Maid for a Duke (A Christmas Novella)

Chapter 19

"You are requesting to cancel the engagement?"

Elijah glanced to his mother as she held The Duke if Sussex's stare. There had to be an agreement to break up the engagement. Elijah understood his hesitation. If they did that, it would not only be a scandal, but it could make things worse for Lady Elizabeth. If it went as planned, hopefully that wouldn't happen.

Elijah had rounded up Lady Elizabeth and William as fast as he could. He found them in her secret spot in the middle of an intense kissing session. He couldn't help but smile and laugh when he saw them. William had always been somewhat of a free spirit, so it was interesting to see him so smitten with Lady Elizabeth.

Elijah cared for Lady Elizabeth in a sisterly way, and if he didn't believe William really was in love with her, he would not even be considering this. Elijah wanted to tell Katherine about The Duchess' plan before they had this meeting, but time was of the essence. He wasn't worried about it; if all went well, he could tell her after.

Then they could start the rest of their lives together. He couldn't help but smile at that. The thought of going to sleep and waking up next to her every day made him ecstatic. There would be no more sneaking around, no secrets. Although that was fun, he wanted to show her off to the world.

When Elijah glanced to Lady Elizabeth, who was sitting next to her father, he thought she was looking at him. It took him a second to realize that she had her eyes on William, who was standing directly behind Elijah.

"This is not the way of things," her father stated.

"We understand that, Duke. But this is a rather interesting situation." The Duchess replied.

"How so?"

"Our children appear to be in love. With other people."

Elijah tensed when he saw the Duke's reaction. The Duke appeared surprised...and angry.

"How is this possible?" He asked the Lady Elizabeth.

Lady Elizabeth smiled as she kept her eyes on William. "I met William the night of the masquerade ball. We talked for hours. After that, he...courted me."

When Lady Elizabeth met her father's stair, Elijah could tell she knew her father was suspecting that William might have ruined her.

"He is a gentleman, Father. He comes from a good family. His father is a hotel developer."

Her father's eyebrows rose with interest at a glance to William. "Well, that is something."

William stepped from around Elijah and approached the Duke. "Your Grace, I am in love with your daughter. I can provide for her and give her a happy life." William looked from Elizabeth to the Duke and offered his hand. "With your blessing, I would like to marry her."

The Duke got to his feet and hesitated before he shook William's hand. He looked down at his daughter as he said, "All my life, the one thing I wanted was for her to be happy. If this is what she wants, I accept."

They were relieved sighs from all parties in the room as Lady Elizabeth got to her feet and hugged her father. "Thank you, Father!" She exclaimed as tears of joy tears streamed down her face.

Elijah couldn't do anything except stare as shock and excitement filled the room. It actually worked. Lady Elizabeth could marry the man she loved and Elijah could marry the woman he loved. Even though he was determined to make sure this was the outcome, there were still doubts in his mind. That's what led him to ask Katherine if she was willing to run away with him.

William's hand suddenly clapped Elijah on the shoulder, startling him from his thoughts. "Looks like we are both getting what we want for a change."