In Compromise with the Earl by Ava MacAdams

Chapter Eleven

From his place in the room, Oswald saw Duke Strathmore say a few words to Aphrodite and the pained expression on her face made his heart hurt.

“I am convinced that there is no common sense in this room,” Lady Fairchild sniped, while lifting her nose at the two. “How can a man of his station pant after her? A trollop in the making?”

Oswald felt a bitter taste rest in his mouth. “And you know that how? What has she done for such judgment?”

Blithely waving, Lady Fairchild said, “Is it not obvious? The blood in her veins will prove me right one day.”

Her sickening pride and conviction made Oswald grit his teeth. At the same time, he spotted the Duke lead a clearly unwilling Aphrodite out of the room and he felt resistance on her behalf bloom bright in his chest.

“If you will excuse me,” he tugged his jacket down. “I suddenly feel the need for fresh air.”

Instead of taking the same path the Duke and Aphrodite, he took the opposite, knowing that, if the two were out for a stroll in the nearby garden, they would end up in the same place. He did not like the look on the Duke’s face and the protector inside him wanted to make sure Aphrodite was not in danger.

The thin fog did not hinder the moonlight from rendering the whole garden as a scene torn from a dream. Silver moonbeams landed on the small rectangular courtyard surrounded by rosebush hedges. Unlit iron lanterns dangled from thin poles while the path drew attention to the gurgling stone fountain standing at the center.

Lingering in the shadows, Oswald both questioned his sanity at being there while he watched them. What did he think was going to happen—a ravaging? Hardly. She told me she despises the man.

The question remained—why was he there?

“I love this sort of night,” the Duke said. “Still and mystic. The perfect night for lovers, don’t you say?”

“I do not,” Aphrodite said. “And make no mistakes, we are not and will never be lovers.”

“Why so stubborn?” The Duke plucked a rose off a twig and handed it to her. “Let your hackles down for once and see what the connection could be between us. Can you tell me that you have not seen me in your dreams? The carefree blond prince of your fantasies?”

“On the contrary, I prefer dark-haired, brooding, and mostly silent men. One who pretends he needs no one and does not play games,” Aphrodite said lightly, but pointedly.

“I beg your pardon?” Duke Strathmore stopped, and the moonlight washing across his face told Oswald that he was not amused by Aphrodite’s clever insult. His mouth formed a line. “For the record, I am not ignorant, My Lady, I know you are referring to that cuckold Tennesley.”

An unbidden thrill ran through Oswald at those angered words, and he poised himself to step in, in case things might get out of hand.

“And so what?” Aphrodite said. “Am I not allowed to admire other gentlemen?”

“Yes, but him?” Jameson spat. “He is a disgrace.”

“And you are the paragon of virtue?” Aphrodite asked. “I have heard the stories, Your Grace, the rumors that slither through the ton. You have more mistresses than there are grains of sand on the beach.”

“Lies,” he scoffed. “Women like to brag about being with me for clout. I have never touched one of them. You should know a thing or two about that, should you not? Others have rumored that you are a lightskirt as they think I am a rakehell.”

The line in the sand is that the rumors about me are lies, yours are true, no matter how you try to downplay it.

Oswald’s lips pressed tightly; it seemed that Aphrodite was holding her own against the Duke—why was he there at all? He nearly headed back when the Duke reached for Aphrodite and tugged her close. “How about you drop this coyness, hm? Let me kiss you the way I know you want me to.”

“What?” Aphrodite gasped. “No. What makes you think that?”

“Stop fighting it, love,” he said.

Oswald was already in motion, and he strode to them. “I think the lady has said to stop, Your Grace. It would befit you to listen to her.”

The Duke spun and snarled. “And what are you doing here? Were you spying on us?”

“I don’t think there is any law against going for a late-night stroll?” Oswald said, looking pointedly to Aphrodite. “And rescuing a damsel in distress.”

“I was not in distress,” Aphrodite said.

“And she is no damsel,” the Duke spat.

“Excuse me!” Aphrodite exclaimed. “How dare you impugn my honor?”

Oswald held her back, while the Duke, seeing his mistake, rushed to apologize. “I did not mean it the way I said it, Aphrodite—”

“Lady Aphrodite,” Oswald grated.

“I meant that you are no fainting lily,” the Duke railroaded. “Of course, you’re chaste. That was never in question, but you do not need someone barging in to rescue you. You are not that type of weak, helpless damsel.”

“You’re a bas—”

“Take some time and rethink your actions,” Oswald cut in, overriding her curse. “Meanwhile, I will be taking Lady Aphrodite back to the Manor. I imagine dinner has already started.”

Without another word, he dropped his hand to the small of her back and led her toward the Manor. Through the back of her dress, he felt that Aphrodite’s body was stiff and even trembling. They made it inside before she said a word and when she did, she was angry. “What a rapscallion,” she huffed. “Under all that class, he is nothing but a barbarian.”

They entered the dining room, just as the guests were moving off to the tables and while a few shot them curious looks, Oswald pretended not to feel Lady Fairchild’s glare heating the side of his neck. Their gazes landed on the Duke who hurried in after them and now the wondering looks turned speculative. Did they think there was a squabble between us three?

He pulled out her chair before sitting beside her, unwilling to let the Duke take his place and harass Aphrodite anymore. There were questions, confusions that perplexed him and had to be bothering Aphrodite.

Why was it that after telling her they could not be any good for each other and that she should stay away from him, he was always finding her?

It made no sense and yet, he could not stop himself from seeking her out in a crowded room, or despising others when they said a harsh word about her. It was not that she was so innocent with a brave face, or that her father’s actions had hobbled her in life, or that she had qualities he prized in a lady—it was because he sensed a kindred hurting soul.

Duke Strathmore was glaring at him over his glass of wine and Oswald coolly met his heated look with an icy one of his own. If this pretender thought he was going to cower Oswald down, he had confronted the wrong target. Even worse, Lady Pandora was attending the dinner and her consternation was another point of tension in the room.

While swirling his wine, Oswald’s brow lifted daringly and the Duke sneered before turning away. The exchange had not gone unnoticed by others and Oswald knew that by the next day rumors would start to make their rounds. When dinner ended, Lady Pandora requested, “Lord Tennesley, may I have a moment?”

Aphrodite gave him a concerned look, but he gave her the tiniest headshake. She did not have to worry about him, despite whatever trouble he may have brought upon himself. Whatever scathing rebuke the matchmaker had for him, he could bear it.

The guests wandered out, with Aphrodite being one of the last ones. Lady Pandora asked, “Would you mind telling me why Duke Strathmore was trying to light you afire with his eyes?”

He put down his wine and settled back in his seat. “If you are tactfully asking if something untoward happened with the three of us, you are wrong. Actually, it was the opposite. I was taking a walk when I saw Lady Aphrodite looking decidedly uncomfortable, so I kindly reminded them that dinner was starting.”

For a Lady, her gaze was sharper that any cutthroat mercenary Oswald might have the bad luck of coming across. “And that was it?”

“You doubt my word?” Oswald asked. “If you speak to Lady Aphrodite, I am sure she will tell you the same. Mayhap His Grace was looking unhappy because of the interruption.”

“You’re sure, My Lord?”

“I do not make it a habit to lie, Lady Pandora,” Oswald said directly. “Now, if you will excuse me.”

He stood and tugged his dinner jacked down, nodded finally and nearly made it to the threshold when the matchmaker added. “You are only chasing heartbreak if you keep angling for Aphrodite, My Lord.”

“I’m not,” Oswald said coldly. “What happened tonight was pure coincidence.”

“I shall be verifying that,” she said.

“Please do, good night,” Oswald left for his chamber.

He knew he had skimmed over the truth a little, telling Lady Pandora pinpoints of truths, but how would she react to knowing the Duke’s true actions? He had said his piece and left the young lady with her reputation intact; it was up to Aphrodite to tell the rest.

* * *

Morning found Aphrodite in the stables, readying her horse for a ride when Lady Pandora came in, her friend’s face fixed with authority. “Aphrodite, you must tell me what happened last night.”

She kept brushing her horse. “I am sure that when you interrogated Lord Tennesley he told you what happened.”

“He gave me an abridged story,” Lady Pandora said. “And I want to know the truth.”

“Duke Strathmore asked me to walk with him to the garden,” Aphrodite said. “His Grace tried to force a kiss on me, I refused. Lord Tennesley came a few moments later and reminded us that we were needed in the Manor.”

“His Grace did what?” Lady Pandora said. “And did Lord Tennesley knows that?”

“Yes.”

“They why…” Lady Pandora said, “Why didn’t he say that?”

“Because he is a gentleman and was protecting my honor?” Aphrodite put the brush on a ledge before placing the saddle on. “With what he has been through, I doubt he’s going to scandalize anyone. Anyway, what will you do about Duke Strathmore?”

Lady Pandora’s lips twisted. “He is one of your pairings—”

“Which means you will not do a thing about it,” Aphrodite rolled her eyes while fixing a girth.

“Do not put words in my mouth,” Lady Pandora said tightly. “I will have a discussion with him. Untoward advances are not accepted here.”

“But you will not be expelling him,” Aphrodite concluded. “Your image and my father’s threats are staying your hand.”

“Why are you refusing such a perfect match?” Lady Pandora asked. “I cannot think of why any lady would refuse a Duke, especially a young one like him. The others are past their prime.”

She stopped in her motions of fixing the saddle. “He is just not suited for me. That’s all.”

“I need more than that,” Lady Pandora said. “I would wager your father needs more than that as well.”

Huffing, Aphrodite said, “When we first met, all he could do was brag about his wealth, status, connections. How he could sail out to the ends of the earth with no problem, or how he could buy an isle in the West Indies with one percent of his earnings.”

“His pride made him insufferable and then—then I heard the rumors. About the women he dallied with and left because they could not hold his amusement any longer. Why in Heaven’s name would I want to be shackled to a man like that?”

“Is it his pride, or is it his rumored womanizing—”

“They are not rumors.”

“That stops you from even giving the man a chance?” Lady Pandora asked. “Perhaps he has reformed himself?”

“And the sun will turn green,” Aphrodite scoffed. “His attempted kiss proves that.”

“Disgust seems utterly inappropriate considering that you, of all people, should know that rumors color people in hateful hues,” Lady Pandora said calmly. “You met last season. Don’t you think its warranted for you to, at least, let the man explain himself or prove himself to you?”

Her friend’s sound words stuck themselves right in the middle of Aphrodite’s chest and the umbrage she had carried for Jameson that night began to dull. It was true—she should know better; but what she had been told about the man did not seem fabricated at all.

Is it worth it to listen to him for once?

Her hands dropped from the horse. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. Perhaps my prejudice is unneeded.”

“Will you try…” Lady Pandora asked, “To listen with an open ear?”

Aphrodite felt heavily conflicted as she was incredibly sure that, just like a tiger could not change its stripes, the Duke was still the shallow, conceited bounder she had seen in the last season.

“Fine, I will try,” Aphrodite said unhappily.

But I will not expect much.

“No man is perfect, Aphrodite,” Lady Pandora said quietly, and her words carried an old…hurt? Was her friend speaking from experience with broken heartedness? “Remember that.”

Pivoting a little, Aphrodite eyed her friend and found that she did not like the solemn pall that had descended on Lady Pandora’s beautiful face. “Lady Pandora,” she said, stepping away from the horse to approach her friend. “Are you all right?”

Shifting to the side, Lady Pandora nodded, and the morose expression was wiped from her face and exchanged with a placid one. “I’m fine, Aphrodite. As you’ve given your word, I will arrange a carriage ride for you two to the countryside tomorrow.”

“And a tea service won’t do?” Aphrodite asked, barely stopping herself from wrinkling her nose. The idea of being in close confines with the Duke was not enticing at all.

“I think with my strong warning and your maid in the carriage with you, all will be fine,” Lady Pandora said. “The Duke does have a modicum of decency in him.”

“We’ll have to see about that too,” Aphrodite said.

“And one more thing that bears repeating though it seems that you aren’t taking heed, leave Lord Tennesley alone.”

Grabbing the reins, Aphrodite replied, “About that…no.”

“No?”

“He is not the weak man you tried to trick me into thinking he is, but you’ve misjudged him, and I am not going to make the same mistake.” Aphrodite took her mount into the sunlight. “I may be walking into danger, but so be it.”