In Compromise with the Earl by Ava MacAdams
Chapter Twelve
“Leo?” Oswald looked up from the papers on his desk to see his cousin striding in with a folio in his hands. “What are you doing here?”
“Your steward sends his love,” Leo said dryly while handing the folio over. “I certainly do not envy you, Oswald. If I had to go over so many documents, I’d probably be a candidate for Bedlam.”
“Oh, shut it,” Oswald said laughingly. “You must have had it worse when studying for the priesthood.”
“Memorizing the Beatitudes is nothing like working out taxes and investments,” Leo waved dismissively. “May I sit?”
“Yes,” Oswald said, “let me call for some refreshments.”
“Water or lemonade, thank you,” Leo said, while Oswald went to find a maid. After requesting the drinks, he went to find Leo tapping his fingers on the desk and narrowed his eyes—why was his cousin nervous?
“Is there more to this visit than delivering documents?” Oswald added. “You look a bit hesitant.”
Leo’s bright blue gaze dimmed. “After the last time I came here, I spoke with Aunt—and I mentioned Lady Aphrodite to her.”
A surge of dread tightened Oswald’s middle. If his mother was as in touch with the ton as he knew she was, she was aware of Aphrodite’s father and his actions. He could bet that she was heavily against him having any association with her.
“And let me guess,” Oswald said tiredly. “She wants me to have nothing to do with her.”
“In a nutshell, yes,” Leo grimaced.
“I appreciate her concern, but Lord Kingsley’s sins are not his daughter’s,” Oswald said decisively. “My mother is wary yes, and she has every right to be, but she cannot judge the young lady carte-blanche. I happen to like the Lady.”
“As you have every right to ,” Leo said, “but have you sensed anything peculiar—”
“She is nothing like Claire,” Oswald said, his words coming out harsher than he had expected. Tempering the emotion in his chest, he added, “She is not one to play the convoluted games my late wife delighted in playing against me.”
“How can you be so sure?” Leo asked. “You’ve been in her company for less than a week. It takes time to fetter out someone’s character, Oswald. I know you have learned the lesson the hard way—wolves do wear sheep clothing.”
The horrible reminder sunk deeply into Oswald’s soul, but while Leo had a point, he felt that Aphrodite was the very opposite of his deceptive late wife. “I know, but I would like you and Mother to understand that I have a sense of judgment, a very cynical one now. Be assured, I have no intention of being blinded by anything anymore.”
“But why this connection with Lady Aphrodite?”
“Believe it or not,” Oswald said, “she’s been hurt too.”
* * *
“I’m honored you’ve allowed this time with me,” Jameson said as he helped Aphrodite into his monogrammed, black-lacquered carriage. “We do need an intimate conversation.”
Stepping into the vehicle, dressed in a flounced carriage dress of deep blue, which complimented her flaxen-gold curls and blue eyes, Aphrodite nodded. “I suppose you mean a private conversation, nothing intimate will happen here.”
The Duke’s face darkened. “And with the pointed discussion with our esteemed hostess, I will not be making that mistake again.”
Smoothing her skirts, Aphrodite added, “Be assured, I would not have tolerated it, even without Lord Tennesley’s interruption.”
The reminder of the Earl’s appearance made Jameson’s face sour. “I despise that man. Why does he have to come between us at every turn?” Aphrodite’s eyes sharpened. “You say as if there was something connecting us.”
He grasped her gloved hand. “If I get my way, there will be, and it will not be a pretend courtship.”
“While I do honor you stating your position there will not be a courtship between us,” Aphrodite stated. “A courtship is entered into when two people are attracted to one another,” she explained as though speaking to a child. “I have no attraction to you.”
“Why?”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you the roué they say you are?”
“No,” Jameson said earnestly.
“Liar,” Aphrodite replied. “What about Lady Tomlinson? Why did she have to suddenly disappear from half of last season’s activities after a gala at your manor, hm?”
“I cannot say,” Jameson shrugged. “Whatever mayhem she’s found herself in has nothing to do with me.”
“And Lady Eyre?” Aphrodite pressed. “She was not so tight-lipped and told another about your…acts.”
This time, the Duke smirked. “It’s not a sin to have carnal appetite, dear Aphrodite. You should take lessons from your namesake and try to enjoy the pleasures your body can give you.”
“And corrupt myself so the whole ton can gossip to the end of my days, that I am exactly like my father?” Aphrodite tucked a brow up. “No thank you.”
“Courtships are entered into for all manner of reasons.” Jameson leaned back in his seat. “With the same end result in mind.”
Her cheeks flushed at the hint of having children and Aphrodite hated the way he devoured the look of the warmness working its way up from her cheeks to her ears. “Are you in collusion with my father?” she demanded. “What did he promise you upon winning my hand?”
“I have not said a word to your sire,” Jameson said. “I came here because the birds and bees held it that you would be here.”
“The birds and bees, eh? I don’t want to marry you.” She held his gaze. “I’m too much of a hoyden, and as I stated, I do not feel a speck of attraction toward you.”
“Don’t worry, I have enough attraction for both of us and you’re wrong on the previous statement,” he grinned. “You being a hoyden is exactly why I want to wed you. I’ve had my fill of prim women who turn their noses up at the mere idea of getting their hands dirty.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m a change of pace for you?”
“Some things never change. Don’t try to deny it. You may have fooled the ton with your bookish ways and hoyden airs, but I know you. You want this relationship between you and me.”
Astonished that the Duke would assume such a thing, she replied, “No, I do not.”
“You’re just like the rest,” Jameson waved. “Playing the coy game to put me off but I know the signs. You don’t have anything to tell me. You just wanted an adventure. You wanted me to kiss you last night but you resisted because it could only be a kiss. You wanted more than that—I saw it in your eyes.”
She jerked back. “What?”
“Don’t worry, my dear,” he smiled. “When we are alone, you can drop that act. You’ve resisted me for a long while, but it ends now.”
“I don’t know why you are bothering to flirt with me. I never wanted you to kiss me because you are a bloody stuff shirt with too many proud airs and have too many admirers than I care for. There will never be anything between us, because we are not suited and never will be!”
“You’re scared of passion, aren’t you?” Jameson mocked.
Anger laced her chest. “Unlike those who have fallen for your ill-begotten charms, I possess a working brain and can see the man you are. You don’t want me. You just can’t resist a challenge in chasing the one who will never bend to your wishes. I do not know if this is some sick game, a bet between you and other Lords who are just as twisted and deranged as you are, but I will not take part of your experiment.”
“You’re wrong,” but she caught a telling flash in his eyes. “You gave me your word that you would listen to me this time.”
“And you have told me all I needed to hear. Now, take me back to the Manor. We are done here.”
“We are half-a-mile from the Manor, and it’s a long country road,” Jameson said.
“It matters not,” Aphrodite reached up and rapped on the roof, signaling the driver to stop. “I’ll walk.”
With aplomb, she popped the handle, lifted her skirts and jumped out the vehicle, landing on her half-boots and headed down the opposite way. She was not going to stay another moment with the Duke who only wanted her hand for bragging rights and a notch on his bedpost.
She heard a scuffle and looked over her shoulder to see Lydia clambering out of the carriage and hurrying after her. She tempered her stride for her friend to come to her side, and soon, she heard the scrape of carriage wheels, telling her that the vehicle was turning around.
Keeping her head straight, Aphrodite did not care to look when the carriage came to walk at her side. Jameson moved the velvet curtain and said, “Come inside, Aphrodite. I cannot, in good conscience, let you walk so far.”
“Afraid I will faint on the way?” she asked.
“Very much so,” he replied.
She shot a look to him, “Don’t be.”
“Run all you like,” Jameson said smugly. “I will have your hand in marriage before you know it. Truth be told, I have already laid claim to you since we met, but I allowed you to believe otherwise. There is no escaping it.”
Shooting him a look, Aphrodite hiked up her skirts and sped off at a run to the Manor, deciding to speak with Lady Pandora. This constant harassment from the Duke had to stop. If Lady Pandora did not agree to it—she had some drastic measures to take.
Arriving at the Manor, she stopped to gasp in some breath and then headed in past the main sitting room and up the stairs to Lady Pandora’s room. She came to her sitting room and knocked rapidly on the door, hoping her friend would hear and understand the urgency.
Lady Pandora yanked the door open, her expression rife with shock and concern. “Aphrodite! What is the matter?”
“I…” she gasped, “will not be paired with that man! I cannot! I refuse to!”
Tugging her in, Lady Pandora steered Aphrodite to a seat. “Duke Strathmore?”
“Yes—” she pretended panic. “He is a good-for-nothing scoundrel and I…I will have nothing to do with him! I cannot bear the sight of him, nor be in close contact with him! I…I…I have to leave, if that is who you are set on me being with.”
“Calm down,” Lady Pandora said. “Take a breath. Let me get some calming tea for you. Take deep breaths. I will be back.”
As Lady Pandora hurried out the room, Aphrodite rushed to the hostess desk and rifled through a ledger there, hoping it had the record she needed. She searched quickly, rifling through the pages and found Oswald’s chamber number, smiled, quickly closed the ledger and went back to her seat.
If needs be, Oswald, you are my only hope here.
She sat and clenched her skirts just as Lady Pandora came striding inside with a maid bearing a tea service behind her. A cup of warm tea was swiftly placed in her hands and Lady Pandora thanked the maid and sent her away.
“What happened?”
After some sips, Aphrodite said, “As I had suspected. He does not want me for me, he wants me for a conquest of some sort. To lay with the last lady in the ton or something of the like. I told him that I was not fit to marry him because there is no attraction between us and my hoydenish ways would hardly make for a Duchess, but he insisted that was why he wanted to marry me.”
“No other reason?” Lady Pandora asked.
“No,” she replied.
“And you have no desire to be with him?” Lady Pandora replied.
“I would like not to be within fifty feet of him,” Aphrodite said. “He mentioned that we could still court for other reasons but for being suited with each other. I cannot abide by that. I want to marry for love and companionship, not for money and status.”
“I must say, you’ve left me in a bind,” Lady Pandora sighed. “I thought you two would reconcile your differences and see how fortunate it would be to marry—but I was wrong.”
“Very,” Aphrodite looked into her tea. “I knew from the first time we met, and I know it ever more now. Anyone who wants to have him, can happily run off to the matrimonial parson with my blessing.”
“Well, you still have a few other matches,” Lady Pandora surmised. “Will you make those work?”
“Maybe it was a mistake coming here,” Aphrodite said. “It seems that the men who want me are not the ones who spark anything inside me, and the one who does is told to keep away. Maybe I am ill-fated in love, or even luck for that matter.”
“No, you are not,” Lady Pandora said. “It might take a while, but you will, we will, find the one for you. I don’t want you to leave until we have.”
“Just give up, Lady Pandora,” Aphrodite sighed while pushing the cup away. “I’m too much of an original to marry into a traditional family and that’s most Lords here.”
“There are many progressive Lords who would love to marry you,” Lady Pandora replied.
“With the scandal attached to my name?” she asked. “I hardly think so.”
“Others have worse scandals but that does not stop them from having a profitable relationship,” Lady Pandora said.
Quirking a brow, Aphrodite asked, “Two scandals make a right match?”
“No, but—” Lady Pandora shook her head. “All I am asking is that you don’t give up on finding a good marriage.”
Rising, Aphrodite said, “I can’t think about this anymore. I need to go rest.”
“Yes,” Lady Pandora replied. “In the meantime, I must speak with His Grace.”
“My best wishes on that,” Aphrodite said on her way out.
Heading to her chamber, she paused at the base of the stairs and looked to the West Wing where the men resided. If worse came to worst, she only had Oswald to help—but with things so undecided between them, would he help?
