Duke 0f Chance (Regency Stories Book 2) Read online

  “You did what?” he said, seething.

  She jutted her chin defiantly. “The night of the party,” she said as if with pride, “I was the one who told her of the bet. I tried everything to win your heart, but you refused to see!” Her voice softened. “I knew she was not the woman you needed. I did it because I am in love with you! I have always been in love with you, and you have been too blind to see what is right in front of you!”

  His head spun at the realization of what had happened. The woman he thought was his friend had hurt him worse than anyone ever had in his life.

  She stepped forward once more. “Forget her,” she pleaded. “She is to marry. She is no longer available. But I am here. I always have been and always will be.”

  He had had enough. “You will return to your home, or wherever you choose, tomorrow,” he said, his voice as cold as his heart. “You are no friend. You have ruined my relationship and forced the woman I love into a marriage she does not want.”

  The door opened and his mother entered. “Enough of this,” she said in cool tones. “Margaret will remain here with me, but you will begin courting her at once.”

  Joseph narrowed his eyes at his mother. “Did you partake in this, as well?”

  His mother sniffed derisively. “Of course I did. A mother who loves her son would do what I had to do. Do not be angry, for I know what is best for you.”

  Shock as thick as mud in spring mired him in place. Betrayal had come from everywhere, all stemming from people he had trusted. Though he did not understand it, he knew what he had to do.

  “I want both of you gone by tomorrow,” he said, attempting to keep the anger from exploding. “In time, I may forgive you, but for now, I cannot.”

  He ignored his mother’s gasp and said nothing as Margaret stormed out of the room. Instead, he sat in a chair that placed his back to the door and waited until the door closed behind him with a bang, leaving him alone in the room. The letter from Hannah sat on the table beside him, and he picked it up and reread a portion of it aloud. “A good man does not place a wager on a woman, and no good thing can come from a flip of a coin.”

  Letting out a sigh, he began to devise a plan that would allow him to solve this problem those two women had created. For an hour, he contemplated what to do, until a smile formed on his lips.

  He would stop by the jewelers tomorrow and then go to Hannah’s. Good could come with a toss of a coin, and he would make sure she knew it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Hannah heard the carriage approach and fought back tears that welled in her eyes. She had expected to have at least another hour before the Baron was to arrive, but the man had come early. Well, early or late, what had to be done would happen.

  Her mother had advised her to keep her joy, but Hannah had learned in heartbreak that joy did not exist. Her love for Joseph could keep her going, but the regret she felt in never revealing to him how she felt would haunt her forever.

  She sighed. It did not matter now, for she would marry the Baron, a man for whom she did not care. Joseph had played his part in what had happened, but in reality, she had been the bigger fool, for only a fool would have played his silly game in the first place.

  She took one last glance in the mirror. Her mother had spent the morning helping her into the white dress. Hannah had wanted to burn it, but she could not get herself to waste what her parents had so willingly given her when they had nothing left to give. She remembered a time when she wished Joseph would notice her new dress, but then she shook her head. The past must remain in the past, for she could not change what had happened no matter how much she wished she could.

  The door opened, and her mother came into the room. Gone now was the gloomy stance the woman had tried to hide from Hannah, replaced by a sense of anticipation. This only placed kindling on the fire of the anger that Hannah tried so desperately to control. She knew her mother felt she and her father were doing the right thing, but she did not need to appear excited about it!

  “You are needed in your father’s office.”

  Hannah nodded and followed her mother out of the room and down the stairs. Her heart thudded with fear, but she allowed the anger to simmer. She would need it to keep herself from weeping.

  Her mother opened the door, and Hannah closed her eyes before entering. She would not allow this man to see her fear, for if he knew she was afraid, he could use it against her. Too many stories circulated about women who had married older men and been mistreated, but that would not happen to her. Begin with a strong foot and she would at least have that to steady her.

  “Come, Hannah. He is waiting.”

  She took another heavy breath and entered the room only to stop as if a wall sprang up before her. At her father’s desk were two men, one being her father, who she expected to find. However, it was not the Baron with him but rather Joseph, more handsome now than he had been the last time she had seen him. He stood at the desk and her father sat in his chair.

  It took her several moments to bring her shock under control. Or perhaps it was the urge to run up to the man and throw herself into his arms. Either had to be reined in, so she did that, and allowed the anger to return.

  He is engaged to Miss Treesing now, she reminded herself. And he wagered for you. Those two thoughts helped her beat down those urges that would only make her appear even more a fool than she had made herself thus far.

  “Ah, Hannah,” her father said as he stood. “The Duke has requested your presence, and you will listen to what he has to say.”

  Hannah nodded, not sure she could speak if she tried.

  “Thank you, Mr. Newmont,” Joseph said. In his hand he held two pieces of parchment. “I have come to understand that your estate shall be sold and that Miss Newmont is to marry Lord Mantle. Is this correct?”

  “Indeed,” her father replied. “It is what we must do, though it is not what I wish to do.”

  “I suspected as much.” His voice lacked emotion. “That is why I had these two documents drawn up.” He handed one to her father, and the man read over it, his brows rising with each line. Hannah found her curiosity winning over the anger she had felt only moments before. What was this man up to now?

  Mr. Newmont looked up, shock clearly etching his face. “This is the sum of my debts,” he said. “You wish to pay them?”

  “No,” Joseph said. “I do not wish to, but I will.”

  “I do not understand,” her father said. “Is this a loan?”

  “It is not.” He turned his eyes to Hannah, and she forced herself to hold his gaze. She would not allow him to intimidate her. She was a woman of strength and she would not allow him, or any man, to take that from her.

  Her father shook his head. “Then…”

  “You may have heard that I am known as the Duke of Chance?”

  Her father swallowed visibly. “Yes, Your Grace, I have heard such things, but I do not believe or partake in such rumors.”

  Joseph laughed. “Well, you should, for I have a game of chance you can play with me. That is, if you would like to win that sum and save your home.”

  “What is the game?” her father asked, though he wore skepticism like a cloak. “And what are the stakes?”

  “The flip of a coin,” Joseph said as he held up the coin Hannah had seen before, the same coin he used with her, and humiliation washed over her. How dare he do such a thing! Was her already trampled heart not enough to fuel his ego? “This side shows the sun, a sign of a bright future. If it lands on this, you may go to the bank this very day and collect the sum on that paper.”

  “Father, no!” Hannah cried, but her father glared at her.

  “Quiet,” he hissed. Then he turned back to Joseph. “And the other side?”

  Hannah thought her heart would burst through her chest as the Duke continued.

  “This side is a skull. It is my side. If it appears, Hannah will marry me.” He placed the second parchment on the des
k. “The paperwork has already been drawn up.”

  “If you win, what will happen to my estate?”

  “It will be sold to me.” Joseph had yet to look at Hannah, but she willed him to so he could see what hurt he was causing. Yet, perhaps that was what he wanted—to hurt her. “So, to understand the terms of this wager better, I will explain carefully. If the coin lands on the sun, you will be able to pay off your debts and your daughter will be free to marry whomever she chooses, for I cannot imagine that you have chosen Lord Mantle for any other reason than because of your financial problems.” Her father had the decency to blush at this. “If the coin lands on the skull, I will take both your home and your daughter’s hand in marriage.”

  Hannah could not listen any further. “What of Miss Treesing? Are you not to marry her?”

  “No,” he said, a sadness in his voice. “She has gone.”

  So, she thought with indignation, the woman rejected him and now he comes to claim me, and by the flip of a coin, no less, just as he had before. He did not care for her; he cared only for the gamble.

  “Father, you must realize that the coin…”

  Her father raised his hand and gave her such a glare, she went silent. “You will do as I say and remain quiet,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. Then he turned to the Duke. “I will play your game.”

  A sob made Hannah turn toward her mother; she was dabbing at tears in her eyes. Hannah took her mother’s hand and they clasped each other as if to keep the other from drowning. The men seemed to take no notice of what their ridiculous behavior was doing to the women around them.

  Joseph coughed into his hand, and Hannah knew he was switching the coins and felt sickness rise in her throat. She held no hope, for she knew what would show when the coin landed—a skull.

  The coin twirled in the air and landed on the desk with a muted thunk, but Joseph slammed his hand over it before anyone could see what showed. Hannah, however, knew, and she hid her face in her mother’s chest.

  “It cannot be…” her father gasped. His tone was that of a man happily surprised, lacking the defeat she had expected.

  She looked up to see her father standing with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide.

  “Good fortune has returned to you, Mr. Newmont,” Joseph said as placed the piece of paper he had been holding on top of the coin. “You see, good things can come from the flip of a coin just as often as bad.” This he said as he looked at Hannah.

  Hannah could do nothing but stare in confusion as Joseph left the room.

  “Our home!” her father cried. “We are going to stay! I can now pay off the debts!”

  “And Hannah’s hand?” her mother asked.

  Her father waved his hand at her. “Oh, we will make up some excuse. Of course you do not have to marry him, my dear.” He placed his thumbs into the waist of his pants. “I did it,” he said, strutting. “I finally did something right.”

  Hannah walked over and picked up the piece of parchment Joseph had said included the terms of their marriage if he had won the toss and was shocked to find that the page was blank. Then she glanced at the coin he had left. She picked it up and stared at the image of a sun. Joseph had told her that good could come from a flip of a coin, and perhaps he was right, but he was not the type of man to rely on luck; his double-sided coin proved that.

  With shaky hands, she turned the coin over and sobbed when the other side did not present her with the skull as she expected. Instead, another sun shone up at her, a twin to the one on the other side.

  ***

  The carriage was just disappearing down the drive, and Hannah lifted her skirts and began to run after it.

  “Joseph!” she cried, the dust of the wheels choking her, but the carriage did not stop.

  Hannah stopped and dropped into a heap on the ground, the tears pouring down her face, as a thousand questions ran through her mind. He was gone and Lord Mantle would soon arrive. She no longer had to marry the man, but she also would not be able to marry the man who held her heart, and it was all her fault.

  “Hannah!”

  She turned to see Joseph running up the drive, his strides long.

  “Joseph?” she whispered as she struggled to pick herself up from the ground. Her legs shook beneath her, but he grabbed ahold of her arm to steady her.

  “I am so sorry,” he said, “for everything.”

  “I still do not understand. I thought you loved Miss Treesing.”

  “No,” he replied. “It was not until late last evening that I learned that my mother and Margaret had plotted against us. I had no idea; I swear to you.”

  Hannah took a small step forward. “The coin…” She held it out in the palm of her hand. “How did this come to be? I am confused…”

  He chuckled. “Before I explain the coin, there is something you must hear first.”

  She nodded.

  “The first time we met, I had placed a bet with Albert, that is Lord Whitely. You were correct about that. You see, I believed that the acceptance of the ton was all that mattered in my life, that and winning. But then I met you.”

  “I ruined it?”

  This time he laughed. “Not at all!” he said. “Don’t you see? You made my life all the better. As we courted and I learned more about you, I grew frustrated that you did not care what others thought. But then you called me a good man.”

  She furrowed her brow. “But you are a good man.” The words sounded strange to her ears, for she had buried that opinion beneath the pile of hurt she had suffered. “I always saw it. Granted, for a while I thought my opinion wrong, but you proved me right today.”

  “I realize that now. Since I was young, I believed that anything could be won with the toss of a coin. With you, though, I learned that you could not be won, at least not in that way. As we courted, I began to see the brighter side of life. That is what the sun represents. By you showing me this truth, I found myself changing.” He grabbed both her hands in his. “I never meant to hurt you, and I want you to understand that I swear, on heaven and earth, that I love you.”

  Hannah could not stop the tears that flowed as she placed the coin in her dress pocket. Retaking his hands, she gazed up at his handsome face. “I was hurt, but now I understand. There is something I have been wanting to share with you for so long, something I must tell you before Lord Mantle arrives.”

  “Yes, please, tell me.” His eyes held a pleading she found she loved.

  “I did not fall in love with a duke,” she said, “but a good man. A man who realizes his wrongs, and just like a moment ago, rights them. I love you, Joseph.”

  “And I love you, Hannah.”

  To hear her name spoken in the same breath as the word ‘love’ sent her heart flying. He pulled her into his arms and kissed as thoroughly as any woman could be kissed, and it brought her not only great joy but a healing for the hurt that she had endured.

  When the kiss broke, he smiled down at her, her hands still wrapped in his. “I cannot allow you to marry Lord Mantle,” he said. “That is, I wish you to marry me instead.”

  “Most certainly,” she replied with a smile she could not have muted if she tried.

  He embraced her once more and then they walked toward the house. Her parents waited on the steps, both wearing smiles.

  “Mother, Father, Joseph—that is, His Grace—has asked to speak with you.”

  “I assumed as much,” her mother replied. “I believe we would very much like to hear what he has to say.”

  The rumble of a carriage coming up the drive had them all turn.

  “Sadly, his journey was for nothing,” her mother said of the man who was just arriving. “I will speak with him. Go to the parlor.”

  They did as her mother bade, and within in only a few moments, the woman also came into the parlor. “Lord Mantle has left,” she said. “Not a happy man, but that is of no consequence.” She sat on the couch and smoothed her skirts. “Your Grace, you had something you wished to
tell us?”

  Hannah almost laughed. Her mother acted as if what Joseph was going to say was also of no consequence when she very well knew the subject of the conversation.

  “There are many things in life I have learned,” Joseph said when everyone was seated. “Hannah, however, has taught me the most important lesson of all.” He glanced over at her, and her heart swelled with love. He went on to explain all that had occurred, minus the coin flip that began it all, of course, and included how they both had been fooled.

  None of that mattered any longer, however. In her heart, Hannah knew, they would be together for always, for nothing stood in their way.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Epilogue

  The sun shone brightly as a cool fall breeze wafted through the air. Hannah pulled her shawl around her in an attempt to keep the chill off her. She and Joseph came to a stop at the end of the path, and he turned to face her.

  “Never have I seen a woman of such beauty,” he said as he smiled at her. “For as the days grow long, my heart yearns for her lips upon mine.”

  The words sent her heart into a flurry, and despite the passage of time, she found that he could still make her cheeks burn. “Is the Duke making a request for a kiss?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Oh, yes.”

  She pursed her lips. “I don’t know…” she said, trying to suppress her laughter.

  “You would refuse a kiss from your husband?” He appeared so shocked, she did laugh.

  “I might.”

  “What must I do to earn one?”

  She tapped her finger on her lips. Then, as if a thought had just come to her, she reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out two coins. “You have seen these before, have you not?”

  He chuckled. “I believe so, or I at least have heard the rumors.”

  “Well, those rumors are true,” she said firmly. “Though, it does not matter on which side it lands, for I will kiss you anyway.” A moment later, their lips pressed together, his arms pressing her against him.