‘Marry me.’
If there were startled chatter before, it was nothing compared to the shocked gasps at the Duke’s command. Especially when he followed it up with the most romantic words Lucy had ever heard.
‘I love you,’ he said. ‘I am the best that England has to offer. I am clever, educated and titled. I want more than the best of England at my side. I want the best of China.’
Grace stared at the Duke while Lucy silently willed her sister to say yes. Take the man who so obviously loved her. Instead, her dazed sister shook her head.
‘But I am not the best of anything.’
‘You are beautiful and clever,’ the Duke said. And then he sank down to one knee before her as he continued listing things about Grace that Lucy thought no one but her understood. But clearly, he did. And still her sister did not react. The woman was stunned into silence and Lucy was ready to shake the silly woman into saying yes!
But then a commotion caught her attention. It was Cedric, of course, pushing his mother aside as he burst into the conversation.
‘Have you lost your mind?’ Cedric roared. ‘You can’t marry her any more than I can!’
Lucy flinched at the roar. The awful thing was that she wasn’t even surprised. She’d seen that Cedric was drowning. And she knew that he thought Grace was his last hope. But the Duke was taking Grace away, so Cedric had to fight. He had to clutch at her in any way possible.
But that didn’t mean she was going to allow it. Cedric was not going to take away her sister’s chance at happiness.
Fortunately, she didn’t need to interfere. The Duke didn’t even glance at his cousin. His attention was focused completely on Grace. ‘Cousin, you are a boor.’
‘She’s a liar and a thief.’
That was too much for Lucy. Damn it, why had she stood quiet these past weeks? She should have stopped him ages ago. She shoved past the onlookers, her blood hot. Of course, Grace was a liar and a thief. They were orphans who had done whatever they could to survive.
‘Not here,’ Lucy cried. ‘Not in England,’ but no one was listening to her. Certainly not Cedric who was saying everything and anything to end his cousin’s proposal.
‘She’s not really Lord Wenshire’s daughter. She is not his child!’
How dare he say that! He’d sworn to never reveal it and now he’d just bellowed it out to the world. The one secret that could destroy everything for her and Grace.
Lucy slapped him as hard as she could. She didn’t even remember crossing the room to his side, but the pain in her hand and the bright red on his cheek told the tale.
‘I didn’t think you could stoop any lower,’ she hissed. ‘And to think I once thought you clever. Safe, clever and kind.’ She shook her head. ‘You have fooled me just as your father fooled your mother.’ She saw it all so clearly now. Hadn’t he said that his mother had the large dowry? That his father swept her off her feet only to squander away the money on gambling? Any woman who married Cedric would end up as bitter as the countess and living off the charity of the nearest relation. ‘You are a villain!’
She didn’t know which of her words broke him out of his bitterness. She saw his eyes widen as he pressed a hand to his cheek. And then—just like in Hyde Park—he looked around, saw the audience and realised the disaster he had created.
‘Lucy,’ he gasped. ‘I didn’t mean—’
The Duke didn’t let him finish. ‘Step away, Cedric. Or I swear to God I will put you into the ground!’
The two men squared off, exchanging words that echoed in the room. Lucy didn’t care. Let him be beaten to a bloody pulp. Her gaze went to her sister, but Grace’s eyes had shifted somewhere else. She was looking at her father, an apology in her eyes.
And what was their father doing? He was barreling forwards, leading with his cane. Everyone jumped away or received a hard blow. And that included the two cousins. ‘Stop it!’ he bellowed. ‘Good God, I am ashamed to be English!’
Lucy watched him, her heart in her throat. She knew he was taking his anger out on Cedric and the Duke, but what would he do with them? Would he still care for the daughters who were liars? Who weren’t actually the blood kin they claimed to be?
Cedric and the Duke both fell back. And then, Mr. Richards turned to his daughters. Unable to wait for his reaction, Grace stepped forwards, her expression stricken.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said.
Lucy was on her heels. ‘We didn’t mean to lie.’
‘I didn’t speak English. I didn’t realise why you had chosen me. I didn’t know what you believed,’ Grace continued with Lucy agreeing with every word.
‘Hush…hush, child,’ their father said as he set his cane on the floor. ‘Girls, I knew the truth from the beginning. The woman I loved and our child died years before. I knew that long before I sent word to the temple.’
Lucy’s hands clasped tight before her. ‘You knew?’ she whispered.