Page 107 of A Scandal for the Beastly Earl

"Mother has plans for me too. A widower with three children who needs a mother for them and dowry to save his estate."

"Do you want to marry him?"

"What I want doesn't matter."

"It should."

She looked at him with surprise. "You really believe that?"

"My wife would insist on it."

"She's very lucky."

"I'm the lucky one."

"Perhaps you both are."

"Cordelia!" Lady Agatha's voice cut through the room. "Stop bothering your cousin."

"She's not bothering me," Lucien said.

"Nevertheless. Cordelia, come."

Cordelia dropped a curtsey and scurried away, but not before Lucien saw the misery in her eyes. Arabella was right. Someone did need to rescue her.

Chapter 17

The afternoon passed slowly. Lucien checked on Arabella every hour, finding her sleeping peacefully with Thistle, who'd somehow escaped the servants' hall, curled at her feet. The dog looked up each time, tail wagging, as if to say he was on guard.

"Good boy," Lucien murmured, and Thistle's tail wagged harder.

It was a measure of how much his life had changed that he was now praising the criminal dog who'd started all this chaos.

Around four, Arabella woke, looking much better.

"I'm starving," she announced.

"That's new."

"Apparently, once the morning sickness passes, I'm ravenous."

"I'll have food sent up."

"No, I want to go down. Show Cassandra I'm not defeated."

"Cassandra is gone."

"Already?"

"The Duchess was quite firm."

"Good. But I still want to go down. We can't hide all week."

"We can try."

"Lucien."

"Fine. But if you feel faint again..."