The Wicked Duke Takes a Wife

“It is a flattering offer, Lady Powlis,” she said when she regained her composure. “But there will be plenty of people who’ll think you’re off your head for taking me as your companion.”

Lady Powlis beamed as if she had just been afforded the highest compliment.

Charlotte’s lips thinned. A lady didn’t “go off her head.” Her “faculties abandoned her,” or some other such nonsense.

“We shall start with a period of trial employment to see if we suit,” Lady Powlis said, clearly having missed her calling as a lawyer. “A pity my nephew cannot do the same with the lady he must marry.”

And at that precise moment, the duke sauntered into the room, lithe, lean, and-startled when he realized he was not alone. He straightened his neckcloth, glancing around with a tight smile that hinted he knew something was in the air and that he might not want to be part of it. “I’m sorry. I must not-”

“Then you accept, dear,” Lady Powlis said, lifting her hand to indicate that the duke remain silent until Harriet gave her reply.

Charlotte came to her feet. “You should sleep on it, Harriet. This is a grave decision.”

“I require an answer now,” Lady Powlis said ruthlessly. “Or I shall take my offer elsewhere.”

The duke cast Harriet a half-pitying look. “I have no idea what she has offered you, but my instincts strongly suggest that you should refuse.”

Charlotte slipped around him to the door. “Your aunt wants to take Miss Gardner on as her companion. You will excuse me a moment, won’t you? If the girls have spotted your coach again, I shall never settle them down.”

Harriet stared across the room. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the duke after Charlotte’s announcement. At the least he hadn’t dropped in a shocked faint on the carpet. The very idea. Living under his roof. Bumping into each other on the stairs. Breathing the same air.

At length he sat down opposite his aunt. “Why don’t you give Miss Gardner time alone to make up her mind?” he suggested in a neutral voice.

“I believe that she and I were on the verge of sealing our arrangement when you interrupted,” she said crisply. “Weren’t we, Harriet?”

“You can refuse,” the duke said under his breath.

Harriet shook her head. “I can’t just walk out of here without saying good-bye to everyone-”

“We’ll be back and forth all the time to visit Edlyn,” Lady Powlis said airily.

“But I don’t have a decent frock-”

“I’ll have a dressmaker fit you for a new wardrobe by the end of the week,” Lady Powlis said, a Machiavellian gleam in her eye.

“But I-”

“Stop mumbling, dear. We shall worry about the particulars later. What do you need for the night? Whatever else can be sent for tomorrow.”

“Where are you going to put her?” Griffin asked suddenly.

“She can have the sarcophagus suite,” Lady Powlis replied.

Griffin sat forward. “The what?”

“It’s the stranger’s room, the one decorated a la Egyptienne, directly across from mine.”

The duke regarded Harriet with a smile more unsettling than anything he could have said.

She could hear Miss Peppertree calling the girls to close their books. “You mean leave this minute, ma’am?” she asked slowly. “Right in the middle of a lesson on garden parties, and-”

“You don’t have to agree,” the duke said again, his eyes narrowing.

What was she agreeing to?

The academy had become her haven. She felt safe here. How safe would she be in a sarcophagus with a young virile duke wandering about the place? She had gotten used to the lumps in her bed-she had gotten used to a bed.

The Boscastles had educated and protected her. The duke was a Boscastle, too. Still, there had been nothing protective about the dark kisses he had coaxed from her on the staircase.

She could not turn her back on the school.

On the other hand, she could not stay here forever, watching Miss Peppertree grow bonier and afraid of every duke who crossed her path.

“Are you positive you have the spine for this position, Miss Gardner?” the duke asked from his chair. “I’m putting my head on the block as I say this, but you should know that every companion my aunt has employed left her position within a month.”

“Fetch a bag, Miss Gardner,” Lady Powlis ordered her.

Harriet would never admit it, but she looked up to Charlotte as the sister she had always wished for. Why hadn’t Charlotte fought to keep her on, then? The Duchess of Scarfield ought to have a say in this, as well.

She could have cried.

She shook her head again. “I-”

“By this time next week,” Lady Powlis said with remorseless pleasure, “you will be attending a garden party. Assuming that Griffin doesn’t spoil the day by raising another of his storms.”

Harriet bolted from the room.

Charlotte was standing right outside the door. They stared at each other in wordless concern, then turned to listen to the conversation between Griffin and his aunt.

“This is the worst idea you’ve had in ages,” the duke said quietly. “Perhaps the worst one ever.”

“Do you have something against my companion, Griffin?”

“Don’t be silly. I do not even know her. Neither do you.”

“But don’t you like her?”

“What the devil difference does it make if I do? As I’m not hiring her to live with me, my feelings are not particularly relevant, are they?”

“Will she distract you?”

Charlotte put her hand over her eyes.

“Probably,” the duke replied in a clipped tone, “although not as much as you or Edlyn have.”

Charlotte groaned. Harriet patted her absent-mindedly on the arm.

Lady Powlis was quiet for a moment. “You have no particular wish to take me shopping for stockings and hats, do you?”

“Of course not,” he said annoyedly. “But there are other ladies in our family, in London, who would probably enjoy spending such moments with you.”

“Not ones who make me laugh.”

Harriet swallowed, pulling Charlotte from the door. “What should I do?” she whispered.

“I don’t know,” Charlotte whispered back. “What do you want to do?”

“I want to stay with you-”

“Then fine-”

“-and I want to go.”

She stared at the door.

With him.

Charlotte drew a sigh. “You can always come back. Unless something unpredictable comes to pass.”

Harriet hugged her in gratitude. She understood the unspoken conditions of her release. She could return to her position unless she disgraced herself or so displeased Lady Powlis that no one would consider her for any decent employment again.

“Go and get your things,” Charlotte said with a resigned smile. “At least if I am to lose you, it is to another Boscastle.”

Chapter Ten