The American Duchess by Joan Wolf Read Free Book Online Page A

Papa?”
    “I said it would be up to you, that if you wanted to marry him, I would agree to the match.” She did not say anything and he went on, “I spoke to him of my concern for your happiness should you accept him and find yourself rejected by the English aristocracy. He assured me that you would not be rejected, that your position would be secure to you.”
    “A Duchess of Hastings must always be accepted, I suppose, no matter what her background,” Tracy said, keeping strict control over her voice.
    “He made no mention of your future position in his reply,” Mr. Bodmin said gravely. “His words were ‘There is a brightness and a grace about Tracy that would ensure her acceptance in any society.’ “
    Tracy smiled a little ruefully. “He is certainly a formidable young man.”
    “He is a kind of young man you have not met before. We do not have young men like that in America.”
    There was unmistakable admiration in Mr. Bodmin’s voice and Tracy said simply, “Would it please you to see me the wife of such a man, Papa?”
    “Yes, it would,” came the unhesitating reply,
    “Why?”
    “He represents a way of life I admire very much,” said Mr. Bodmin, and his eyes went to the window, to the wide, flawless lawn that stretched away below him. “When I think of my own life, I realize that my sole aim has always been to make money. I was successful, but I was always so occupied with earning money that I had very little opportunity to reflect upon its uses. What might one do with a life into which one has succeeded in introducing a fortune? I look around here and I see the kind of life that understands the uses of money, not just the making of it. I see grace and beauty and learning.” His eyes turned back from the window and rested on his daughter.
    “It is the kind of life I want for you, Tracy. You are not like me or like your dear mother either. You have been given a good education. You have an understanding of things like art and music and literature. I would like to see you given an opportunity to let those parts of you grow and flower as they would not in the America of today.”
    “When I used to think of marriage, I thought of a man very different from the Duke,” she said hesitantly.
    “You thought of Adam Lancaster, no doubt,” said Mr. Bodmin and Tracy flushed a little. “I have not a word to say against Adam, Tracy, and if he is the man you love I will welcome him as my son. But Adam is too like me. In his own mind, the only reason he was born was to wrest a fortune out of the world. And I have no doubt he will do it—he is well on the way, I should think. But, like me, he has no idea of how to use it when once it has been won.”
    Tracy had been listening to him very seriously, but as he concluded, she flashed a smile. “Confess now. Papa. You would love to see your daughter a duchess and your future grandson a duke.”
    He grinned. “I would,” he admitted. “But it is up to you, Tracy. My feelings do not enter into this question at all. You are to do what will make you happy.”
    “I will think about all you have said. Papa,” she replied softly, and he rose from his chair, kissed her good night and went off to his own room.
     

Chapter 7
     
                                              I might call him
                         A thing divine, for nothing natural
                         I ever saw so noble.                                                                                           Shakespeare
     
    Tracy slept very little that night. She went over and over again what her father had told her. “My feelings do not enter into this question at all,” he had said, but of course they did. Knowing what she now knew, it was more important than ever that she do what would make him happy. She would have few,