“No.”
“Papa, please. If you would meet with him again, you would see what a kind, sensitive, and amiable gentleman he is—”
“Mr. Atwood’s only prospect is a distant baronetcy with little income to support a family. When you marry Lord Vale, you will be a countess,” he said forcefully.
Adel was too stunned to point out that he was only a baronet. In desperation she gripped his fingers. “Papa, if you do not agree on Mr. Atwood. At least give me a few more months to secure another suitor. If I’ve no offer by the year end I will…I will marry your choice.” She almost choked on the words.
“You had a late coming out because of your mother’s passing. I regret that deeply for I feel with her guidance you would have garnered an attractive offer. You’ve attended three seasons and no man wants you with the small dowry I can provide. Five hundred pounds is not enough to tempt any man.”
She flinched and released his arm. She heard what he had not said. Her dark, unfashionable hair, too-rounded hips and bosom did not tempt a man, either, nor the fact that she could read and write in several languages, and cipher.
“You are not to partake in any dances with Mr. Atwood or partner him in any of the parlor and outdoor games. Lord Vale will announce at tomorrow’s ball the news of your engagement, and it would not do for his fiancée to make a hash of things by being silly with another man.”
“Papa—”
“Do you understand me, young lady?”
She pressed a finger to her forehead, and it did nothing to stop the sudden ache pounding through her temple. “Papa, society will speculate on the sudden engagement. He has not been seen escorting me in the country or in London. As far as society knows, we have not been introduced. It is best the earl courts me for several months before there can be talks of an engagement.” Her stomach tightened in knots at the very idea of being in the earl’s presence, but she must do something to discourage her father. Then she would have at least some weeks to figure out how to extricate herself from the earl’s grasping and lascivious clutches if her scheme tonight failed.
“I’ve already given Lord Vale my blessings. It would be dishonorable of me to importune him to change his mind because of your feminine nerves. I expect your obedience or you will gain my severe displeasure.”
Severe displeasure? “And I fear you have lost my good opinion,” she said hoarsely, fighting the urge to cry. “You are supposed to protect me, Papa.”
“I am protecting you,” he said stiffly. “I am doing all in my power to secure your future since you have little thought for it or for your sisters’ and brothers’ future. A connection with the earl will go a long way toward establishing their prospects.”
Of course, my life is not my own. “Mamma would never have pledged me to man who has no respect or affection for me.”
He blanched, but she turned away, and hastened into the night.
She could no longer afford to possess the doubts she had in her heart. She had to act, and it must be tonight.
Chapter Two
“It’s the mad duke.”
The ton was nothing if not predictable. The lone whisper was the indication the rest of the throng needed to take it upon themselves to revisit his past.
“He confessed to his good friend, the Marquess of Westfall, that he killed his wife. It was the talk of the town a few years past.”
Edmond Elias Rochester, the Duke of Wolverton, ignored the gossip that erupted in his wake and moved with purpose toward the corridor that would lead him to the Gladstone library. The ton normally watched him like a hawk, searching for a reaction whenever they whispered too loudly of his supposed insanity. Would he lash out and prove his affliction? They were sorely disappointed every time.
“He lost his heir as well.”
A too-loud gasp sounded.
Though he ensured his countenance was cold and uninterested, their words were like a dagger to his heart. He had certainly been responsible for the death of his wife and son. The guilt and pain was always waiting to strike, reminding him that he had no right to peace or happiness. It was a pain he lived with every day, and it was this rabid interest and speculation in his life that had seen him largely shunning society for the few years since their deaths.
He’d only ever traveled to London for the opening of parliament when he had been careful to avoid the balls and entertainments of the season. He had little interest in such affairs. House parties, in particular, struck him as tedious, even though his experience of them was limited. His sole purpose tonight for being at the Gladstone country home was to finalize some settlement negotiations. When not rubbing reluctant elbows with the bon ton, Edmond was fairly content to bury himself at his estate in Hampshire with his daughters.