Deceiving the Duke of Kerrington

Chapter Twenty-three

Pierce silently congratulated himself on his patience as he watched Noelle move to the settee, for all he wanted to do was to shake her until she gave him the information he yearned for. He refused to sit, instead opting to stand in front of her, his hands clenched in tight fists at his sides.

"My patience wears thin. I'd recommend you tell me the entire truth and make it quick," he warned.

Noelle cleared her throat and tried to gather her thoughts, before tentatively beginning, "Your Grace, this whole misunderstanding is all my fault. You see, I am indeed Noelle Parrish. The girl you have been spending time with was merely my lady's maid, or at least she was."

"Impossible!" he roared, "I said I wanted the truth and I very well meant it."

"No, it is the truth. I know it sounds preposterous, but if you would only let me explain, then you might understand. Her name is Hope Hillburn and she has been my maid for the last several years. This whole ordeal started before I ever knew about you and the...uh, the arrangement you and my father had made."

"What ordeal?"

"You see I met this man by chance, an American who caught my fancy." Noelle had to stop and wipe a stray tear that had escaped the corner of her eye. It was more painful than she imagined, speaking of Soren, but the callous look on the duke's face implored her to continue. "I knew there was no way I could possibly manage to meet with him unless I did something drastic. That's when I noticed the odd resemblance between Hope and myself. I begged, then nearly commanded her, to take my place so I could sneak out of the house disguised as her, a mere servant, and meet with him."

Pierce's jaw was clenched tight, as Noelle watched a muscle twitch in aggravation. He finally sat down in a nearby chair before running a hand through his thick hair. "I swear to you that if you are lying to me you will live to regret the day I ever met your father and won your hand in marriage."

Noelle nervously gnawed on her bottom lip, as she shook her head back and forth frantically. "You have my word that this is all true. When my father finally told me of the arrangement he had made with you, I was furious. I left that night to go tell the man, the American," she could still not bring herself to say his name, "what had happened. That's when he offered to take me away to America and make me his wife. I knew I had to convince Hope to take my place permanently."

Pierce snorted, "And of course, what servant wouldn't jump at the chance to act as a lady and marry a duke?" He could have sworn he saw red flashing behind his eyes. He felt angry and sick all at once, as he realized that he had been foolish enough to fall into the same trap as before. It was a different woman but the same story—she had been out to marry him for his title and his wealth. Maybe her motives had been different than Eliza's had, but the end result was the same. When the anger finally subsided, he hung his head in his hands and stared at the ground feeling utterly and completely defeated. It was as if his heart had stopped beating and his reason for living had disappeared with the elusive Hope. He groaned at the irony of her name, for at one time she had given him hope, and now that he knew the truth, it was as if she had taken that hope and dashed it into a million pieces.

Noelle watched Pierce slump in the chair and wished she could know what he was thinking. The silence stretched out before them in painfully long minutes. She could hear the clock on the mantle ticking away the seconds, and she thought she just might go crazy if she had to listen to the repetitious sound much longer. Finally, she cleared her throat and said, "If you truly believe that about Hope, then you don't know her at all."

Turning dark, cold eyes on her he spoke, "Apparently, I didn't know her at all; I didn't even know her real name, for crying out loud. And you—you were going to let me marry a servant while you gallivanted off to another country with some foreign man, all to satisfy some selfish desire. Did you think about anyone but yourself?"