A Duchess a Day (Awakened by a Kiss #1) - Charis Michaels Page 0,59

God’s sake.

“Philanthropy?” whispered Miss Keep. “Oh, please, please do consider me. I am grateful for my place in this clinic, truly I am, but I can only learn so much from my uncle. He does not teach me so much as demonstrate, anything more I must look up on my own. If I had a benefactress, I could hire proper instructors. Perhaps I could buy my way into a teaching hospital. If I had the sponsorship of a duke, I could realize my dream of making a place for female doctors at hospitals.”

She sounded breathless. Her cheeks were flushed. She set down her cup with a clatter and used her hands for emphasis. Helena’s heart began to beat faster. Perhaps she would suit.

“Does this sound like the type of work,” Miss Keep asked, palms up, fingers wide, “that your future husband would be interested in supporting?”

“Ah . . .” hedged Helena. “Actually, I am wondering if you would not have more access to the money and influence if you were a duchess yourself?” A nervous laugh.

“I beg your pardon?” Miss Keep’s face twisted with confusion. “How would I become a duchess? My father is a gentleman but our family does not keep company with any dukes. I refused my own Season because I’m a failure at socializing. I’ve never even made the acquaintance of a duke.”

Helena replaced her cup. “Well, Miss Keep, that is the heart of the reason I’ve come.”

And then she told her. It took five minutes. She rattled it all off, barely drawing breath. Miss Keep watched her with wide, disbelieving eyes.

When she was finished, both Helena and Miss Keep slumped in their chairs, staring at a diagram of the human ear. Helena’s mind spun— What if?

Miss Keep looked as if she’d experienced Helena’s fake intestinal distress.

“You’re certain you understand?” Helena asked. “Lusk is terrible. Harmless but terrible. His uncle is also terrible, but less harmless. Even so, as the Duchess of Lusk, you could appeal to the duke and his uncle for tens of thousands of pounds to buy whatever instruction you wished. You could use your standing to pursue privileges for women doctors at hospitals. If you could tolerate Lusk—and that is a very considerable ‘if.’

“Girdleston will not live forever,” Helena added, “and it is my great hope that, one day, Lusk will . . . will grow up.”

She looked at Miss Keep and made a face. “But I cannot guarantee it.”

“I am not afraid of either of these men,” Miss Keep proclaimed. “I never intended to marry, so a husband who pursues his own diversions sounds inconsequential to me. If the arrangement comes with money and influence and I may enjoy the freedom to study.”

She got up from her chair and walked to her desk. “But what I don’t know is if I can win him over. If he is as you describe.”

“He is,” Helena said on a sigh, but she was thinking, She cannot. And is it fair of me to encourage her to try?

For better or for worse, Helena pressed on. “It’s only the initial attraction that you would need to get perfectly right. For this, you would need to enchant him, in a way. And quickly—in fact, you’d have to make a very strong first impression in one afternoon. There’s a party at Lusk House next week, and I’ll invite all of the potential duchesses there to . . . in a manner . . . beguile him.”

“Other women?”

“I know, it sounds arcane—it is a little arcane—but I’ve had to cast a wide net, and to do so quickly. My plan is to bring all the potential duchesses together at this event. Whichever girl seems to spark his interest would have a fortnight to further ensnare him. He must throw me over before the wedding in January. It’s all very dire, I’m afraid. But someone will be the Duchess of Lusk in the end—only, it cannot be me.”

“Oh,” said Miss Keep, looking overwhelmed.

“Look, Miss Keep, you are very beautiful, but do you think you could flirt? Could you cozen up and appeal to him and . . . bewitch him for a time?”

“If it meant my hospital, I could try,” she said, but she sounded very uncertain. She sounded like a bold child accepting a dare.

Helena slumped lower in her seat.

After a moment, Miss Keep said, “But what do you mean by the notion of flirting?”

Helena opened her mouth to answer but before she could, Declan rolled off the wall and