Lady Eloise meant for her tone to be sharp, the slight slur in her words made her statement come out softer than they should have. That was reason enough for Tara to remain firm.

  “Look at you,” Tara said, gesturing to her. “You’re better than this. You’ve always prided yourself on acting as if nothing was wrong even when things weren’t going your way. You said that once people knew you had a weakness, it was only a matter of time before they could destroy you.”

  “Stephen is not my weakness; he is my burden. There’s a difference.”

  “Have you even tried to have a civil conversation with him? All you’ve told me so far are all of the things you hate about him. Surely, he can’t be all bad.”

  “He is all bad.” Lady Eloise stood up, wobbled for a moment, and then straightened her back. “He has no money, no title, and no charming personality. He is a pathetic little rat who spends all of his time running around London with his equally pathetic friends. Because of him and his family, I am a laughingstock. Me! Lady Eloise, the daughter of the Duke of Silverton! I’m better than Stephen. He isn’t worthy of me, and yet, I’m forced to be his wife because his brother and my father have determined it to be so.”

  “I’m not saying you don’t have a right to be upset.” Under similar circumstances, Tara was sure she’d be upset, too. “But maybe things aren’t what they seem. Maybe Stephen isn’t as bad as you think he is. You haven’t even sat down to have a conversation with him.”

  “Why should I waste my time on him? He has nothing of importance to offer.”

  “You should do it because you are married to him.”

  Lady Eloise snorted. “That’s easy for you to say. When I came here, you were talking with the Duke of Ravenshire, one of London’s most sought-after bachelors. Good-looking, charming, rich… What more could a lady want?”

  Well, granted the duke was two of those things, but Tara had given her word that she wouldn’t tell anyone the truth about his financial situation. Not that there would be a situation for long. Her marriage to him would solve that problem.

  Tara placed the decanter on the desk and returned to Lady Eloise. “You’re right. It is easy for me to tell you to try to get along with your husband. But what have you got to lose? If it turns out that he won’t work with you, then at least you’ll know you did something to make it better.”

  “I shouldn’t have to do something to make it better. He should get on his hands and knees and be grateful he has the privilege of being associated with me. Up until we married, the Ton didn’t even know who he was. Thanks to me, they do.” She crossed her arms. “You used to understand what a privilege it was to be associated with me. That’s why you asked to join the group I created. And now you and Miss Wilmington have decided to throw me out of it. Ladies of Grace wouldn’t be anywhere today if I hadn’t been the one to raise it to its level of importance.”

  Tara winced. Lady Eloise was right.

  “I demand you let me back into the group,” Lady Eloise said.

  “I can’t.”

  “You mean you won’t.”

  “I mean I can’t. You set the rules, and one of those rules is that two members must be in agreement on any matter that concerns the group. At the moment, the only members in it are me, Miss Wilmington, and Lady Stacey. You can’t get two of us to agree to let you back in.”

  “This is ridiculous. I shouldn’t have to wiggle my way back into my own group. I’ll just get back in.”

  “You c
an’t do it that way. You had the rules written out, and we all agreed to them. The reason you were removed is because you broke one of the rules. You disgraced the good name of the group.”

  “It’s absurd that I should have to be made to follow the rules I made.”

  “Miss Wilmington and I looked over the rules in the book, and there’s nothing in it that allows the leader of the group to break them. There is, however, a rule that allows for a member to be reinstated if she manages to get her reputation back in good standing. If you do that, I’ll be more than happy to vouch for you.”

  Lady Eloise grunted.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to do what’s good for the group,” Tara softly spoke.

  “I knew Celia and Loretta were pathetic when I agreed to take them in, but I didn’t realize you were, too.”

  Tara clenched her hands at her sides, stifling the urge to say something unpleasant in return. She took a deep breath then said, in a tone as calm as she could muster, “I’m going to assume that’s the sherry talking.” Even if she and Lady Eloise weren’t really friends, they had been through enough together where she thought they had developed an amiable relationship. “When the sherry wears off, I’m sure you’ll see the wisdom of my words. Reputations can be restored. Just because you’re not in Ladies of Grace right now, it doesn’t have to always be that way.”

  Lady Eloise rolled her eyes but didn’t reply. Instead, she picked up her reticule and headed for the doorway, her steps unsteady as the sherry worked its way through her body.

  With a sigh, Tara headed for the stairs to change for dinner.

  Chapter Three

  The next morning, Tara ate alone. Again. She’d asked the butler if her brother had come home, and he assured her that he had. She didn’t bother asking what time her brother came in. Usually, it was three or four in the morning. Sometimes, he came in just as the sun was coming up. On a few occasions, he didn’t come home until the afternoon. She never asked her brother what he did, and thankfully, he never volunteered to tell her.