His eyes flashed. “I do rather like raspberries, you know. They are delicious to taste.”
Elinor thought she might not survive the night.
“May I ask why you were late?” She needed anything to nudge the conversation away from his flirtation.
The duke paused, then answered in a lower voice, “I was at Fielding House, overseeing one of the bedroom renovations. Some materials arrived in a less than adequate condition.”
She nodded, thinking again of that question she kept returning to. Perhaps he could be both the charming rake and the manwho fixed staircases for orphaned children, but the quick shifts between his personalities made him hard to predict.
“I still wish to know more about these passions of yours,” he told her. “People are baffled by you, Lady Elinor.”
“I am aware,” she admitted. “I am the spectacled lady who knows too much about topics designed for men, yet I love them and wish to speak openly. People do not seem to like that.”
“Because it intimidates them.”
“But not you.”
“Not me.”
The song drew to a close, and Elinor found that her heart rate had still not calmed. She curtsied as he bowed, half expecting him to excuse himself. Instead, the Duke kept hold of her hand and guided her through the ballroom.
“I must speak with your stepmother,” he said, and Elinor’s heart dropped, for there was only one reason a suitor asked to directly approach the parents of a lady he was already courting.
This is part of the plan,she reminded herself.You knew this would happen. Just not so quickly.
They reached Lady Morland, whose smile was thin but polite enough not to betray her displeasure. The duke smiled warmly.
“Lady Morland, it is wonderful to see you again.”
“Likewise, Your Grace. I had rather worried Lady Elinor had scared you off.”
The duke laughed, shaking his head. “A bold statement, Lady Morland.” A subtle reminder of his authority, and that he would not stand for the slights against Elinor. “In fact, it is quite the opposite. I have found myself head over heels for your stepdaughter. It is not something I have ever felt before.”
Something heavier lived in that confession, something more honest than his usual tone, and Elinor did not know what to do with it.
“Oh?” Lady Morland blinked. “Oh, well, that is … good news.” Her eyes cut to Elinor with a displeased narrowing.
“It is,” the duke affirmed. “And because it is not something I have ever felt before, I know when something isright.I am a man who knows what I want in life, and I do not intend to waste Lady Elinor’s time. I wish to marry her.”
Elinor’s heart slammed down to her feet. Her stepmother’s face paled.
“I can only profusely apologize that I cannot ask Lord Morland, as it proper,” the duke continued, “but I know I cannot disturb his rest and healing, yet I also cannot wait a moment longer. I will send a letter to him, of course, but I wish to make my intentions known tonight.”
The sound of something shattering reached Elinor’s ears. Too faint, yet too loud, somehow both at once. A sting hit her foot beneath her gown.
Her stepmother had dropped her glass.
Chapter Nine
“You … you wish to marry my stepdaughter. You wish to marry Lady Elinor?”
The question came from Elinor’s stepmother in an aghast whisper, a shocked doubt.
“Yes,” the duke answered simply. “I do.”
“As inLady Elinor? And not … not my true daughter, Lady Bel?—”
“It is Lady Elinor I have expressed my interest in. Repeatedly,” the duke cut her off smoothly, and Elinor’s stomach clenched. “I wish to marry Lady Elinor, and to be engaged as soon as possible.”