The American Duchess by Joan Wolf Page B

with the Duke he had been attacked by feelings of uneasiness and guilt. He knew he had been instrumental in bringing about this marriage. He had been sure he was doing the right thing. However, as he watched Tracy drive off in the impressive ducal carriage, his certainty had wavered. What had he done, trusting his girl to this unknown young man?
    So he searched her face carefully when she came into his suite, looking for evidence of happiness or pain. His first impression, as she blew into his drawing room like a fresh breeze, was that she glowed. But there was a shade of anxiety in her eyes, he thought, as she chatted with him easily and amusingly. He was not to know that the anxiety was for himself, that he seemed smaller to her, and grayer, and far too thin.
    Then the Duke was at the door and Tracy turned her face to him for a minute, before looking back to her father. The young couple stayed for perhaps twenty more minutes, and by the time they left, Mr. Bodmin was quite certain that everything was all right indeed.
    The next day, Mr. Bodmin called at the Duke’s town house in Berkeley Square and asked to see his son-in-law alone. The Duke took him into the library and offered him some Madeira, which the American accepted and sipped appreciatively.
    “I want to talk business with you, Adrian,” Mr. Bodmin began purposefully,
    The Duke was a little startled. He thought all that had been taken care of by the lawyers. But he nodded courteously and said, “Certainly, sir. What do you wish to say to me?”
    “It may seem strange to you that I did not tell you this before, but I wanted to wait until after your marriage. To be blunt, I wanted to satisfy myself that you could make Tracy happy.”
    “I see.” The Duke’s voice was cool . “And are you satisfied?”
    “Yes. There is a certain look in a woman’s eyes when she ...” Mr. Bodmin broke off and the two men looked at each other in perfect comprehension. Then the older man said simply, “I am a dying man, Adrian.”
    The Duke’s blue eyes darkened. “What?”
    “Yes.It’s my lungs. I’m done for, I’m afraid.”
    “Does Tracy know?”
    “No. And I don’t want her to know. Not until she has to. It shouldn’t take too long.”
    The Duke looked at the American for a minute, then said softly, “You are a brave man, sir.”
    Those words, coming from his son-in-law, meant something. Mr. Bodmin raised his hand a little, then said prosaically, “I am going home to settle my estate. I shall sell my ships; I know several people who will be interested. I should realize millions, Adrian, and it will all come to you.”
    “It will come to Tracy,” said the Duke quietly.
    Mr. Bodmin shrugged. “It’s the same thing, isn’t it, under English law?”
    The Duke frowned. “I don’t want your money, sir. The arrangements we made previous to our marriage were quite generous enough. Tie the money up in a trust for Tracy.”
    “Do you mean that?”
    “Yes.” The Duke’s voice was pleasant but adamant.
    “I guess I could do that.”
    “Certainly you could.” The Duke looked steadily at his father-in-law and said directly, “You needn’t worry about Tracy, sir. I shall take very good care of her, I promise you.”
    “Thank you, my boy. That is all that is important to me, really.” Mr. Bodmin put down his glass. “I’ll settle the money on Tracy, then, and on your children.”
    The Duke smiled faintly. “Thank you, sir.”
    “Well then, I think I’ll see if Tracy would like to take a drive with me.”
    “She is in the morning parlor, I believe,” the Duke said quietly. The two men looked at each other for a moment, and then Mr. Bodmin nodded and left.
    All the Duke could do for his father-in-law at present was to allow him the comfort of his daughter’s company as much as possible, and this he did, withdrawing from the scene with beautiful ease and tact. The couple made just one appearance at a large social function, a ball given by Lady Maria