The Lady Tamed by Boyd, Heather (urban books to read TXT) 📗

“She has a family.” The Westfalls were a family unlike any he’d ever met. They were always sticking their noses into each other’s concerns. They fought and made up and laughed and loved each other. It made Jeremy envious, to be honest. He’d never have that.

“And we all love her dearly, but I’ll put this plainly. My daughter needs her own family. She needs someone to pass her extraordinary wealth and talents to one day. She needs a husband she can trust with her heart and fortune, who can lure her away from her ledgers and make her remember she has other interests. Someone who can steal her away to sit in the sunshine or stay in bed with her on a rainy day. A man who will let her return to her responsibilities without bitterness or resentment of her intelligence. In short, my daughter needs not a man to take over her fortune, but a partner for a more balanced life.”

“There are many who would marry her. Someone of her class would do.”

The duke waved his hand about as if brushing the suggestion away. “Son, the way you feel about my daughter, and overlook the importance of her money, is very rare. I’ve only ever known of one man before who didn’t feel threatened by her fascination for business and finance.”

“She should marry him,” Jeremy suggested bitterly.

“Fanny did. The late Lord Rivers let her have her head in all matters that interested her, even when society dictated that such passions in women be repressed. Fanny made him a very rich man before he died. He adored every inch of her, body and mind, yet he couldn’t give her children, and he died before his time.”

Jeremy sat in silence a moment. “You’ve rocks in your head if you think we’d make a good match. How do you know she even wants children?”

“She didn’t want dance lessons either until her sister took them.” The duke confessed with a laugh. “I admit, on the surface, it seems a tad unequal an alliance.”

“I’ll say,” Jeremy agreed.

“Money is the only obstacle,” the duke countered. “And agreements can be drawn up to protect and limit your access to her funds, if need be.”

It would be another document Jeremy wouldn’t understand. “I’m illiterate.”

“Something you’ve managed to conceal from her, I suspect.” The duke sighed. “Fanny’s fear is being desired for only her money. Yours is being known.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Jeremy protested.

“Many men have courted her since she became a widow. From ambitious squire to aging duke, even a foreign prince dangled the hint of a crown in her direction once. Every single one proved themselves merely fortune hunters. Fanny doesn’t have the best of luck when it comes to men. She’s become distrustful and wary of forming attachments, which is why she attempted to pay you off, I imagine. But I won’t let you slip away without fighting to make her see this is her chance to have everything she’s ever secretly wanted and was too afraid to reach for.”

Jeremy squinted at the duke. “What’s in it for you?”

The duke smiled. “Grandbabies.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes. The duke was soon to become a father again and yet still wanted more babies in the family? “You ask too much.”

“There’s something in the way my daughter has softened since you’ve been around. I thought our little talk earlier might have propelled her to see you in a new light,” Stapleton admitted.

“She certainly did, but clearly not the way you’d intended.” Jeremy shook his head and stood again. “It’s all very well for you to sit here discussing a future that will never come to pass. I’m done, and I’m seeing myself out now. Goodbye, your grace.”

The duke was on his feet and between Jeremy and the door before he realized his intent. “You can’t leave.”

“You can’t stop me,” Jeremy warned.

“If you return to the theater, what’s the chance that you won’t be reduced to dressing the principal actors again? You won’t have Fanny’s patronage to give them reason to cast you over someone with more experience. Fanny has loved the theater since she was a girl. You will see her again there, too.”

Jeremy blanched. Seeing Fanny sitting above him in the audience, so close and yet so far, wouldn’t be enjoyable. “If I don’t land a part without her patronage, I’ll find somewhere else to belong. Another company might take me on.”

“Is it easy for you to find somewhere to belong?” the duke asked.

A sick feeling churned in his belly, but Jeremy was no stranger to having to work hard. “I’ll do all right. Move.”

“No.”

Jeremy looked up at the duke. The man outranked him, and he outweighed him by several stone. Could probably box him into the floorboards, too. Jeremy didn’t want to end up in a physical altercation with the duke if he could help it but his time here had come to an end. His best defense had always been slipping away unnoticed, but the duke wouldn’t let him. “Please move.”

Stapleton shook his head. “You will stay and see what happens with Fanny.”

Jeremy squinted at the man. “Why are you really trying to keep me here?”

“I should have known you wouldn’t be convinced by my talk of legacy.” The duke chuckled. “All right, I want you to stay because I see something in you that I cannot ignore.”

“What is that?”

“Potential, beyond that of a mere actor.” The duke nodded. “Stay another week.”

“I can’t. It was Fanny who brought me here, and I swore to leave.”

“All right then. Leave.”

The duke suddenly unlocked the library door, caught Jeremy by the elbow, and dragged him out the huge front door. Although Jeremy tried to free himself, the duke had a surprisingly strong grip for an older man. He was also adamant Jeremy leave Stapleton with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Jeremy’s satchel had been left forgotten on the floor of the library.

The wide-open lawn and long, empty drive stretched before him. Freedom.