‘Oh, so he’s a snob as well, then.’ Arabella laughed. ‘It looks like you’re well matched.’ Her face became more serious. ‘Did you tell him any of this?’
‘No, but he should have known.’
Once again, the Duchess crossed her arms in front of her, as if about to deliver a stern lecture. ‘And if you’d been in love with a local lad, would you have said a flat out no, or would you have explained yourself? Would you have told him that you wanted to keep your business, you wanted to carry on working after you married? Or is it only rich men who are supposed to know exactly what you want and what you are thinking without being told? And is it only rich men who are never allowed to make mistakes?’
‘Hmm,’ was all Nellie could answer. Perhaps she had been consistently rude to Dominic and it had continued right up until he had proposed to her. Why on earth he wanted to marry her after the way she’d treated him she could hardly understand. ‘Well, it doesn’t matter now, anyway. He proposed, I turned him down, it’s all over.’
Arabella rolled her eyes and laughed, as if Nellie had said something outlandishly funny. ‘It’s not a business negotiation, Nellie. It was a proposal of marriage. He’s hardly likely to have taken the offer off the table because you said no. Perhaps you need to swallow your enormous pride before it chokes you, stop judging him so harshly just because he has the misfortune of being fabulously wealthy and go and tell him how you feel and what you want.’
Nellie looked across the table at her friend and now adviser.
‘Well?’ the Duchess asked.
Nellie nodded and smiled, then picked up her cucumber sandwich and started eating, suddenly feeling very hungry.
Chapter Twenty-One
Dominic stood on the steps of his house and watched the carriage as it travelled up the long tree-lined drive. It pulled up in front of him. The door flew open. Amanda all but jumped out and embraced him in a joyous hug. She had been excited when she had left for her visit to Lord Westcliffe’s family, and was even more excited now, if that was at all possible.
‘I take it the visit went well?’ he asked, her beaming smile telling him the answer.
‘Oh, it was perfect. His parents are wonderful. And they are so happy for us.’ She all but danced up the steps beside him as they entered the house.
She shrugged off her coat and handed it to the footman. ‘Thomas’s parents gave us their blessing straight away. They didn’t even ask about my family or my background. All they care about is that Thomas is happy with his choice of bride.’ She gave him what could only be described as a pointed look. ‘And they don’t care about social advancement.’
Dominic chose to say nothing to dampen his sister’s excitement. The Duke of Castlemere was at the pinnacle of society. Of course he had no need to care about social advancement. Unless his son married into royalty there was nowhere for them to advance to.
‘But what about you, Dominic?’ Amanda clasped his arm. ‘Do you have some happy news to tell me?’
He forced himself to smile. ‘You know I’m very happy for you, Amanda.’
Her smile faded and Dominic inwardly groaned. He had done what he told himself he would not do. He had ruined her happiness.
His forced smile started to become painful as she stared up at him, her brow furrowed. ‘And I want to hear all about your time with the Westcliffe family,’ he asked with false joviality. ‘Have you already started to make wedding plans or is it too early yet?’
She raised her eyebrows and gave him a disbelieving look. He had tried too hard. When had he ever been interested in anyone’s wedding plans?
‘What happened when you went to London?’ Amanda placed her hand gently on his arm. ‘What went wrong? I want you to tell me everything.’
‘There’s nothing to tell. Now, you must be very tired after your journey. I’ll leave you to your rest.’ He turned to leave and she grabbed his arm, halting his progress.
‘Nonsense. I’m not the slightest bit tired.’ She signalled to the butler and asked for tea to be served in the drawing room. ‘And I’m not going to rest until you tell me what happened in London.’
Dominic was about to inform her he had no interest in taking tea, but he saw the defiant look on her face as she continued to grip his arm and changed his mind. It was plain to see that he was not going to escape, so he might as well get it over and done with. The sooner he told her what had happened between him and Nellie the sooner they could put it all behind them. He escorted her through to the drawing room and waited until she had seated herself. Then he took a seat and wondered where he was supposed to begin.
She looked over at him, her face a mixture of concern and curiosity. ‘Well, what happened?’
He stifled a sigh. ‘I went up to London to propose to Nellie Regan and she said no.’ Now that she knew what had happened, he hoped Amanda would leave it alone, although, knowing his sister as he did, he doubted that would be the case.
She chewed on her top lip and drew her eyebrows together. ‘Oh, Dominic. I’m so sorry. Why did she say no? From what my lady’s maid said, the servants were convinced she was completely enamoured with you. So, what did you say to her? What did she say to you? What happened?’
The door opened and the footman entered, bearing a tray containing a teapot, milk jug and two cups and saucers. He placed the tray on the table, placed a silver strainer on one cup and began pouring.
‘Leave it,
