Page 54 of A Virgin for the Duke of Thorns

“You might not agree with my decision, but that is what must happen,” he bit out, all but slamming his empty glass back on the table as he glared at his friend. “My father set my mother on fire, Ethan. And you think that I, his son, who takes after him in nearly every way, should marry someone?”

He could not stomach the thought of harming anyone the way his father did, let alone one as bright and spirited and cheerful as Alice Barkley. He would only wear her down and kill the light in her eyes.

He heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor and looked up to find Ethan standing over him. His friend’s eyes were clouded with some emotion. Was it pity? He supposed he did present a rather pitiful sight.

“I am sorry.”

It was all Ethan said before he walked out of the dining hall without even sparing his miserable friend another glance. He did not care to elaborate and left Colin to wallow in his wretchedness.

Colin sighed as he poured himself more brandy. They would never understand him, nor the guilt and fear that plagued him ever since he had heard of his parents’ death. He had dealt with the aftermath, but people were bound to talk, and his father’s jealous fits were hardly a secret.

The ton would never accuse a deceased duke outright of murdering his own wife before killing himself, but there was talk of it. Colin had spent the last few years making sure that it never reached Evie, that she would be shielded from all the darkness that shrouded Blackthorn Estate.

He never thought that it would be Alice and her vivid green eyes who would stoke the fires and wake the beast that he had thought he had long put to sleep.

He sighed as he raked his fingers through his disheveled hair. None of them understood, and it was all for the best. He would bear the burden of his father’s sins alone, and when he died, Colin would make sure they died with him.

CHAPTER 22

Perhaps the best thing about a house party was the camaraderie that was to be shared amongst the young ladies in attendance.

Alice had rarely been invited to partake in these little soirées that happened much later after the official activities arranged by the hostess, so she was extremely happy when she and her sister were joined by Scarlett in her bedchamber after the young ladies were supposedly abed.

“Do you not think it strange how one minute the Duke of Thorns is all but devouring our Alice, and then the next minute, he could not stand to be near her?” Scarlett asked them with wide eyes. “I mean, Alice, dear, surely you have taken notice of his odd behavior?”

Alice nodded and looked down, feeling the heat creep up her face.

“Come now, Alice,” her best friend prodded her. “If there is something amiss with the man, you can tell me. I might be no match against a pack of Wolves, but I assure you I will set the man right if he hurts you in any way.”

“He has not hurt me!” Alice spoke suddenly, drawing the surprised stares of both her younger sister and her dearest friend. She pursed her lips in frustration. “That is to say, His Grace—Colin—has not harmed me in any way.”

Phoebe reached out to clasp her hand. “But you must surely feel that the way he treats you is rather… odd.”

Scarlett nodded like a chicken pecking avidly on grains. “For someone who declared himself to have fallen for you with just a single glance, he is hardly acting like the besotted man that he claims to be.”

“Because he is not… besotted with me, I mean.”

The redhead looked at her with furrowed brows. “Dearest, whatever do you mean by that? If that Wolf has started straying before he even?—”

“Our betrothal is a farce!” Alice finally admitted before Scarlett could carry on with her spiel.

The moment she said the words, a silence descended on the room. Two pairs of eyes looked at her in shock, but Alice felt much relieved. Like a boulder had just been lifted off her chest.

Phoebe was the first to speak, although her words seemed to tumble out of her lips incoherently. “Y-you cannot p-possibly?—”

Alice nodded glumly. “Oh, yes. I was well aware of it all. In fact, I consented to everything before he went over to Brandon Estate to talk to Papa.”

“Dear God in heaven!”

“I know!” she moaned in misery. “I am the worst daughter. I just thought that maybe if I pretended to have a betrothal, Papa would feel better, and then he would not?—”

Her words were cut off by a soft knock on the door. Her eyes widened as her head swiveled to see who else had come at such a late hour. A horrified gasp slipped her lips when she beheld Lady Evelyn standing in the doorway, still in her dress from dinner.

Lady Evelyn was pale as a sheet, and Alice noted a faint trembling in her lips.

“Evie!” Phoebe choked out, scrambling towards her friend. She clasped her hands with a look of genuine concern. “Your hands are as cold as ice, and you look like you have seen a ghost!”

Evelyn turned towards Phoebe with a faint smile. “I lost.”

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