The Unexpected Duchess(96)
As soon as the door closed behind them, Lucy sank to the sofa. Shaking, she dropped her head into her hands. Derek crossed over to her and sat next to her. He pulled her tight against him. “It’s an idle threat. She’s angry, that’s all.”
Lucy tugged herself out of his arms and looked at him. “No, Derek, you don’t understand. The queen, she … She doesn’t approve of me. She won’t approve of me. Why didn’t I think of this before? It will never work.”
A thunderous expression moved across his face. “What do you mean?”
“The queen won’t say yes. I know it.”
“There’s no guarantee Lady Moreland will even bring it to her attention. She was probably only bluffing.”
Lucy shook her head. “You don’t think the queen will notice when one of her dukes marries?”
“I don’t give a damn what the queen thinks. We can get a special license and be married before anyone can object.”
She put a hand on his sleeve. “Is what Lady Moreland said true? Is it a condition of your investiture that the Crown approve of your wife?”
He swore under his breath. “Yes.”
Lucy squeezed her eyes closed. “They won’t accept me.”
“That makes no sense. You’re the daughter of an earl.”
“The unwanted daughter of an earl who disgraced herself at her come-out. There’s more than one reason I’ve remained unmarried all these years, Derek.”
He scrubbed both hands through his hair. “Your debut was five years ago. Not to mention we’ve already—”
She looked away, couldn’t face him. “I trust you won’t tell anyone about that. And you must ask Hughes to be discreet as well.”
“Damn it, Lucy, of course I won’t tell anyone, and Hughes will be out on the street if he dares breathe a word about it, but—”
Her head snapped back to face him. “You don’t understand the ways of the ton as I do, Derek.”
“I don’t care about the bloody ton,” he growled.
Lucy searched his face. “You say you don’t care, but what if you were forced to give up your title?”
He grabbed her by the upper arms and stared into her eyes, his words coming through clenched teeth. “It won’t come to that. Say yes. Marry me, Lucy.”
Lucy pulled away from him, stood, and crossed over to the door. She placed her hand on the cool brass handle and faced the dark wood. “I cannot say yes to you, Derek. Not knowing it may cost you everything you’ve earned. My answer is no.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
A summons from Queen Charlotte. No matter how many times Lucy stared at the odious bit of costly vellum, wishing it to perdition, it lurked on the edge of the writing desk, haunting her.
The queen, the prince regent’s mother, had been the bane of Lucy’s young life five years ago. She and her mother had gathered the requisite fripperies and frills: huge old-fashioned hooped skirts, feathered headdresses, and high-heeled boots with too many ribbons to trip over. They had dutifully trotted to the palace to make Lucy’s requisite debut in the queen’s chambers. It was the one time Lucy could remember her mother paying the slightest bit of attention to her since before Ralph died. And Lucy had tried, truly. As hard as she could. But Mother wanted her to pretend to be someone she was not. Someone like … Cass. And Lucy had failed, again. She would never be a son. She was an inadequate daughter.
They’d traveled to the palace that day, only to be escorted out after Lucy’s antics had garnered the censure of the queen and the derision of the princesses. Lucy had never been so glad to leave a place in all her life. The only good thing was that she’d never have to return.
Never, that was, until Her Majesty summoned her.
It seemed Lady Moreland had made good on her threat to bring the nation’s newest duke’s marital plans to the attention of her monarch. Because Derek had been granted his title with stipulations, without Their Majesties’ approval, he could not marry. It was unthinkable but it was true. The royal approval must be had. And Derek had chosen the most unsuitable candidate in Society. Her.
Never in her life had Lucy wished more that she was respectable and proper and knew how to do and say the right things. But the queen already hated her. If she remembered her, that is, and how could she not? A young lady who started a scandal in the chambers? One who essentially had a tantrum and didn’t show her sovereign the proper respect? An abomination. Yes, that was her. Lady Lucy Upton, abomination.
And she’d already made the biggest mistake of them all. When she’d spent the night with Derek, it had never occurred to her that Lady Moreland might try to upend her marriage plans, but it seemed Cass’s mother was so thwarted in her dreams for her daughter, she was set on revenge no matter the cost.