VIVIENNE UNFURLED THE note for the tenth time. By now, the corners had become quite crinkled. She did not know how to respond. Captain Gronow—Rees, had sent her an invitation asking if she would accompany him to Vauxhall. She so desperately wanted to accept his invitation. Fiona had spoken about the various entertainment and magical nights that took place at Vauxhall. However, Vivienne was almost certain that Lady Torrington would not allow her to go unchaperoned, as Rees was suggesting.
There was also the matter of her ignoring Rees since his proposal to her. Vivienne had been stunned and flattered, but she still did not have an answer for the captain. Her traitorous heart hoped—no, held on to a thin thread for more. Sighing, she collapsed on the bed, thinking back to the conversation she and Fiona shared what seemed like eons ago. When her friend had told her she was waiting for Lord Berkeley to return her affections, Vivienne had been impressed by the dedication. Albeit now, she too fell in the same boat.
Maybe it was time to throw away her silly notions and agree to the captain's marriage proposal. The season was dwindling down, and it was not like she had received other offers. The duke's generosity had been for a season, she did not want to test or ask him for more. Especially not after all he had done for her already. Besides, he'd told her to find someone else and maybe it was time for Vivienne to follow his instructions.
There was a knock on her door Vivienne immediately stood up, fixing the few strands of hair that had slipped from her chignon. "come in," she called out.
She was surprised to see Preston, instead of a maid on the other side. The butler never came to her room and Vivienne frowned. "Is everything alright?" she asked.
Preston's face did not give away anything as usual. He merely bowed and said in his gruff voice, "His Grace would like to see you in his study."
Vivienne paused as unease grew within her. Had Captain Gronow already gone ahead and asked the duke for her hand in marriage? Because she did not have a guardian, most of the ton believed James fulfilled that role. She had asked Rees to wait before approaching him, but it was possible that he had not listened. When Preston still did not leave, she understood that he was waiting to escort her.
Following the butler, she descended the stairs, taking her time in walking to the library. In front of her, Preston walked impatiently fast, urging her to speed up. He stopped at the library door, motioning for Vivienne to go forward.
Vivienne took a deep breath, before knocking once politely. She did not wait for a response, and merely pushed the door to enter the library. Preston followed on her heels. Her gaze briefly went to the stack of books before narrowing on the door that led to James' study. The door was ajar, and Vivienne took that as a sign that he was expecting her.
She pushed the door open and entered. Her eyes landed on James, seated behind his desk, cravat and tailcoat haphazardly thrown into the chair beside him. The sleeves of his white linen shirt were pushed to his elbows, and she saw the muscles of his arms. Her cheeks turned pink as she saw him in only a stark white undershirt, sans waistcoat. He never dressed this casually in front of her before. His brandy-coloured gaze drank her in, and his eyes were darker than normal, almost taking a coffee-coloured tone. She did not know what was bothering him, but the underlying fury in his eyes was brazenly apparent.
Immediately, she avoided his gaze and instead fixated upon the mundane items in the room. Her eyes flew to the chess board, analyzing the move he had made earlier. Her fingers itched to move the white piece, but she stayed rooted in place. Somehow, she did not quite believe that he had called her for a chess match.
"Preston, shut the door and ensure that we are not disturbed," James said coldly.
Vivienne almost shivered, she had not heard him use that tone in quite sometime. She felt particularly small in the large study. The butler obeyed James's command and then it was just the two of them in the room. She could feel the tension, like a string that tugged tighter and tighter around her body.
"If this is about Captain Gronow's marriage proposal—"
His eyes flared a bright orange, "What proposal?"
She clamped a hand over her mouth and stayed silent. He had not known, and she almost blurted everything out unnecessarily. When she continued to remain silent, he pointed to the chair across from his large oak desk. "Have a seat Lady Vivienne."
She stayed rooted in her spot. Vivienne was not foolish. Whatever it was, they were not about to have a pleasant conversation. It was better for her to remain closer to the door and increase the distance between them.
"Do not make me repeat myself," he gritted his teeth, jaws tightening from the movement. "Have a damn seat."
Seeing the serious look upon his face, Vivienne crossed the few steps and slowly sank into the chair across from him. She wished she could melt into the leather instead of looking upon his face.
James held out his hand, "May I please see your necklace."
Vivienne frowned at the request but nevertheless, undid her chain before passing it to him. Her fingers brushed his as she passed them over and she paused for a second, as did he before quickly snatching them away. She was taken back to the time at Chalcott manor when James had made the same request of her.
"What is this about?" she asked, as he ignored her and instead inspected the chain of the pendent. A few seconds later, he pulled out a miniature of a little girl and continued his inspection. James' brows furrowed as he concentrated at whatever he was looking at. She could not help but ask the question, "who is she?"
He abruptly dropped her necklace on the desk, and it thumped loudly. She made move to grab it back, but he held it out of her grasp, looking up at her with hardened eyes. "Tell me Lady Vivienne, is that your first name?"
Vivienne's heart skipped a beat. She did not know where this was coming from. As far as the world knew, Vivienne was her given Christian name. Had James found something about her past, hence the reason as to why he was asking?
"Is it?" he prodded her again.
Under his watchful gaze she shook her head. "It is my middle name. According to Agatha, Vivienne was the name that my parents used instead of my first name."
"And what exactly is your full name?"
Vivienne's fingers fidgeted restlessly. She had not told anyone her first name. When Agatha told Vivienne her full name, the governess made her promise that she would keep it a secret. Agatha proclaimed that there were many who might take advantage of her if they knew of her name and supposed bloodline. She looked up to see James' eyes lit with anticipation. It was no use, he already knew—how, she did not know. The duke merely needed a confirmation.
"Selina Vivienne Moore," she said softly.
He inhaled sharply, before tossing the miniature closer to her. "You asked who that was before, well it's you"
Vivienne picked up the miniature, confusion lining her face, "I don't understand."
James laughed bitterly, "It is as simple as this Lady Selina," he said the name like it was poison, "that child in the miniature is you. Your father was the previous Earl of Westmorland."
Vivienne clutched her heart, shock and denial running through her body. "No, that's not possible."
James looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "Not possible? You told me that your father was an earl. The Earl of Westmorland died in a carriage incident with my father leaving behind a lost daughter named Lady Selina. Nobody knew where she was. Her uncle searched for years but it was all futile. All because you were using the name Vivienne, instead of Selina."
No, it could not be. Had Agatha stolen her away from her family then? Or had she truly been in danger like the governess always suggested? It explained why Agatha always told her to keep her name hidden. But how could her governess know such an important fact and hide it from her? Her heart broke, she had trusted Agatha, but it seemed like the governess had not always been truthful to her. The lines between truth and lies were now blurred and Vivienne was questioning everything Agatha had told.
She cleared her throat, "And my mother? Is she the dowager countess of Westmorland?"
If she had a mother and Agatha had kept her away from her, Vivienne could never forgive the governess.
There was a brief sadness that enveloped in the duke's eyes before it was gone. "The Countess of Westmorland passed before the Earl. She died during your childbirth."
So, she had no family, Vivienne thought bitterly. A part of her had always hoped, that there would be a home and parents to return to, but they were long gone, leaving her alone in this world. She had nobody, not even Agatha who once had been there when her parents had not.
"Why did you lie to me when I asked your name the first time?"
She forced herself to look at him, "You merely asked if Vivienne was my name. Since I've used it all my life, the answer was not incorrect. I did not lie to you, merely hid a part of the truth."
He laughed bitterly, "Deceitful and cunning is what you are," he shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe that I spent so much time and effort into making your life more comfortable when all this burden could have been easily avoided if you had just told me your name! Maybe this was your plan all along. To worm your way into my life so you could become a duchess."
Vivienne swallowed the bile in her throat as she heard his hurtful words. She had not been deceitful; she had merely done all that she could to protect herself. In a world where she had no father or other male figure to look out for her, Vivienne had learned to be intelligent and aware of the world. She could not believe the things James was accusing her of.
It was painful hearing that she had been a burden to James. Clearing her throat, she shakily got the words out. "I would never do such a thing to you. If you remember, I was on the brink of death before I happened upon your manor, but it is nice to finally see your true feelings. To accuse me of such things as if the last few months never happened is unkind."
She saw James open his mouth to interrupt but she continued, she needed to get the words out, even if it felt like her heart was being ripped into a thousand ribbon shreds. "If I am such a burden to you, then I'll write to Captain Gronow to accept his marriage proposal. That way, I can leave this townhouse and you can go back to living your life."
"You will do no such thing," the duke commanded, his voice echoing around the room and closing in on her.
Anger sparked in her chest. He had kissed her, called her cunning and deceitful, then admitted that she was a burden to him. She stood up and gave him the coldest expression she could muster. "You no longer have the right to tell me what I can, and cannot do. My guardianship is no longer in your hands, so I bid you adieu Your Grace."
Before she could leave and make her grand exit, a hand clamped around her right wrist stopping her. She gasped at the contact and bore into James' dark eyes. "Unhand me at once!"
James quickly let go but he also stood, ransacking his drawers as he pulled out a document pushing it towards her. "And that is where you are wrong. Lady Selina, your wellbeing is still of the utmost importance to me because you are my betrothed."
Vivienne looked at him blankly, "What nonsense is this? You think me a fool to accept whatever comes from your mouth? I know about your betrothal with Lady Cobham last season. I am no longer that naïve bluestocking you may believe me to be!"
James collapsed into the chair, looking a bit defeated, "Just read the document Vivienne," he said softly.
Her heart clenched at him using her name once again. Maybe it was the exhaustion, but she leaned over, and her eyes scanned the paper. What she read had her slipping into the chair once more, mind going in different directions.
"How is this possible?"
James sighed and shrugged his shoulder, "I find myself asking the same thing."
She placed the paper back onto the desk, as if it were on fire itself. Her anger fizzled out; it would not serve her well any longer. "Where do we go from here?" she asked.
"I don't know, but what I do know is that your uncle deserves to know that you are alive."
Vivienne's pulse quickened. So, she still did have family, an uncle then. She no recollection of his name or appearance but she hoped that he would be kind. As for James, Vivienne had been foolish. She had dreamed of marrying and loving the duke, but if it was this piece of paper that was keeping them attached, she did not want it. She wanted him to love her from his own free will, not because a contract had been signed between their father's years ago when they were infants. He clearly did not have a kind view of her and today had shown his true colours. She did not have to marry Captain Gronow either, but this revelation left her in a middle of chasm with rocks pushing forcefully on either side.
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Well, that didn't go as well as some may have hoped. On the other hand, everything is out in the open now, like many of you suspected, Lady Vivienne is actually Lady Selina. It will be interesting to see where they go from here, what do you guys think? In other news, thank you so much for getting this story to 16.5K reads! It was ranking #32 in Historical Fiction and #44 in Historical Romance this week.
Also, I've been thinking about changing the cover and would love for you to vote. Right here, in the in-line comments, write either 1,2,3 for which cover you believe fits the story best.