Page 17 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

He did not answer right away. Again, his eyes were sad, and as with the last time, she saw something pass behind them. It looked like a memory, one that brought pain and sorrow that he did a terrible job of hiding.

For a moment, Violet almost felt sorry for him.

“Because loss is not something that one recovers from so easily, and such ghosts—while they might never be truly dealt with—might just be manageable so that their screams can be ignored.”

Violet balked at the response.

It was not an answer, but it was a window into the duke’s motives. Something had happened to him. Violet was sure of it. And whatever that was, he saw Lucy as a way to save him.

So, she is not his child, at least. That is one mystery solved.

“Besides…” The duke blinked and cleared the sadness from his eyes. “Is it not enough that I want to help someone who needs it? And I am not referring to you, Miss Beaumont,” he chuckled. “I sense that you do not want or appreciate help.”

“But you are still trying to use it as leverage against me.”

“It is merely an effect, not the cause. All I want is to help a little girl who needs it. You said that love and affection are what children crave more than most. I like to think I can offer that, but I am also reasonable in my limitations. Where I can provide security, you can give her the love that she needs. It is a win for everyone.”

They had come to exactly where Violet needed them to be. Her answer… it was right on the tip of her tongue… but she could not speak it until she knew for sure what she was getting herself into.

Gosh, she was stubborn! But that had always been her way.

“If I do say yes to this—and that is only if I do…” She widened her eyes at him. “I need to know what is expected of me. We will be man and wife, but what does that mean, exactly?”

The duke smirked at her, and she hated how handsome it made him look. His confidence… how assured he was…

Her heart fluttered just a little.

“Just to set your worries at ease, Miss Beaumont, I am not suggesting a typical marriage. And based on our previous conversations, I daresay that this will not be a love match.” He raised an eyebrow at her as if in question, and she scowled a response. “I am not asking for love, affection, or even friendship. It is a marriage of convenience only.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that I am doing this for Lucy.” He dropped his eyebrow, and his expression became stern. “Marrying you is the only means I have by which to adopt her. Once I do, and we are wed, your sole purpose will be to do for her what I cannot.”

Violet nodded her understanding as she slowly came to accept what he offered. In truth, she had known that she likely would even before speaking to him, but it was a relief to hear him say it.

“You mean for me to look after Lucy?”

“We both will,” he said. “But what I cannot do, you will. Again, Lucy is who matters, and I expect both of us to do everything that we can to make her know that.”

Violet took a deep breath as she readied to make her own request. She had thought a lot about this, and while she was still hesitant about this whole arrangement, she knew it was for the best. But only under one specific circumstance… again, for Lucy. Always for her.

“As Lucy is your main concern, I have a request of my own.” She forced herself to meet his eyes. “She cannot grow up thinking that she is the reason that you and I are together… that we have forsaken ourselves for her. Or that our happiness and livelihoods are dependent on her entirely.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means that she must believe that we want to be together,” she said as her heart began to flutter. She knew how this must have sounded, and she just prayed that the duke did not misread her intentions. “The entire point of her being adopted by a husband and wife is so that she will be raised in a loving household, and that illusion must be kept. Never can she know how we really feel about one another.”

The duke frowned as her words settled on him. He looked at her. She held his gaze, a stern expression, one that dismissed any notion that she was playing some game or trying to trick him.

And, for a brief moment, it looked as if he was about to make a joke—a sly remark about hidden intentions. She braced for that, prepared to dismiss him. The last thing she needed was for him to think that she had other intentions!

“That is a good point,” he said finally and slowly. “Yes, it makes perfect sense. As far as Lucy will be concerned, you and I will be…” He chuckled and shook his head. “Madly in love, and we adopted her after the fact, not before.”

“Good.” Violet breathed a sigh of relief. “So, we are in agreement.”

“We are,” he said simply.

Then they stood there, rather awkwardly, as if not knowing what to say next. And the silence that fell over them, while it was tense, felt so for the wrong reason. Violet looked everywhere but at the duke, but she felt his eyes roaming over her, taking her in as if assessing… or deciding something.