“I did not do it for you, dearest.” She made herself look at Daphne. She made her voice as gentle as she could. “I did it because I never loved Lord Dowton, because I did not want him, and because I have wanted for a long time to be reckless about something. There. That is the worst confession of the evening. I am very sorry to have made it in front of half of London.”
She was lying.
Daphne nodded. She did not look convinced, but she did not press.
“Mother.” Alice turned. Her mother was twisting her gloves. “Father. I am so very sorry. I have embarrassed all of us this evening, and I have certainly embarrassed Lord Dowton beyond bearing. I shall accept any punishment you choose, but I cannot in good conscience accept his offer of marriage now. It would be a kindness to release him from it.”
“Alice—”
“It would be a kindness, Mother. He has done nothing. The fault is entirely mine.”
She drew a breath. She did not look at the Duke. She did not look at the Marquess. Instead, she looked at her father and said in the lightest voice she could muster, “If only there were a way to make it up to you, Father. To Lord Dowton. It would be terribleto ask my sister to accept his proposal in my stead, of course, but?—”
“That is a great idea,” the Marquess and Daphne said in unison.
They said it a beat too quickly, too loudly, and they both heard themselves do it and immediately went red. Daphne’s hand flew to her mouth. The Marquess turned the color of a poppy. At Alice’s left, the Duke made a sound that she would have called a laugh if she had not known better. Alice fought the urge to smile. Alas, she could not manage it perfectly. She felt her own mouth twitch.
Her mother made a confused little sound, and her father drew himself up. Beside her, the Duke shifted his weight by an inch, and she thought,We have done it, thank God. Then her father nodded slowly, the way he did when he had been outmaneuvered and was working out how to pretend he had not.
“It is,” he said carefully, “an idea worth considering.”
“It is the very idea I thought of,” her mother put in brightly. Two minutes ago, she had not had any idea at all. Clearly, she was already planning the wedding. “Of course, it is the very idea. Daphne, my darling, you must not be in any way distressed. This is a perfectly natural arrangement.”
“Mother…” her sister said, her voice very small. She was looking at Isaac, who was also looking at her.
“It is decided,” her father declared.
Nothing had been decided. Everything had been decided. Her mother started discussing banns and dates.
Alice turned, with the most polite slowness she could muster, toward the Duke.
He was watching her.
He had stepped back enough that the space between them was respectable, and his hands were folded behind his back. His expression had turned neutral again, but his eyes had not. They were gray, alert, and faintly amused.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “So much.”
“You are a strange lady.”
“I know.”
“But I know love for a sibling well.”
“I know.”
He inclined his head. “As I said, you owe me now. I do not do favors. I make deals,” he added quietly.
“That is not fair.” She kept her voice low. Her smile had not faltered. They were standing close enough to be seen having a private exchange and far enough to be deniable. She knew, with a sudden clarity, that he had positioned them this way on purpose. “I did not know the rules when you kissed me.”
“Well, you will find out now.”
“What sort of deal?”
“We shall discuss it tomorrow.”
“Your Grace…” Her face went hot, and she looked away. She did not want him to see it.
The Duke cleared his throat and turned to her father. “My Lord.”