When a Duke Loves a Governess (Unlikely Duchesses #3) - Olivia Drake Page 0,85
pretend I’m one of the Quality. I don’t wish it.”
He gave an incredulous laugh. “Not wish it? Tessa, you’ve acquired a very wealthy and powerful family connection. If Marbury wants to acknowledge you publicly, I’d strongly advise you to take his offer.”
“But I scarcely know the man. And the life he expects me to lead is not at all what I had planned for myself. You know that.”
“Becoming a shop owner can hardly compare to becoming a lady. Of course you must give it all up. It will be an adjustment, but in time you’ll see the value in accepting your heritage.”
She goggled at Carlin, who seemed utterly oblivious to her concerns. How could she have ever thought him a fair man, one who would listen to her? And why were his eyes narrowed on her, as if he, too, were scheming? His frown suggested that he disliked the situation, yet he was still urging her to accept it.
“How dare you presume to dictate what I must give up,” she said heatedly. “I’m accustomed to labor, not luxury. Even my childhood years were spent at hard work. I may have noble blood, but I certainly didn’t grow up in a mansion staffed with servants. I know nothing of music and dancing and all the other accomplishments of a lady.”
“You can sew, you can draw, and you have a natural grace of manner. Any other skills can be acquired from tutors.” Looking every inch the high-and-mighty duke, he sat unsmiling as the carriage transported them over the cobblestoned streets. “It would be wise to put our minds to creating a foolproof background to explain where you’ve been all these years. Something you could feel comfortable in adopting as your own.”
Tessa stiffened. His alignment with Marbury’s plan felt like a betrayal. “So after denouncing me for lying about my past, now, when it suits your purposes, you wish me to lie about my past again. Some would call that hypocrisy.”
He firmed his lips. “I should rather call it pragmatism.”
She fumed in silence for a moment before trusting herself to speak. “What matter is any of this to you, anyway? It is my life, not yours. I don’t see why you should have any dealings with it at all.” She paused in frustration, wondering at his coolness of manner and comparing it with the lustful heat she’d sensed in him earlier. “Perhaps you wish to remove temptation from your sight because you’d intended to set me up as your mistress—and now you daren’t do so. Well, allow me to enlighten you, Your Grace, I would never have agreed to any such arrangement. One night was all I ever wanted.”
That was not quite true, she admitted to herself. Even now, she longed to be clasped in his arms with his lips upon hers. But she would never, ever admit that aloud.
To her consternation, Carlin gave an odd laugh and shook his head. He studied her for a moment before uttering in a rough tone quite unlike himself, “Then you will be pleased to know how wrong you are. I trust you will do me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage?”
Tessa felt instantly robbed of her wits. Of all the things he could have said! But he could not mean those words. He must have flung them out in a pique over her rejection of his lovemaking. Dukes didn’t marry governesses. They chose well-bred ladies like Annabelle the Angel. As verification of that truth, Tessa could detect no light of affection in his eyes, no tenderness in his hard features, no ardent air of the lover.
Her breast heaving, she leaned forward, her gloved fingers fisted in her lap. “Spare me your mockery, sir. It is beneath you.”
One eyebrow lifted. “Mockery? Hardly. We’ve no choice in the matter.” Then, instead of extolling her beauty or declaring his undying love or even kissing her hand, he made an even worse blunder. “You must see that marriage is required after our tryst last night. As Marbury’s acknowledged granddaughter, you are a lady now. And having ruined you, I owe you the protection of my name.”
His terse explanation only made her spirits sink lower. Well, at least that explained the chill in his manner. This proposal didn’t spring from any tender longing of his heart. “So you feel forced into offering for me. Never fear, your sacrifice isn’t necessary. I should rather be a shop owner than a duchess.”