The Duke's choice

Chapter 5

Lucy, was a beautiful name it rolled off of his tongue with ease. " I am Grayson Pierrepont, Marques and heir to the Dukedom of Kingston. May I have the pleasure of your company, maybe a stroll through the garden?"

Lucy looked to her grandmother, and then back at him. " My lord, I am not sure that my grandmother would allow me to go into a strange garden. Especially without a proper chaperone."

Grayson looked to her grandmother," Lady Clinton, if I was to find another couple to accompany us would that be all right with you?"

Joyce nodded," I think that would be wise don't you think, your Grace." She could see the way he looked at her granddaughter. He must be after her for a reason, and money wasn’t it.

Lucy watched as Payton walked up to the group with a gentleman. His Grace smiled at the gentleman, " Dalton, would you consider escorting this young miss to the gardens?"

Dalton looked at Payton, he absolutely head over heels for the beauty. " I would love to, Miss Payton would you like to take a stroll around the garden?"

Lucy looked at Payton, she was silently pleading her to go. Payton looked at Lucy," Only if my cousin was to accompany us."

Grayson smiled" then that is settled, Lady Clinton do we have your approval?'' He watched as she smiled and gave them the approval nod.

" I expect that Lucy dear you shall be on your best behavior? I want you back here in thirty minutes, no longer." Joyce had that twinkle in her eye, she wouldn't say much if they were late. Her granddaughter had caught the eye of a future Duke. That was good enough for her, she just hoped that an offer was made for her hand soon.

Grayson held his arm out for Lucy to take, as she slipped her arm around his. They walked to the doors that would lead out to the garden. Lucy was nervous, she had no clue what to expect. She had never been to a strange garden on the arm of a strange man.

Grayson was a handsome gentleman, it just frightened her on how he made her feel. She had never felt so alive in someone's arms before. She had nothing to compare it to, and what if he didn't feel the same way? He let go of her arm as they walked out the door, she felt an emptiness that wasn't there before. She didn't like it very much, so when he again took her arm she felt whole.

Grayson smiled down at her," so how do you like the ball so far?"

Lucy smiled," It's my first ball, your Grace. I really don't have anything to compare it to."

Grayson smiled," that shall change, you will be invited to every ball and party. You are the belle of the season, everyone will want to invite you to their parties. I hope that I am at liberty to ask, if I might escort you to some of those functions?"

Lucy frowned, he noticed she had dimples. He knew what she was about to ask him, Sarah. He needed to explain to her that she is nothing to him. That Sarah had spoken out of turn, and that he had made no concrete claims to her. He needed to explain the whole thing, before someone else did.

Lucy looked up at him," who is that blonde girl, she must mean something to you. She called you darling, I am not a fool sir. I would hope that you could clear up that matter. I will not be used in any matter, I was raised better than that."

Grayson was stunned, the chit had a mouth on her. He wasn't sure if he liked that or not. He needed to find out more about this girl. There was just something about her, he couldn't quite put his finger on it yet. He wasn't going to let Sarah go yet, he needed to make sure that he made the right choice.

" Sarah, is another girl in whom I am interested in. I want to find the right lady to be my wife, the lady I marry has to be able to withhold all the duties of a Duchess. Not any girl will do, so there fore I am searching for the right girl with Duchess material." Grayson thought he had explained it rather well, till he saw her face.

Lucy was appalled at what he had said, here she was feeling all these sparks at his mere touch. To only find out he was playing the field, she would not be one of his pawns in his game. " I am sorry your Grace, but I think you should know immediately who will be good enough for the role of Duchess. I must take my leave, I can not be a part of this scheme of yours."

Before Grayson could stop her, she curtsied and grabbed Payton's arm and walked back into the ball. Grayson was stunned, and his friend Dalton patted him on the back. " Grayson, that is one of a kind and you ran her off in minutes. If I was you I would forget about Sarah, that girl is Duchess material. Besides, you never tell a lady about your ill advised plans of picking which one is the lesser of two evils."

Dalton walked away laughing, leaving a stunned Grayson behind. He was right, how he messed things up so bad he couldn't begin to explain. He needed to find Lucy and explain what had happened. As he went back inside, she was no where to be found. Great! Now what was he going to do, she was the one for him. He just messed up royally, he needed to fix this.

He decided to leave the ball in hopes of catching her before they were gone for good. As he raced outside to catch Lucy, he watched as she stood with her grandmother waiting for their carriage. He walked over causally to them, hoping to catch them.

Joyce smiled as she saw the Marques walking towards them. She knew how Lucy was and how the child could take things to heart. If he was chasing after her now, that was a good sign.

As he approached them, Joyce smiled at him, " your Grace." She knew it, he wasn’t able to stay away even if the child was a little outspoken. That was a good sign, she couldn’t have hoped for better for her granddaughter. She knew that Grayson was the heir to Charles estate. She knew the family well, she grew up near the estate. She knew he came from a good family.

Grayson nodded at her," Lady Clinton, I wanted to ask if you would allow me to call on your granddaughter in a day or two." He didn’t want to think this might be the last time he saw Lucy. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to keep away from her. There was something about her that made him want her in so many ways. Even in his bed underneath him would be even better. He could feel his manhood start to stiffen at the thought.

Joyce smiled at him,” That would be fine your Grace, Lucy will be happy to see you.” She looked at her granddaughter who stared at her with daggers. She knew that she wouldn’t be so upset if she didn’t have feelings for him. Joyce did believe in love at first sight. Her daughter Devon, had fell in love the minute her eyes laid on Hugh. So it was in the girls blood, she knew it was true.

Grayson smiled, he couldn’t wait to see Lucy on a daily basis. He wouldn’t let no man steal this ripe for the picking debutant. Lucy was his, she didn’t know it yet but she would find out real soon. He just needed to keep Sarah away till he found out if Lucy was the one. He felt the sparks and tingles with Lucy, never with Sarah.

He needed to make a decision on who was going to make the best Duchess. The only problem was, what if they found out about each other? What was he going to do then? He just needed to keep his head about him, it would work out in the long run. He just couldn't mess this up, he wanted to be sure he choose the right girl. After all he was going to be stuck with her for the rest of his life.