The Duke Conspiracy (17 page)

Anne nodded her serious agreement. “I agree
with you, Miss Smythe, but the advantages far outweigh the
disadvantages. And my father would be so pleased. It seems to be
very important to him. And I cannot say that I particularly object.
The duke would, I mean will, make a very fine husband, to be
sure.”

Rose, hoping for further revelations, decided
not to argue any further. “To be sure,” she agreed with unfeigned
enthusiasm. Alex
would
make an excellent husband for
someone, just not her or Lady Anne, Rose thought with restlessness
stirring.

“I must say, I find your plan rather
intriguing,” Elizabeth said. “Perhaps I could use it for myself. I
do not cherish the thought of enduring any more Seasons. I would
like to get on with my life without being in the Marriage Mart for
another year. Do you not agree, my dear Rose? You do not have too
long to spend on the shelf either.”

Rose felt her lips twist into a wry smile.
Elizabeth was using truth to disguise their deception. “'Tis true,”
Rose agreed. “My mother assures me that I absolutely must find a
mate shortly or I will remain a spinster, and my family will never
allow me to set up my own establishment, so I will be confined to
being a drain on my brother for the rest of my days. I can assure
you that I have no wish to be an unwanted guest in my childhood
home. So yes, my dear Lady Anne, I beg of you to share with us a
few bits of wisdom as to how we too can ensure we get the groom of
our choice. And then perhaps we can figure out together who
Elizabeth and I should choose.”

These must have been exactly the right words.
Anne giggled girlishly and launched into her instructions. “You
have to be absolutely certain of your choice before you launch your
plan because my father has assured me there is no going back once
you begin. It is really quite simple. You lure your intended into a
sense of security with you, then arrange to be found alone with
him, preferably looking compromised, by someone who can enforce the
situation, like a parent or brother. In my case, my father will
happily play that role.”

“Have you thought of what you would do if the
gentleman refuses, especially if he does realize it has been a
trap?” Rose could not help but ask.

“No true gentleman will refuse— my father has
been adamantly clear on that particular subject.”

Rose felt her stomach turn with disgust over
such underhanded dealings. Hoping it was not written on her
features, she carried on. “That seems to be simple enough. Now,
though, comes the tricky part. I have not found anyone that
particularly strikes my fancy. Do either of you have any
suggestions? Or do you have any candidates for yourself,
Elizabeth?”

Elizabeth was playing her part remarkably
well. She giggled as she said, “This is prodigiously entertaining,
I must say. I shall have to think hard on the matter. There are so
many possibilities. But you are quite correct, Lady Anne, one must
be absolutely certain of one's choice before setting such a plan in
motion.” She paused for a moment feigning deep thought over her
possible choices. “Tell us, please, Lady Anne, I beg of you, how
you could be so certain in your choice. What made the duke so much
more appealing than the viscount? Is it merely the more elevated
title? Or did you perhaps become privy to know the actual status of
their funds? I have heard that Edgecombe is very comfortably
heeled, so I would not see that as a particular factor.”

“You are correct, it was not an easy choice.
Those factors do all play into it, of course, but the fact is, my
father helped me decide. Like I said, my preferences had been
leaning in a different direction originally but my father was quite
insistent that the duke was a better choice for me.”

“That is interesting. I do not think I would
be comfortable discussing this strategy with my parents.” There was
so much truth in what Rose was saying she did not have to force her
reluctant tone. “I cannot think of anyone other than you two ladies
with whom I could discuss my options. Do you know what factors your
father used to help him decide who would be best for you?”

Rose encountered Elizabeth's gaze and had to
fight to control her satisfied smile as she saw the admiring look
in her friend's eye. Elizabeth was clearly impressed with that last
line of questioning. Rose only hoped it would provide some sort of
enlightenment from Anne.

“He said he had received excellent advice
from his friend, Sir Jason Broderick, about the circumstances of
all the eligible gentlemen when we first arrived in London. My
father said it was his estimation that the Duke of Wrentham was my
best choice. Since I trust my father and had not truly formed any
deep attachments, I was happy to go along with his choice.”

“I see, so he did not really tell you the
reasons. That is really not of much help to either of us, sadly,”
Rose complained.

“I do believe some of the things that swayed
my father have something to do with the duke's acquaintances. My
father likes to talk about connections. It seems to be very
important. I do not understand it really, but there you have it.
The best advice I can give you, according to my father, is to find
a man with good connections to marry.”

Rose did not fully understand either, but
thought she might know much more on that subject than the other two
ladies. She did not want to reveal her knowledge so she feigned
ignorance. “Connections. I see, like a good family, right? I can
see that that might be a good thing to look for. Lord Dunbar comes
from a large extended family, perhaps he might be a good match for
one of us.” She looked at Elizabeth and grinned.

Elizabeth joined in with the fun. “I think
the Viscount of Rothsay also has many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
And he is quite handsome, and rumored to be outrageously
wealthy.”

“I can see that there are many options. I
shall have to think on the matter a little longer before I can set
any plan in motion,” Rose concluded before asking one more
pertinent question. “Have you already set your plan in motion, my
lady? Are you in need of any assistance from us?”

Anne smiled with genuine appreciation at
Rose's offer, making her wish she could bite off her tongue. “That
is so kind of you, Miss Smythe, thank you for the offer. I will
keep it in mind. I do not think I am quite ready to set it in
motion yet. The duke has not asked me to dance at the last couple
of balls we have attended, so I do not think he is going to
cooperate with my plans just yet. I need to get him a bit more
comfortable with me before I can do anything else.”

“That would make sense,” Rose concluded,
hoping her relief was not too evident.

After that, Elizabeth must have concluded
they had asked all they could as she steered the conversation into
more acceptable avenues. Before long Lady Anne stood to take her
leave.

When the door had closed behind her,
Elizabeth looked at Rose and burst into raucous laughter. “Oh my,
what have we gotten ourselves involved in?”

“It is exactly what we had feared, so I do
not understand your question,” Rose replied, puzzled.

“This is just so ridiculous, if you ask me.
Can you picture our fathers sitting down together to discuss which
gentleman would be the best one to trick into marrying one of us?
It just is not done. This leads me to wonder how Sir Broderick is
involved in all this.”

Rose did not wish to divulge what she knew
about the knight so she feigned ignorance. “Perhaps Wrentham will
have discovered some plot from him and will be able to enlighten
us.” She then rose to take her leave. “I should probably be on my
way, the hour grows late and we still have to make our preparations
for the evening's affairs. Which invitations have you accepted for
tonight?”

“My mother and I are going to a poetry
reading at the Duke of Yorkshire's home.”

“Really? That sounds interesting. I do not
think we received an invitation to that.” Rose was sorry they would
not be at the same events.

“I believe it is to be a small event.”

“I hope it is not dull for you. I shall be
dancing until the wee hours of the morning at the Rotherham ball
tonight. It should prove to be enjoyable.”

“Will you be able to call on me tomorrow to
let me know how your meeting goes with Wrentham in the morning?”
Elizabeth had not forgotten the more scandalous part of the entire
situation.

Rose grinned. “I will do my best,” she
promised as she took her leave.

****

That night at the ball she again whirled from
partner to partner, enjoying each set to the utmost. She was a
little discomfited by encountering the gentlemen they had been
discussing that afternoon. She amused herself asking the Viscount
of Rothsay about his family.

“I have heard your parents both come from
large families. Do you enjoy having so many aunts, uncles, and
cousins, my lord?”

“I do not give it much thought, Miss Smythe,
as it has been a fact of my entire life.”

“I suppose that makes sense, my lord. I
merely asked because I do not have much extended family to speak
of. Neither of my parents have either of their parents still alive.
My father was an only child and my mother only had one sister.”

“That strikes me as being rather sad,
Miss.”

“Yes, it does me too,” Rose agreed, wrinkling
her brow with perplexity. “I never gave it much thought, but I can
see that life would never be lonely if one had grown up with a
plethora of cousins.”

“It was certainly never lonely, nor was it
quiet,” the viscount agreed with a smile.

Rose could not quite suppress her melancholic
sigh. “It must have been quite lovely. Do you remain close with all
those family members?”

Lord Rothsay smiled. “I am, actually. It does
make holidays so very chaotic, but it is what I am used to. I think
it would be difficult to grow accustomed to for someone unused to
the crowds.”

Rose wondered if there was an unspoken
message in there for her. She was looking at the viscount with
interest but then felt that familiar prickle along the back of her
neck and knew the duke was present. There would be no more thoughts
of potential mates for her until this affair was safely settled.
She was relieved when the set came to an end.

The viscount exchanged small talk with her
until another gentleman came to request her hand for the next set.
Rose was amused to see that it was Lord Anthony Edgecombe.
Am
I to partner with every nobleman
we
discussed this afternoon
?
she wondered with strange
curiosity.

“You look like you are having a fine time
this evening, Miss Smythe,” Lord Edgecombe began.

“I am, actually. Thank you, my lord. I had
not thought I would ever enjoy the Season, but it is turning out to
be remarkably amusing.”

“You did not think to enjoy the Season,
Miss?” he repeated with surprise. “I thought every young lady pined
for the day she could make her debut.”

“When I was a young girl, perhaps I did, my
lord. And I will admit that I was not dreading the experience at
all. But my first impression of a London Season was not all that
favorable. Now that I have begun to make friends, it is an entirely
different matter.”

“Then I am relieved for your sake, my
lady.”

“I was just discussing with Lord Rothsay his
large family. Do you have many relatives yourself, my lord?”

Lord Edgecombe cast her a skeptical look,
which caused Rose to feel the color rising in her cheeks. “Of
course, my lord, I am well aware of your family such as your
father, the Earl of Trent, I just meant…” At this she trailed off
in confusion and embarrassment.

Anthony appeared to be uncertain as to why
she was asking about this but he seemed to find her confusion
perfectly charming. He chuckled. “Have no fear, my lady, I think I
understand. You mean to ask how much of my family I am actually
close with, do you not?”

Rose, still blushing, was unsure if that was
exactly what she meant but nodded anyway.

Lord Anthony still grinned as he continued,
“I do have many relatives but we were not an overly close family
when I was a youngster. My mother died when I was a boy and then my
father remarried. My brothers and sisters are much younger than me.
It is difficult to be close to them when they are away at school
most of the time and I am in London much of the year.”

“I am so sorry about your mother. That must
have been so difficult. Losing my brother was hard enough; I cannot
imagine losing a parent at a young age.” Rose's soft heart went out
to him and it stirred up her own grief. Her eyes brimmed with
tears.

“Oh no, my lady, I beg of you. It just will
not do for you to cry at the Rotherham ball. I shall never receive
another invitation if it becomes known that I made someone weep.”
Anthony looked so distressed that it brought a watery chuckle to
Rose's lips.

“No, no, my lord, have no fear, I shall not
weep, I promise you.” Rose managed to muster her composure quite
quickly, a fact for which she was very proud of herself.

Rose could see that the viscount was
reluctant to discuss the matter further, but he kindly asked, “Your
grief is still very fresh, is it not?”

“It is,” Rose admitted. “It has been three
years, but no one ever wants to talk about him with me so it feels
rather raw. My parents especially cannot bear to even hear his name
mentioned. And my other brother is away so I hardly ever see him
and of course, I cannot discuss Luke with him.” Rose could feel her
lip quiver so she gave a little laugh to disguise it.

Anthony looked at her with knowing eyes but
forbore to comment. Rose was relieved when she noticed that the set
was nearly over. She spied Lady Anne in the crowd surrounding the
dance floor.