An American Duchess

In front of his fiancée, his hair soaked from the rain, his tuxedo jacket obviously thrown on in haste, Sebastian had dropped to one knee. He held a small velvet box in the palm of his outstretched hand.

Smoothing her skirt with nervous hands, Miss Gifford sparkled like a handful of stars in the glow of the candles and lamps. A white-and-silver dress with delicate straps fell from her slim shoulders, coasted over her slender figure, ended in gauzy, floating bits of fabric that swirled just above her knees. She stared down at Sebastian with huge, surprised violet eyes.

Whatever Sebastian was doing, she was not in on it.

Sebastian took her hand and bestowed a kiss on her fingertips, his gaze focused on nothing but her. But pure shock registered in her eyes...and in the dropped jaws and gaping mouths of his mother, Grandmama, his sister Isobel and Mother’s two male guests—Quigley, a writer, and Sir Raynard, an older local squire.

“We did it over the telephone before, and I knew you deserved more, Zoe,” Sebastian said, his expression deceptively earnest. “I’m sorry I’m late. I hopped off to town this morning and picked this up. I had it made especially for you. Took me a deuced long time to come up with the right inscription, then get it engraved. But you deserve a proper proposal of marriage.”

It was satisfying to watch Miss Gifford squirm with embarrassment as Sebastian flicked open the box with a twist of one hand. In white velvet sat a heart-shaped ruby the size of a quail’s egg, surrounded by diamonds.

“Marry me, my beloved Zoe,” his brother said huskily. “Make me the happiest romantic fool in England. Now kiss me, love.”

Nigel wanted to haul his brother to his feet. There was no need for a proposal. Sebastian should have been proposing the date for the blasted divorce.

But in one swift movement, Sebastian jumped to his feet and pulled Miss Gifford into his arms. In front of horrified guests, Sebastian sealed his mouth to his fiancée’s lips.

A hot red flush of embarrassment rushed up the back of Nigel’s neck. As duke, he had to put a stop to the scandalous display—

A cane sharply struck the floor. The dowager duchess’s voice soared to fill the drawing room. “Good heavens, Sebastian, desist. How will I face my dinner with this image burned on my eyes?”

3 (#ulink_c01e8e54-ed9a-5bb5-8508-95af45b13e83)

DINNER AT BRIDESWELL

What did he mean by proposing to her?

They had a business agreement already. What more did they need beyond an intent to sign a contract and a handshake to seal it?

A footman bowed at Zoe’s side, presenting a silver tray filled with oysters, redolent with garlic and lemon. Her appetite had evaporated but she plopped an oyster on her plate to be polite, alongside two wafer-thin slices of cucumber topped with cream cheese and caviar, also taken to make it appear she was not at all troubled, that she was thrilled Sebastian had made her a gushily romantic offer of marriage.

He had kissed her. Not just a sweet peck, suitable for viewing by his mother and grandmother. He’d swept her into a flamboyant, passionate kiss, long and intense. But she hadn’t felt anything except surprise.

Sebastian sat across from her, down the table from his brother. Zoe couldn’t read Sebastian’s heavy-lidded, cool and jaded gaze. They were a small, intimate party housed in a gigantic dining room. There was the duke; the dowager, who had found Sebastian’s romantic proposal shocking; the duchess; Sebastian; his sister Julia; his fourteen-year-old sister, Isobel; two older gentlemen friends of the duchess; herself; and Mother.

Zoe glanced down at the ostentatious ruby ring. The proposal and the kiss must have been gestures to distract his family. To make them believe this marriage was the real thing. But it wasn’t, and the Duke of Langford knew it.

He hadn’t told the rest of the family. Why not? Why not try to turn them all against her, if he was so against this marriage?

She applied a fork to the oyster, drawing out the plump treat and swallowing. Tart lemon, rich cream, the bite of garlic exploded on her tongue. Exquisite, but she was too startled to really think about the food going down her throat. Champagne was poured into her glass.

Conversation droned around her. The dowager—a tall, thin woman in a dress of the prewar style—was making an emphatic point. She knew how to make her voice cut through all others. Sebastian was talking to Mother, and Mother, who now knew the truth of the arrangement, was determined to change their minds about ending the marriage. She appeared transfixed by Sebastian’s every charming word.

Zoe had been just like that on the first night she’d met Sebastian.

She’d thought jazz music, dancing and cocktails would help her think up a solution to her problem—her need for a marriage when her heart ached for Richmond. Lord Sebastian Hazelton had spent the entire night trying to coax the sorrow out of her eyes. In the end, she had poured the whole story out to him. He’d given her his story: an estate in ruins, a way of life crumbling, and his need to marry for money—something it offended him to do.

It wasn’t supposed to be about love. She’d made that very clear. Yet that proposal had seemed so sincere. So had his kiss. What was he doing?

She bit into a cucumber-and-caviar canapé and chased it down with a sip of champagne.

Langford was staring at her over his champagne flute, with an intensity that burned brighter than the candles struggling to illuminate the room. He had not said a word to anyone yet, but in white tie and an elegant black tailcoat, with his severe black hair and arresting blue eyes, he dominated even this massive dimly lit room.

Lifting her chin with pride, Zoe raised her glass slightly in a subtle, defiant toast to him. The duke put his glass to his lips, and his mouth softened as they touched his glass. An inappropriate shiver rushed down her spine, and her tummy dipped again.

A gilt-rimmed bowl was set in front of her, and soup of a soft, spring green was ladled into it. She smelled a light watercress soup.

Lady Julia was also presented with soup, but didn’t dip in her spoon. Despite all the sumptuous food, she had not touched a bite.

Julia Hazelton was what must be meant by an English rose—ivory skin, rose-pink cheeks and huge blue eyes. A graceful, demure beauty. Julia had the sort of haunting gorgeousness that was made for austere, lovely Brideswell and the incessant rain, the ordered gardens, the rich green lawns. Sebastian’s sister had been welcoming—the only one in the house who had—but in unguarded moments she looked sad.

Zoe knew all about being sad. She beamed a bright smile at Julia. She ignored the sharp glance from the dowager, who had the air of the Olympic bearing down on a harbor, if that liner had been dressed in throat-high purple silk with an anchor of amethysts around the neck.

“Lady Julia, I would like very much to go riding,” Zoe said. “Would you be interested in a morning ride? If the weather lets us. I’m beginning to fear England is located beneath a permanent rain cloud.”

Julia looked startled. “Oh—oh, I should love to.”

“I am afraid that will be impossible,” declared the dowager. “You have a meeting with the Women’s Institute.”

Zoe had known loneliness in New York society and in Julia’s slightly hesitant, then ebullient tone, she sensed a girl happy with the idea of making a new friend.

She wanted a friendship with Julia. It probably wouldn’t survive the divorce. But she wanted to try, and no ocean liner of a British matriarch was going to stop her.

“I should be happy to go with you to the Women’s Institute meeting,” Zoe said to Julia. “And see how these things are done.”

She felt Langford’s glare, but ignored it.

The dowager harrumphed. “Sebastian told us some nonsense that you plan to be married in America.”

“That is correct. In New York.”

She pursed her lined lips. “You should be married here, in England. Sebastian, why did you not insist?”

Sebastian did not answer. He finished his champagne and touched his glass. At once, the young footman refilled it to the brim.

“I think it’s perfect that my darling will marry where she’s grown up,” Mother gushed, “where all her friends can be witness to the happy event. We’ll have a huge reception and the wedding will be at—”

Thump. Even at the table, the dowager slammed her cane on the floor. “Mrs. Gifford—”

“Every June bride hopes for sunshine,” Zoe broke in cheekily. “I don’t think I could guarantee that here.”

The two footmen hurried in with another set of silver trays bearing two fish dishes. Their presence did not even slow the dowager as she snapped, “Marrying Sebastian will make you British, Miss Gifford. This will now be your home. It is preposterous to think of holding your wedding elsewhere.”

“Then I shall embrace being preposterous.”

“No granddaughter-in-law of mine shall be so poorly behaved. You will listen to me.”

“I will do as I wish.”