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Mei gasped, but the sound was swallowed up by the other gasps that reverberated around the room. There was a twang from a single string of a violin, but the musicians did not begin the next song.

“Sebastian…”

It was too late to stop him. Everyone had already seen, yet she felt as though she had to try, anyway. To protect him from what he was doing to himself. Because he was correct—Society would laud her for attracting him and refusing him. They would accept that with far more equanimity and praise than if she actually accepted him.

The only person this would hurt, if she refused him, was him.

“Hu Mei, granddaughter of Lady Hu, matchmaker to the ton,” Sebastian’s voice echoed around the room, which had somehow fallen even more silent, every ear straining to hear what he was going to say, even though they could not possibly miss it. “You are the match that pleases me the most. I have fallen in love with your grace, your smile, your cleverness, and your sweetness. I have fallen in love with you. Please…” His eyes were almost hypnotic, holding her gaze with an intensity that made it hard to breathe. “Do me the honor of becoming my duchess and my wife.”

The formal phrasing did not take away any of the sincerity or emotion in his voice. If anything, it emphasized it. The tears that now filled Mei’s eyes were in response to the love that weighted every single word. The hope, the desire, the yearning—all in his voice—were matched by all the emotions in her own breast.

It was utter madness.

Not at all what she’d planned for her life.

The entire room hung with bated breath, waiting to hear what her response would be.

There was only one answer she could make.

42

Mei

“For a moment I was worried you were going to refuse him,” Lady Darcy said with a laugh, shaking her head. She leaned in, though she did not lower her voice, which meant Sebastian could likely hear her as Mei’s arm was looped through his. Even though he was speaking with the Duke of Northumberland. “You need to ensure they never take you for granted, but there is such a thing as taking that too far as well.”

Amusement bloomed in Mei’s chest.

While she knew the reactions of the house party guests would not be representative of the entirety of London, she was taking heart from how sincere the congratulations and blessings being expressed were. The other young ladies could have easily been upset at Mei’s social coup—they might even have a right to be—but all of them seemed delighted for her. While Lady Darcy was a good actress, Mei did not think she was acting.

“For a moment, I was worried I was going to as well,” Mei admitted. “But…”

“But how could you turn down such a flawless proposal?” Lady Darcy smiled. “Especially when offered by a man in love with you.”

“Exactly.”

Perhaps she should not have been entirely surprised that the majority of the company who were not her friends were very excited to have such a delicious piece of gossip. She doubted it would take more than an hour past when they all arrived back in London tomorrow for the news of her and Sebastian’s engagement to spread.

It would not be from her friends, either.

“Well, if you will excuse me, I am going to go see how the last duke standing is feeling about this turn of events,” Lady Darcy said with a glint in her eye, turning toward where the Duke of Montagu was currently engaged in conversation with Lady MarcyAnne.

“Is he the last duke standing?” Mei tilted her head to the Duke of Northumberland, who was just walking away from Sebastian as Drake and Nathanial came up to speak with him.

“I believe so, yes,” Lady Darcy said, with a significant look at Lady Isabella, who smiled at Northumberland’s approach.

Perhaps she was right.

Mei watched with amusement as Lady Darcy joined the Duke of Montagu and Lady MarcyAnne, and saw the change on the Adonis of the Ton’s face as he looked around the room and came to the same conclusion. When news of Sebastian’s engagement to Mei and Northumberland’s courtship of Lady Isabella reached London, Montagu would likely be hounded.

He would be the last remaining chance for a debutante to marry a duke, unless something incredible happened with Drake and Astrid’s betrothal or Zachary and Lady Annabelle’s engagement.

Or her own.

But there was no honorable way for Sebastian to back out of the engagement now, not when it had been made and accepted so publicly. With their different stations, some would accept that he’d just run mad for a bit and then had come to their senses, but it would still affect how Society viewed him. First of all, to be so foolish as to propose to her, and secondly, to be so dishonorable as to break the engagement.

While a lady could break an engagement without Societal blowback, there was no honorable way out for a gentleman. Not even a duke.

Mei’s gaze drifted across the room to where the Duke of Grafton stood stiffly with Lady Annabelle at his side. She seemed outwardly more relaxed than him, but her shoulders gave away an inner tension that matched his. Trapped in unhappiness by the rules of Society. The way she’d almost trapped herself and Sebastian by denying rather than accepting him.