“Many men have courted her since she became a widow. From ambitious squire to aging duke, even a foreign prince dangled the hint of a crown in her direction once. Every single one proved themselves merely fortune hunters. Fanny doesn’t have the best of luck when it comes to men. She’s become distrustful and wary of forming attachments, which is why she attempted to pay you off, I imagine. But I won’t let you slip away without fighting to make her see this is her chance to have everything she’s ever secretly wanted and was too afraid to reach for.”
Jeremy squinted at the duke. “What’s in it for you?”
The duke smiled. “Grandbabies.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. The duke was soon to become a father again and yet still wanted more babies in the family? “You ask too much.”
“There’s something in the way my daughter has softened since you’ve been around. I thought our little talk earlier might have propelled her to see you in a new light,” Stapleton admitted.
“She certainly did
, but clearly not the way you’d intended.” Jeremy shook his head and stood again. “It’s all very well for you to sit here discussing a future that will never come to pass. I’m done, and I’m seeing myself out now. Goodbye, your grace.”
The duke was on his feet and between Jeremy and the door before he realized his intent. “You can’t leave.”
“You can’t stop me,” Jeremy warned.
“If you return to the theater, what’s the chance that you won’t be reduced to dressing the principal actors again? You won’t have Fanny’s patronage to give them reason to cast you over someone with more experience. Fanny has loved the theater since she was a girl. You will see her again there, too.”
Jeremy blanched. Seeing Fanny sitting above him in the audience, so close and yet so far, wouldn’t be enjoyable. “If I don’t land a part without her patronage, I’ll find somewhere else to belong. Another company might take me on.”
“Is it easy for you to find somewhere to belong?” the duke asked.
A sick feeling churned in his belly, but Jeremy was no stranger to having to work hard. “I’ll do all right. Move.”
“No.”
Jeremy looked up at the duke. The man outranked him, and he outweighed him by several stone. Could probably box him into the floorboards, too. Jeremy didn’t want to end up in a physical altercation with the duke if he could help it but his time here had come to an end. His best defense had always been slipping away unnoticed, but the duke wouldn’t let him. “Please move.”
Stapleton shook his head. “You will stay and see what happens with Fanny.”
Jeremy squinted at the man. “Why are you really trying to keep me here?”
“I should have known you wouldn’t be convinced by my talk of legacy.” The duke chuckled. “All right, I want you to stay because I see something in you that I cannot ignore.”
“What is that?”
“Potential, beyond that of a mere actor.” The duke nodded. “Stay another week.”
“I can’t. It was Fanny who brought me here, and I swore to leave.”
“All right then. Leave.”
The duke suddenly unlocked the library door, caught Jeremy by the elbow, and dragged him out the huge front door. Although Jeremy tried to free himself, the duke had a surprisingly strong grip for an older man. He was also adamant Jeremy leave Stapleton with nothing more than the clothes on his back. Jeremy’s satchel had been left forgotten on the floor of the library.
The wide-open lawn and long, empty drive stretched before him. Freedom. He was on his own again. He should feel better about that than he did.
The duke extended his hand. “Mr. Dawes, I’m glad to have met you.”
“Thank you,” Jeremy replied as he shook it. “Thank you for having me.”
“My pleasure,” the duke said, as he suddenly spun Jeremy about so he faced the front door to Stapleton Manor once more. The duke shook his hand repeatedly. “So good of you to visit again, Mr. Dawes. How was your journey? I’ll have a servant prepare your new room in no time at all.”
Jeremy tried to escape the duke’s grip and couldn’t. “But I’m leaving?”
“No. You left. But now you are being welcomed back to Stapleton Manor as the Duke of Stapleton’s honored guest, not his daughter’s.” The duke laughed. “A simple solution, don’t you think?”
Jeremy stared at the duke in awe. “Now that is really splitting hairs, your grace.”