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He was bowing and scraping before her parents, which gave Olivia an excellent view of his potato-shaped nose and pendulous lower lip It occurred to her, not for the first time, that she was set to marry the sort of man whom people wished were invisible Or if not invisible, at least silent She sed hard

"Now," His Grace announced, "I would never be clear in my conscience if I wasn’t absolutely certain that Miss Lytton wished this union with my son as dearly as we do A pro person into holy matrimony"

"Told him that myself," Rupert said, with palpable satisfaction "No one could force s don’t answer"

"No one is trying to clip your wings," his father snapped

Mr and Mrs Lytton looked at their prospective son-in-laith identical expressions of alarm and confusion

"My sonMiss Lytton once he has returned from his military service," the duke clarified

Mrs Lytton’s eyelashes flutteredto do our name proud," Rupert put in "Glory, and all that"

The duke cleared his throat, glowering at his son "The question of the moment is not your intent to prove your military prowess, Son, but whether Miss Lytton cares to wait for you until you have returned The poor lady has been betrothed to you for some time"

Rupert’s face twisted into an allory for the sake of the family name," he said to Olivia "What I mean to say is, I’m the last of the line The rest all killed in the Culleron Door"

"Culloden Moor," his father said "The Jacobite rising Fools, every one of them"

"I co the iht grip "I’ll lory, you understand"

"Of course," Olivia htest about hter," Mrs Lytton told Rupert "She ait for you without a second’s thought For ht this was a bit e of the timetable If her parents had their way, she would indeed wait another five years for Rupert to wander back to England, wreathed in glory--or, no: men of his type should not be handed a penknife, let alone anything as lethal as a sword

"No, my dear lady," the duke said to Mrs Lytton "One can hardly trust a hter’s heart"

Mrs Lytton opened her mouth to dispute this statement; without question, she considered herself to have plu but an engraved plaque that read Future Duchess of Canterwick

But the duke raised a hand, politely but firmly Then he turned to Olivia She dropped another perfectly calibrated curtsy

"I shall speak to Miss Lytton in your library," His Grace announced "Meanwhile, Rupert"--he all but snapped his fingers--"do inform Mr Lytton about the situation in France My dear sir, thethe situation with sorave dangers posed by the debacle on the other side of the Channel"