getting somewhere. Two months and I will fund the extra workers required to assist the modiste in preparing your trousseau.”
Alice was becoming frantic. It was a mistake and put her at a disadvantage, but she felt that she was being trapped by her own scheme.
“Four months, Grandmama. Please, I need at least that amount of time to adjust to my impending doom…I mean marriage. Please, grant me this one consolation. I have no say in any other aspect of the matter.”
Her grandmother tilted her head, pretending to consider Alice’s later offer. The suspense was sheer torture, but Alice maintained her pleading look, even clasping her hands together as if in prayer.
“Three months. That is my final offer. Accept it or I will request the duke to obtain a special license and marry you within a sennight.”
Alice released the breath that she didn’t realize she had been holding. No wonder she had been getting light-headed! She feared that she had been on the verge of fainting for the first time in her life!
Glancing at her father, she saw him nod in acceptance. Without further hesitation, she put her hand out to her grandmother. “Deal! Shall we shake on it?”
“Pfft. Shake on it indeed. Such an archaic American gesture. Fine.” She took Alice’s hand in hers. “Three months from this day, you will become the Duchess of Lovelton.”
Chapter Two
The Duke of Lovelton stormed into his study, slamming the door behind him. He glanced at the servant dusting the mantle of the fireplace who seemed totally unperturbed by his outburst.
He walked to the tray with a bottle of his preferred scotch and several glasses arranged around it. He poured a healthy amount into one of the crystal tumblers, thought a moment, then dumped some more in.
Glass in hand, he walked behind his desk and drained its contents in one swallow. Dropping to his chair, he slammed the glass on his desk. In a deceptively quiet voice, he growled. “Why? Just tell me why. I may just kill you quickly rather than slowly strangling you to death with my bare hands.”
The servant chuckled and walked over to his scotch. Pouring herself a generous portion, she walked over and daintily sat in the chair opposite him. She took a delicate sip and smiled. “Mm, nice and smooth. Superior quality. You have excellent taste, Colton.”
“Start talking, Clara, or I will not be responsible for my actions!” This time the duke roared.
“Calm down, darling. You do not want to alarm the staff. It just would not do!” Clara laughed and took another sip.
Colton ground his teeth. This woman was going to be the death of him yet. He stood up and went for another drink. He was going to need it to get through this meeting. Lifting the bottle to pour, he reconsidered. He put the glass down and took the bottle back to his desk with him. Turning up the bottle, he took a few chugs. When Clara opened her mouth to speak, he held up his hand. “Let this kick in first.”
She closed her mouth, and they sat drinking companionably for a few minutes. When the alcohol started registering in his system, Colton spoke slowly. “Start talking, Clara. Tell me what possessed you to risk your death by my hand to spread rumors. And you had better make it good and very, very believable.”
Clara placed her glass on his desk and smiled. “You needed a wife.”
Through clenched teeth, he said, “You started a scandal and involved an innocent all because you think I need a wife!”
“No, that was a statement. Not an explanation. The explanation is going to require another one of these.” She lifted her glass and tilted it from side to side.
Leaning forward, Colton tipped the bottle until the glass was completely full. Placing the bottle back on his desk, he waited until she took a sip. Making sure he had her undivided attention, he demanded. “Last chance, Clara, or so help me…”
“Calm down, Colton. I did not do it for amusement. We were seen.”
“Seen? By whom? How the hell did we go from you and I being seen to me being engaged to a woman I have never laid eyes on in my life?”
Clara sighed. “It is all your fault, you big oaf. If you had just waited until I could arrange a more clandestine location to meet, Miss Corrine Davidson would not have seen me leave Lord Ballentine’s study with you on my heels. You should be grateful she’s nearsighted and couldn’t clearly make out my features. Oh, but you! No, she swears there was no mistaking your identity! I had just left Lord Hensley. Another few minutes would not have killed you!”
She took another sip and leaned back in her chair. “Imagine my surprise when she sat in my salon, telling me in front of several matrons of her discovery and how the woman looked remarkably like me!” She fluttered her hand. “I had to think quickly before she said anything further, so I laughed, buying some time. Then it came to me! I had seen the lovely Miss Alice Whiteshead earlier that evening wearing a gown very similar to mine and the exact same color. Her hair is even nearly the same shade as mine!
“So I jumped right in and said, ‘It looks like Alice Whiteshead is up to her old tricks. Here she is, back from that barbaric country and was already trying to sink her claws into the most eligible bachelor of the ton!’ Why, every woman in the room was sitting on the edge of her seat!
“Now, Corrine was a little more difficult to convince. Apparently, she is still too young to remember the circumstances under which Miss Whiteshead was forced to leave seven years ago. But the ladies were happy to enlighten her.
“So, there, you see? Our meeting still remains unexposed, you have a lovely fiancé, the lonely spinster fresh off the ship has finally had an offer, and the war office is grateful for the information I was able to provide. Everyone is happy!” She put her glass down and clapped her hands.
Colton leveled a look at her. “Let us break this down, shall we? We were seen, it was brought to your attention, you accused an innocent woman, thereby ruining her in the eyes of the ton. I now find myself engaged when a wife is the very last thing I need. A woman who has been content in her spinsterhood is being forced to wed a man she has never met. The war secretary cannot confirm the information you obtained by means he finds distasteful. And you believe everyone is happy?”
Colton slapped his hand on his desk. “Why, by all means, this calls for a celebration! I think we should start the festivities by tossing you off the third floor balcony. That should excite the masses!”
Clara sighed. “You are being overly dramatic, dear. Do try to follow my logic. I could have engaged you to Priscilla Prescott.” She shuddered. “Had I been that cruel, I would have voluntarily jumped from the third floor balcony. I would not have been able to live with myself.”
Picking her glass back up and taking a sip, she continued, “Just because the secretary does not approve of my means does not make the information any less credible. He only needs to casually request a review of Tiger Eyes captain’s log and he will be quite pleased, and grateful, for my assistance.
“And, dear, you absolutely do need a wife! There have been too many endeavors as of late by this year’s batch of so-called innocents to seduce you or make it appear as if you have compromised them, all in attempt to force you to do the honorable thing and ask for their hand. Why do you think Corrine was in just the perfect vantage point to witness my exit? Because
