When Amanda arrived back at her town house, Mr. Parsons, their butler, met her at the door. He smiled warmly, unable to maintain the typical butler persona with her. From the day he caught her sneaking up the stairs with some of Cook’s pilfered biscuits, they had been a bit chummy. She had winked at him, held a finger to her lips, and shared one.
“You’ve had callers already this morning, my lady.”
“Callers? At this hour?”
Parsons nodded. “They are in the drawing room waiting for you. One Lord Nathaniel and one Lord Needley.”
Amanda paused, hands frozen on their way to handing over her bonnet and wrap. She quickly rallied and turned to the right, down the hallway to discover why two very eligible lords were present in her home this morning at the same time. Surely they were calling to ask after her health, but so early? She could not account for it, and she hastened her pace to reach them. Both men rose when she entered, inquiring and anxious looks on their faces.
Lord Needley rushed to her side and asked, “Are you quite recovered, Lady Amanda?” She smiled and curtsied, noticing Lord Nathaniel standing farther back in the room. His eyebrow quirked, his expression showing disdain for Lord Needley’s immediate hovering.
Irritated with Lord Nathaniel, she sweetened her smile to Lord Needley as she responded, “Thank you. I admit to feeling shaken, naturally, but I awoke refreshed this morning with a great many of my own new thoughts keeping me company.”
He placed her hand on his arm as they entered the room. “I am sure your father will make quite certain that nothing further disturbs your safety.”
“Oh, you are so right,” she responded quickly. “But I find I have very little concern for myself. My thoughts are centered more on other things.”
“Oh? And where are your thoughts directed?” Lord Needley waited expectantly.
She frowned slightly. “I am most concerned with why. Are people’s lives so terrible that they feel they must strike out in such a manner?”
A new interest lit Lord Nathaniel’s face. He took several steps forward, reached for her free hand, and bowed over it. “You look lovely this morning. Refreshed, just as you said. I find your statement curious. Shall we sit, and might I hear more?”
Amanda’s interest piqued at his sudden sincerity. Gone was the bored and lazy expression previously present. His attentive look of intelligence intrigued and attracted her.
“Yes, please, won’t you sit down?” She rang for tea, and the three of them turned to sit. She chose a low settee with room for only two. Lord Needley hurried to her side, sitting as close as was acceptable. Lord Nathaniel chose a seat opposite her, which allowed her a good view of his face.
He leaned forward, arms resting on his thighs, and asked, “Now, if you wouldn’t mind humoring me with a bit of droll conversation, I am most interested in your thoughts. Do you feel that somehow the intruders in your home are responding justly to something wrong with their circumstances?”
“Surely not!” Lord Needley said.
Lord Nathaniel’s gaze did not leave her face.
Refusing to be unnerved, she allowed herself a moment before she said, “Not exactly, no. Nothing justifies such violence and destruction of another’s home, of course. But I do feel that, were they not hurting in some way, they would have no reason to lash out as they did.”
Lord Nathaniel seemed to appraise her. Admiration, and what looked like agreement, shone in his eyes.
She smiled in the glow of feeling understood, heady with the confidence in feeling heard and being taken seriously.
He leaned back in his chair, gave a short laugh, and smiled with an air of condescension. “Very pretty thoughts, my dear. We shall call it, ‘An Ode to the Poor Commoners and Their Plights.’ I daresay a basket to the orphanage or some such gesture will do the trick.”
Her warm ember doused immediately.
Amanda’s eyes narrowed, and she was mortified to feel her throat tighten up and tears threaten to fall. Lord Nathaniel quickly looked away, his face coloring slightly. Did he notice her discomfort? She would not give him any further satisfaction.
She turned her entire attention back to Lord Needley. Giving him her most brilliant smile she asked, “And how are you faring? I don’t think I can tell you enough how much it means to us that you would bring us safely from harm last night. To think I could be in such harm’s way in my own uncle’s home. Why, if it weren’t for you, I might this very minute still be in the greatest peril. What can we ever do to thank you?”
Lord Needley’s handsome features brightened under such praise. He straightened his shoulders, smiled down into her eyes, and said, “It was my pleasure, one I hope you never need again but will happily perform at any time.”
Lord Nathaniel coughed.
Amanda ignored him.
At that moment, Duchess Cumberland entered the room. The men stood and bowed to her. She nodded to them. “Gentlemen, might we deprive you of my daughter’s company for a moment?” She reached her hand out. “Amanda, my dear. Your father would like you to join him in his study, if you don’t mind.”
They hadn’t yet spoken today. She was anxious to see him and hear his thoughts about their evening. She rose, curtsied to the room, and left quickly in search of the duke.
She had seen her father so infrequently these last few weeks. The Season, as exciting as it was, left precious little time for her favorite hobby—curling up with a book next to him in his study. She smiled again at Parsons when she passed him and turned down the hallway to knock at the door.
“Enter,” he called from inside.
She stepped into his warm and cheery study, admiring the full bookshelves, the maps tacked up to the wall, the fireplace and mantel along one side of the room, and the plush carpet rug.
Her father stepped around from behind his desk and came toward her with open arms, smiling broadly. “Amanda, my dear. How are you faring?”
She stepped into his embrace, face pressed to his chest, and allowed herself a moment to be a young girl again. “I am well,” she answered. “It was quite a coming-out ball, was it not?”
The duke’s mouth turned in what could have been a smile but looked more like a grimace. He rubbed a hand over his face before looking down at her again. “Sit with me, my Amanda.” He led her to her favorite couch by the fireplace, keeping her hand in his. “London is changing. We will continue forward as best we can, but the whole idea of a Season is not what it once was. Our friends are afraid. Many are already on their way out to their country estates. They feel the threat on their families is too great to remain.”
Amanda considered this information. “I have heard that there have been other attacks on families, on children.”
The duke eyed her knowingly. “I should not be surprised you know such things.” He paused, looking out the window in thought. “Yes, Amanda, others have been threatened, many others, and not just here in London. It seems no place is safe. Remember the rock in your window?” Amanda nodded, hoping her father would keep talking. “We believe it is all from the same gang, the same man.”
“Jack Bender,” Amanda said.
Her father nodded. “Your mother told me you know a bit of his history.”
Amanda squeezed her father’s hands. His face lowered, studying the floor, and he looked years older than even the previous evening when last she had seen him. She hoped to reassure him. “I am not afraid, Father.”
His head snapped up. “And that is what scares me most. Your headstrong ways and independent spirit could bring you more danger than you understand.”
Amanda pulled back in surprise, trying to keep back the tears welling up in her eyes.
He continued. “I admit, I have always loved your fire, your curiosity. I enjoyed watching you learn to shoot an arrow, fence even, climb trees.”
He seemed more intent the more he talked. “But sometimes, it is important to know when to back away, to hide. We are an obvious target, and I need to know you are safe and cared for.” He paused, running one hand through his hair. “These recent events have pushed me to ask you to rush your decision.”
She felt a ball of uneasiness begin to grow in her stomach. “What decision? Surely you don’t mean—”
“Marriage, Amanda.” She began to protest, but he held up his hand. “I need to see you happily settled and secure and away from your mother and me. It is more important now than ever. I would like to get you out of harm’s way in the happiest of circumstances possible.”
Amanda tried to interrupt, but her father stayed her again. “Not only do I want you happy and safe, but you know if you have a son, he is to be my heir. Passing on our family title and generations of responsibility weighs heavily on me. I have made special arrangements with our solicitor. I do not want the dukedom to go to your cousin Percival, or Uncle Ethan if he outlives me. As dear as Uncle Ethan is, your son is dearer than his could ever be. I am young enough still for your child to grow to adulthood.”
For a moment, Amanda was too stunned for words. Make a marriage decision? After one ball? A ball that ended in violence? Her mind desperately searched for something that would distract her father, dissuade him.
Clearing his throat, he continued. “Happily . . . and I do hope you are happy with my news . . .”
News? Amanda began to panic.
“Two men have come to me already, expressing sincere and, dare I say, heartfelt interest in pursuing you.”
Amanda forced herself to say something, anything. “But Father, who could possibly?”
“Don’t you know? Why, Lords Needley and Nathaniel, of course. They came to me this very morning; arrived almost together.” He chuckled. “Humorous moment, that, when they politely attempted to be the first at my door.”
Before she could stop herself, she vocalized her immediate thought. “Lord Nathaniel can’t be serious, Father. He looks at me with disdain and hardly lowers himself to talk with me.” She didn’t for one minute believe that he held any sincere interest in her or her happiness. She had seen evidence enough of that this morning. “Just now, in the parlor, he proved himself unable to take me seriously at all.”
Her father chuckled again. “He takes you seriously, Amanda. You can take my word for that. He is quite sincere; has been for years, I believe.”
Her heart jumped a little at that revelation. A smile threatened, which she squelched. She needed to respond to her father, and quickly. “Father, this is all quite a shock, you must know. You cannot possibly think that I could make any kind of marriage decision right now. I had hoped another Season at least—some time, years even, as a grown woman, to consider my tastes, my goals. I don’t know these men or anything about them.”
Fear entered her heart as she considered all she would give up with marriage. What if the man turned out to be a cruel, overly domineering person? What if she could never come and go as she pleased?
The duke patted her hand. “I’ve done my research on all the eligible men this Season. These two are some of the best. They are both good men and come from good families. They aren’t given to much drink or gambling. They aren’t, dare I say, free with their attentions to women.”
She scoffed. “You think not? Lord Nathaniel has a reputation—”
“I am well aware of the manner in which Lord Nathaniel presents himself, but I assure you, my dear, there is no truth to substantiate the rumors surrounding him. I am unsure why he allows them to continue, and it does give rise to questions, but all other evidence is so much in his favor I very much hope he is the man you choose.”
Amanda rose quickly from her seat and began pacing, her voice rising. “Father, I could never. I loathe the man! We have barely spoken three words together, and danced only once.”
“And he saved you from ruin and possible death.”
“Yes, there is that, but I cannot account for it—a desire for glory and heroics, I suppose.” Her arms flailed about in agitation as she spoke and paced the room.
“Open your heart to these men, for you must choose one of them.” She froze, felt her face go pale, and slowly turned to look at her father. He gently smiled.
“What can you mean?”
“I want you to allow them both to court you, unofficially of course.”
“What, at the same time?”
“I have asked them for a time of informal courtship. I know it isn’t usually done, but as I said, many have left town, others are sure to follow. And at the end of the Season, you will choose which you would like to ask for your hand.”
“Father! No! Where is the romance in that? What about the discovery, the fun? It is all so decided, so formal.” She felt her world closing in and felt as though the ceiling were getting closer; her heart constricted with pressure. She could not bear it one more moment. She turned to run, but her father’s hand gently held her for one moment more.
“They both came to me at once. I wanted to give you time to choose for yourself.” He looked so kind, his eyes smiling at her in pride. Then the light turned to concern. “I need this, Amanda. I need to see you safe. And I need to know I will have an heir. I owe it to generations of Cumberlands and to all of our tenants. I will not tolerate your defiance in this.” She looked into her father’s loving, kind eyes and saw steel.