Page 53 of The Duke and the Runaway Bride

“Tell me what happened,” he instructed.

“This!” Beatrice hissed, holding up the newspaper. “Oh, my goodness! I stole it from him. I never meant to take it with me when I ran out of there, but I didn’t know what to do. Did I make a fool of myself? Did anyone notice?”

“I’m not going to lie to you, Beatrice,” Edwin told her. “Everyone saw you run out of there. Let me see that.”

“Here,” Beatrice said, tapping the paper before handing it to him.

Edwin took the paper and read the article. It was all about Beatrice, or ratherthe Runaway Bride. It told the story of when she had run away from the first man she was promised to, the one who had married her younger sister in her stead. Her family had told everyone that she was sick, and that was why she had left London, but the writer of the article had other ideas.

The article suggested that Beatrice was not sick after all, and the entire story was a lie. It mentioned that she had fallen in love with a commoner and had lain with him before marriage, thus getting pregnant with his child. As a result, she fled to the countryside to have the baby, and then she gave the baby away to a local convent.

The article finished by wondering whatthe Runaway Bridemight be planning for her next scheme.

Edwin let out a sigh, before he folded the newspaper and placed it on the seat opposite. When he looked at Beatrice, he knew exactly what she was thinking. She was ashamed.

“It is not true,” Beatrice said defiantly. “None of it is true except for the running away part. I did run away because I did not want to marry the Duke of Hayward, and I did flee to a friend’s house in the countryside, but I was not with child. You must believe me, Edwin. I have not slept with another man. We can ride to my friend’s estate, and you can talk to her. I know you will have to take her word for it, but I am sure she can convince you. Talk to my family also. If I were with child at any point in my life, they would have known. Talk to my father and mother and any of my sisters. Talk to the twins. If they knew, they would have teased me about it endlessly.” She took his hands in her own. “Please, I am not lying to you about this.”

Edwin held her gaze. “When I married you, I believed you were untouched, and now I learn you are lying with commoners. Is that why you used to sneak out at night?”

“No! I have done no such thing—I only snuck out because of boredom, but I never met any men in that way,” Beatrice pleaded. “I would not lie about this to you.”

Edwin smiled. “I am afraid I have made a rather inappropriate joke. I could not help myself. Perhaps the champagne was at play.”

“What?”

“My dear, I knew you were still a maiden the first time I took you. You have slept with no man other than me.”

Beatrice furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of what he was saying. “I don’t…”

“I believe you,” Edwin stated. “I know through making love to you that I am your first. I might not have known you for long, and you do have a history of scheming, but I know you are being honest with me.”

Beatrice threw her arms around him. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no reason to trust me, and it is all my fault. I don’t know what I’m going to do now, but I will make this right.”

Edwin pulled back and took her by the shoulders. “I have plenty of reasons to trust you,” he said. “Firstly, what happened before our marriage is your own business, and I was the one who made you marry me. Since then, you have been nothing but trustworthy. Secondly, this is not your fault. You ran off instead of getting married, and that was wrong—understandable but wrong—but it does not give someone the right to publish this. These are outright lies. Thirdly, you do not need to do anything. Someone is attacking you, and that means they are also attacking me. I will put an end to this.”

Beatrice blinked away the tears as she faced her husband. “You are far too good to me. I mess things up wherever I go, and you have only been decent and loyal. I am in your debt.”

“You are in no one’s debt,” Edwin assured her. “Come here.”

He wrapped his arms around her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“I will take care of this,” he promised.

He did not know how he would take care of it, but he knew he would.

ChapterTwenty-One

Preparations To Debut

“The most important thing to always remember is to remain polite and cordial at all times,” Beatrice advised. “No matter what happens, and no matter what anyone says or does, you must keep your composure and always act like a lady.”

She did not know if she was the best person to give out advice, but she did have a lot of experience on what not to do.

Beatrice and Elizabeth strolled through the manor in their finest dresses. Elizabeth would debut soon, and while she was mostly ready, it did not hurt to make some final preparations. It also helped to take Beatrice’s mind off the recent article in the scandal sheets.

“What if someone says something in your presence that is not true?” Elizabeth asked.

Beatrice wondered for a moment if the Duke’s younger sister was talking directly about the scandal, but Elizabeth was not like that. It was an innocent question.

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