Her knees gave way and she sank heavily into her chair. Nic reached to take her hand, but she immediately stiffened and turned her face away, refusing to speak or look at him until he moved away. With a weary sigh Nic did so, sitting down opposite her and watching her profile.
“Why have you come to see me, Mother? What do you want?”
“I don’t want to hear any excuses,” she said in a low, wavering voice. “Not this time. This time, Dominic, you will do what is right. This time, you will marry Miss Monteith.”
Nic stood up and poured himself a drink. He took his time. The clink of the glass against the decanter, the gurgle of the liquid, the first sip, and the lingering taste on his tongue. He allowed himself to get over the shock of his mother’s words and the strange tingling joy that had filled him when she spoke them.
“Miss Monteith is a beautiful young woman from a respectable and wealthy family. She can have her pick of husbands, Mother. I am definitely not a suitable candidate.”
She stared at him with narrowed eyes. “You have ruined her, Dominic, that makes you a very suitable candidate.”
“I can’t marry her. Surely you can see that? The whole thing is complicated enough without making it worse.”
“You’re young, titled, and wealthy. Your blood-line goes back to the Norman conquest and you have a fine estate. What else could a woman want when she marries, especially when her own family are so much less distinguished than yours? I don’t pretend I didn’t hope for better…the daughter of a duke, perhaps, or even minor royalty.”
“Mother…”
“You think the past will be a stumbling block, Dominic, but you wouldn’t be the first man with a past to marry and make a new beginning.”
“The Monteiths will refuse permission. How can it be otherwise?”
“The benefits will outweigh the difficulties where her family are concerned. They would be very foolish indeed if they denied you permission to marry because of a long-ago scandal.”
“You make it sound inconsequential, Mother,” he groaned, shaking his head. “Olivia doesn’t know. What if she finds out? What if she couldn’t forgive me? I can’t take the risk.”
She looked at him, her dark eyes compelling. “What risk, Dominic? I don’t understand you. She will be gaining a fine name and a title, and a grand home. You will have a beautiful wife on your arm, and in time an heir. Why should that be a risk? What does it matter if she finds out, or what she thinks? You will have your roles to play in public, and I’m sure she will play hers no matter how she might feel behind closed doors. That is part of the marriage contract, and Miss Monteith has been brought up to keep her true feelings well hidden.”
“I agree that would be so if this was one of those cold and soulless marriages. A mating of convenience. But that’s not what I want. You loved my father. You often said yours was a love match. Why should I have anything less?”
Now when she looked at him she was really looking at him, properly, for the first time since his father died, and Nic wondered what she saw to make her mouth curl into a smile.
“Dominic, happiness in marriage is elusive. Who knows, you may find it. I did, and for that I consider myself more fortunate than many of my peers. But if you’re waiting for a love match, then you’re more of a fool than I thought you. People of our class and position cannot expect to marry for love. Imagine the chaos if we did? Every second duchess would be a parlor maid!”
Nic laughed. “And every second duke would be a groom. You are speaking of lust, Mother, not love.”
She waved her hand impatiently, as if the conversation was beginning to tire her. “Dominic, you know what you must do. What your father would tell you to do, if he were here. Marry Miss Monteith.”
She was right, of course she was. He would have to marry Olivia Monteith; even a rake accepted when something was inevitable. But the strange thing was, despite all his protests…
Nic didn’t mind at all.
Chapter 18
When Olivia arrived home she fell into her bed and slept through the night deeply and dreamlessly. She woke the next morning to find Estelle’s smiling face bending over her, the maid eager to hear all the details of her adventure.
“The ball, miss. Please tell me what was it like. Abbot has spoken of it but he never tells me the things I really want to know. What are the women like? Are they very beautiful?”
Olivia stretched and yawned. “Yes, well, most of them. I can understand why gentlemen want to go and look at them. I can understand why Nic wants to go.”
Estelle tilted her head to the side. “You’re not jealous, miss? I think, if it was me, I’d be jealous.”
Olivia smiled. “No, I’m not jealous, Estelle.”
How could she be jealous, after the way Nic had made love to her? He had shown her with every touch of his fingers and every brush of his lips that she was important and desirable to him. No, Olivia definitely wasn’t jealous.
“I’m glad everything went as you hoped,” Estelle said.
“Thank you for your help, Estelle,” Olivia replied. “I am very grateful for your kindness.”