Eloise paused for a moment to look over at him, in careful consideration - never before, or very rarely had she met someone who shared her discontent for the whole sodding business associated with the ton. She enjoyed listening to the occasional rumour, who did not, she enjoyed dancing and social gatherings and whatnot, but all at her own terms and in her own time, and that, apparently, was something that seemed to inherintly clash with the rules of the season. “I could not agree with you more, your Grace. They are supposed to have your best interest at heart, but while matchmaking they rarely seem to do so. I am aware that not everyone may have the fortune of marrying for love, but I have seen some atrocious matches I - well, it really comes to show why it is called the marriage market. “
Listening to his remarks about Nigel made her stomach churn - every second spent with that wretched creature of a man was dreadful one. Perhpas Alexander was right, perhaps her father was ill. She knew for a fact that he loved her greatly, so why else would he propose such a match for her? Eloise was well aware that she was living on stolen time, she knew why her father wanted her to marry so desperately, but could it not wait a little longer?
Once again, she was ripped out of her thoughts by Alexander pulling them off the gravel and to the side. A solution? Eloise drew her eyebrows together in skepticism, though she listened attentively, glued to the Duke’s words. His plan of a ruse of a courtship sounded incredulous, pompostuous, out of this world, highly unlikely to ever come true. But yet so very unlikely, so very incredulous that it just might work. Fool the whole ton - it did sound like a bit of fun, didn’t it? “Your Grace, I -”, she began but stopped herself. Initially, she was going to protest, reject his madness of an idea - but why? The longer she considered it, the less fault she found in his plan. “I have to say that I have greatly underestimated you. Not your humour or charm, but your wit. And I apologise, for this…mockery of a courtship is - well, it is a fantastical idea. But quite fantastical enough to have a shot at working out. “
Her eyes wandered around and, quickly, she feigned a loud laugh, grabbing his arm again to stroll further though still a fair bit away from the rest of the promenaders. “We’re being watched.”, she explained, “We have been standing still for too long. - Your Grace, I will be quite honest with you. I have absolutely nothing to lose, except for an ulcer of a suitor. I also have a secret, I have so far managed to hide it but you never know what may come to the light of day when all eyes are on you during the season. I would quite like to keep it hidden so you have to understand, that I have to trust you completely, and that nobody can know about our ruse.” She paushed for a moment to look at him, as if she was searching for approval. “You know the ton, if they uncover one charade they’ll do anything to uncover the next. Your Grace, for this to work we must appear completely enamored with one another, so much so that Lady S herself believes it. Once she does, she will write about us, and we weill be left in solitary bliss for another season. This means we must be seen dancing at every ball, having tea at Isabelle’s, you must escort me to social events, send flowers, call upon my residence and promenade with me - are you sure you want to put yourself through all that, your Grace? “
He waited in slow anticipation for her response, but his grin did not waver and his eyes did not lose their spark of pride at his own frankly genius idea. It was completely mad, but it could be just mad enough to work. Seeing a man of his reputation actually considering a wife this season when he had never seriously courted anyone during any of the previous seasons he had taken part in would be unbelievable, but that is exactly why it would work. It might bring a little more attention to them than he would like, as people would naturally be curious to learn exactly why he was choosing to court now, but if they could perform an act that was convincing enough, then there troubles would be over. At least for now, they could think of a better long-term plan later if they managed to pull this off.
By her own admission, his plan was a fantastical one and he would have tipped his hat to her if he had been wearing one. He thought he’d had one last night, so it was most likely adorning the head of someone he’d lost it to in a bet. “I am often underestimated, but there is a sharp mind behind this pretty face. I won’t judge you for not realising that as you were most likely stunned by my good looks.”
The loud laugh and grabbing of his arm took him by surprise, but he played along, suspecting that there were eyes on them that he had not noticed but Eloise had. They would make an excellent team if one of them was always on the lookout like this. Alexander would especially enjoy seeing the smug look wiped off Nigel Bamber’s face when he realised the duke had stolen Eloise right from under his nose.
But this charade would not be without its risks. He had nothing to fear but the ruse itself being uncovered and everyone realising how desperate he was to stay off the marriage market, but he could not say the same for Eloise. She was doing him a favour as much as he was doing her one, so if she had secrets to keep then he could not be overly-relaxed in their arrangement and had to play the part. “My dear lady, I have suffered through all of those societal expectations before when I have actually courted in past seasons. The key difference here is that you know not to expect a proposal from me, whereas those poor women had no idea.” But all joking aside, he looked into her eyes with steely determination. “But I swear to you, I will do whatever I can to keep your secrets safe. Remember we can always call this ruse off if things become too risky for either one of us. So,” He held out a hand to her. “Do we have a deal?”
