Chapter 7

Her father gave her another of his sharp, assessing looks, as if he’d somehow picked up a note of protest in her tone, though there hadn’t been even the faintest hint of one. “You don’t have to marry him, Anna. No one’s going to force you. It’s not the Middle Ages after all. But the logical thing to do is to get all the information so you can make an informed decision.”

She didn’t know how he’d managed to pick up on her reluctance, not when she’d barely acknowledged it herself. Or perhaps it wasn’t reluctance, only surprise due to the unusual nature of the request.

Whatever, her father was right. She needed to gather all the information before making a decision, in which case accepting the Duke’s invitation was the logical thing to do.

Really, she was viewing this with far too much emotion, especially when she didn’t even know what kind of proposal the Duke was going to put forward. It clearly wasn’t going to be a real marriage, not when they’d never met. Perhaps