Page 6 of The Duchess’ Second Chance

“But no one did ask you,” the duke said. “Be on your way, sir.”

And, incredibly, Lord Oakwell left. He tossed one sour look over his shoulder at Amanda, and then he disappeared through the same door they’d come in.

Amanda, her father, and the duke were left standing alone in the little room.

Lord Stapleton cleared his throat. “Your Grace,” he said, “if you’ll forgive me…you have taken quite some time to show yourself here. I suppose you won’t mind me saying that’s made things difficult for us. If I had known someone intended to marry her, it would have saved me a lot of worry…and a lot of money.”

The duke’s eyes narrowed. “Are you about to ask me for money, Lord Stapleton?”

“Well…” Amanda’s father stammered. “I do think…that is…you did put us through an awful lot of trouble, Your Grace. I think that you might have found a way to at least send a letter, to let us know that someone was coming for her, if nothing else…”

The duke regarded him for a moment, then turned back to Amanda. “I came here to speak to you,” he said quietly. “You are the only one from whom I require an answer, Lady Amanda. So I ask you now—will you accept my proposal, as George wished, and become my wife?”

“You’d permit me to say no?”

He seemed surprised. “What choice would I have in the matter? If you said no, that would be the answer. I have no power to force you.”

It was true, of course, but after hearing the way Lord Oakwell had just been speaking, it felt rare to stand before a man who could admit that she had a mind of her own. “There’s just one thing I must ask,” she said. “One thing I must…require. If you are able to grant me this, I will accept your proposal.”

“Name it, then.”

“There’s a child,” she said. “An orphan. But I’ve taken her in, and I care for her as if she was my own. She comes with me. If you are willing to open your home and your life to the both of us, then my answer is yes, and we can marry as soon as arrangements can be made.” A thrill passed through her at the knowledge that she had the power to make this arrangement for herself, that she didn’t need to rely on her father. He couldn’t stop her. “But if you can’t accept the child, then my answer is no.”

“Is there anything else?”

“The money,” her father hissed in her ear.

“No,” she said, ignoring him. “There is nothing else.”

“Very well,” the duke said. “I’m more than happy to accept both you and this child as my own, and to care for you and provide for you.”

She was stunned. He had said yes so easily. It was as if she had been carrying a stone of worry around with her, and now she could suddenly put it down. She felt weightless.

“I’ll see to getting us a special license,” the duke said. “And I’ll be back to speak to you about getting married within a matter of days.

And then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

CHAPTER 4

“You bungled that, Amanda,” her father said as they entered his house, his voice a low growl.

Amanda hardly registered his words at all. She was too startled by everything that had happened in the last hour to really take him in. She wasn’t married—not yet—but she would be. And to someone who had known George. A duke. Someone who had been George’s friend, and thus, might be hers.

“Are you listening to me, Amanda?”

She sighed and turned to face her father, who was staring at her, his eyes bugging out and his shoulders up around his ears. Why had she never realized until today how foolish he looked when he was angry? It was as though he might start jumping up and down and screaming.

“I’m listening to you,” she said, somewhat wearily.

“You should have tried to arrange for financial compensation! When I think of all the strife I went through waiting to see whether you were going to find an arrangement for yourself, and all the while there was someone out there…he should pay us for that! And you could have gotten him to do it, you must realize that. He would have agreed to anything you asked of him.”

“I don’t know why you’d say something like that.” She frowned.

“Because it was obvious,” her father snapped. “You saw him. You told him that you had a condition for marriage, and he accepted it at once. If he can accept a child, a whole child, then a bit of money would have been no trouble at all.”

“He didn’t seem to feel that way about it when you brought the subject up,” Amanda pointed out.

“Yes, well, I didn’t have anything to offer that he wanted. Frankly, I think he was ridiculously disrespectful of me considering that I am your father, but that isn’t the point. He wasn’t necessarily ready to give me anything I asked for, but you could have asked him for anything because he was so determined to be married to you. Don’t you see that?” Her father sighed. “You probably could have asked for any sum. After everything I’ve done for you…it seems the least you could have done. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that you don’t think of me.” He sighed. “You always were the sort to put yourself first.”