A Duke and A Damsel

A Duke and A Damsel--Chapter 30

Arjun didn't say anything. Instead he sat down, appearing to be deep in thought. His calmness only succeeded in infuriating Blake more.

“Well, why aren't you saying anything? Aren't you going to defend yourself? Apologize maybe? Admit that for once your so called brilliant plan wasn't actually so brilliant after all? Say something, goddamnit!”

Blake opened and closed his mouth several times trying to decide if he should say anything else or not. Finally, he decided against it.

“You look like a fish,” Arjun told him.

Blake looked affronted and glared at him.

“Seriously!? That's it!? That's all you have to say?”

“Actually, no,” Arjun replied, unperturbed, “I think you should be thanking me. My plan worked out perfectly.”

Blake stared at Arjun, flabbergasted that his friend would even suggest such a thing.

“Are you out of your mind, Arjun? I don't see how anything about this situation is perfect. I'm engaged to the woman I love because it's been announced in the papers, and I can't marry her.”

“Why can't you?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because I can't. I won't.”

“That's not a reason. You can't think of anything, can you? Because deep down, you're thrilled that you're engaged to the woman that you're in love with.”

“She deserves to marry for love. And I might love her, but she doesn't love me. Her happiness means more to me than anything else.”

“Blake, did she ever tell you why she was desperately searching for a husband?”

“No, but I assume it's because she's of a marriageable age and doesn't want to end up an old, lonely spinster. She's probably had three or four seasons by now? Even I would be desperate to find a husband after three or four unsuccessful seasons. I don't understand why this is relevant.”

“Did she ever tell you that she's an heiress?”

Blake looked at Arjun, perplexed.

“No, but I still don't understand why this is relevant.”

“Emma being an heiress means that over the course of her seasons, she has probably received quite a few proposals, which obviously she has turned down. This suggests that you're right, she wants to marry for love. However, the fact that she wants to marry for love probably means that it wouldn't matter to her how many seasons she had to wait until the right man came along, yeah?”

Blake nodded slowly, not able to deny Arjun's logic so far but also not sure where he was going with this.

“So then why would she suddenly wish to marry in such haste, accepting the first man who proposed to her this season, instead of waiting the season out?”

Suddenly, it dawned on Blake what Arjun was trying to get at.

“Are you trying to tell me that she can't access her inheritance unless she gets married?”

Arjun smiled.

“It took you long enough to make that connection. Yes, she does. And she needs access to her inheritance because she is in need of a great deal of money.”

“How come?”

Arjun looked a bit uncomfortable as he relayed the next bit of information.

“Well, she didn't tell me, but from the gossip mills, it seems that her father is quite the gambler and is quite heavily in debt. If he doesn't pay off his debts by the end of the month, there is danger of him being shipped off to Australia to the debtor's prison. Emma and her mother would lose everything.”

Blake wasn't sure why he had never heard this bit of information if it was such a hot topic of gossip, but Arjun had his ways of finding out even the most obscure things in society. It didn't surprise him that he would have such information.

“I still don't understand why you're telling me all this. So what? She needs to find a husband by the end of the month to bail her father out. That's even more of a reason for me to let her go. In fact, she doesn't even need to get married. I can give her the money she needs. I know she won't accept it unless I let her pay me back, which obviously I won't allow. Is there a way to give her the money anonymously? Yes, that would be perfect actually. Arjun, I never thought I would advocate this, but I need you to come up with a plan.”

Arjun stared at him, dumbfounded.

“Blake, are you daft? Either that, or you're more drunk than I thought.”

“Are you kidding me right now? This is like the third insult you've thrown at me in the course of this conversation. I thought we were supposed to be friends.”

“We are friends. Which is why I will bloody well tell you when I think you're acting like an ignoramus. Don't you see that this is the perfect opportunity for you to convince Emma that you're perfect for her? What are you afraid of, rejection? It's not like you never experienced that back in India. Deal with it, pursue her, make her realize that she can't live without you. Don't give up on her. Not everyone gets a second chance like this.”

Arjun's expression darkened, and Blake immediately felt a twinge of sorrow on his friend's behalf.

“You're still not over it?” he asked quietly. “It's been so long, and you don't talk about it anymore. I just assumed that you had moved on.”

“I've tried to, but I can't seem to forget. That's why I came here. I needed to get away from the memories.”

Arjun's expression suddenly cleared as he realized that this was not the direction the conversation was supposed to be going.

“However, we're not here to talk about me, and you will not be escaping these memories. We're going to call on Emma first thing tomorrow morning actually. You're going to ask her to take a walk or drive through the park, and you are going to tell her exactly how you feel. Is that understood?”

“But, Arjun, are you ok? And I don't think that's a good idea.”

“I'm fine. You're right, it was a long time ago and I'd be best off forgetting about it. And it is a good idea, you're just scared. This is your chance to get what you want and to save the title. Don't screw it up. See you in the morning.”