Page 55 of Married to the Ruthless Duke

“My God,” she gasped, her eyes wide, “what is this?”

“A peace offering of sorts. I am really sorry about the way I acted at the ball. It was really uncalled for and grossly unfair to you,” he said with a remorseful tone.

“How were you able to prepare all this in such a short time frame?” she asked, smiling widely, one of her palms flattened on her chest in an expression of surprise.

Anything was possible when you had a matchmaking agency for house staff. It is said that if you wanted to get information about an aristocratic family, the staff had better information than a historical library. It was not quite surprising to notice that they had picked up on the tension between him and his wife, so the moment Alexander asked the cook to prepare food for a picnic, the entire household assembled, all eager to help, the cook and the housekeeper bombarding him with advice on how best to treat his wife.

Under normal circumstances, servants had no right to openly share their opinions with their employers uninvited, but Alexander had a unique relationship with his staff, as they had raised him from when he was just a boy and had struggled with him through thick and thin. They had become a makeshift family—an even better one than his stepfamily.

Besides, with their remarkable team effort, the picnic was set up with the speed of lightning. However, it was not necessary to repeat that to Helen. After all, a man should have his secrets.

In a few minutes, Alexander had Helen settled on a blanket on the floor, and she took her time admiring the spread before her.

“This is too much,” she said, turning to him. “You shouldn’t have done this.”

“Why? Is a man not allowed to prepare surprises for his wife?” he asked, a teasing smile playing on his lips.

Helen simply arched an eyebrow at his reply.

“Forgive me?”

There was a long silence, so long that Alexander was beginning to wonder what else he was supposed to do to earn her forgiveness.

“Why?” she asked softly. “Why did you react that way at the ball?” she elaborated, seeing the confused look on his face.

“As you know, my half-siblings do not like me very much and recently have decided to create scandals with me at the center simply to blackmail me into doing their bidding. It seems that they have decided to include you as a new pawn in their ridiculous game. When I didn’t see you at the ball, I admit I was scared that you were attacked or something even worse. It was worsened still by the fact that a man was following you from the ladies’ powder room. It appears that the moment I found you, you were just a few heartbeats away from becoming the main character in a scandalous story, and trust me, you don’t want to be notorious. It is exhausting.”

Helen could see that it was really exhausting. It must have been. Alexander had endured the brunt of the misinformation against him, since Society matrons were in support of the stories no matter how outlandish they sounded. It was probably exhausting to have such unbelievable rumors believed by every person in Society and be denied the chance to defend your honor.

It was quite a pity to be able to see how this man had been transformed from an innocent young boy who loved gardening and the outdoors to this man who sat across from her, who was cynical and closed off. She now appreciated the effort he was making in letting her in through the walls that had protected him over the years.

“I didn’t notice I was being followed,” she admitted softly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t consider what being in that house must have meant to you. I should have been more careful. And you do not need to do so much to earn my forgiveness. All I ask for is that you open up to me.”

* * *

Alexander did not like the look of pity in Helen’s eyes. He had only told her about his family to get her to understand him a little better, and so she could understand the danger she might be in. He was no longer that pathetic, little boy who had yearned for his father or his stepmother to show him some modicum of affection.

He was a successful businessman and a powerful figure in society, so he would prefer not to be pitied. To distract himself, he changed the topic.

“My sister’s wedding will be coming up in a week’s time. I trust you have things set for the event?” he asked her gently.

“That soon?”

“Yes, apparently my sister seems to be in quite a rush to get married. Something about not wanting to wait to be joined to the love of her life,” he said, snorting in a way that showed he didn’t believe that to be true in any way.

It was more likely Sophia wanted to snap the wealthy Earl before his family realized that she had probably lied about her personality and the financial background of her family, because the truth remained that his stepmother had managed to squander both the substantial funds settled on both herself and his siblings and had moved on to Sophia’s dowry most likely with the hope of blackmailing him into providing the money from his business.

They had sucked the estate dry so much that by the time Alexander was of age, he had inherited a shell of a dukedom with nothing except for the land and the castle which was entailed in the title.

He was sure if there had been a legal way to sell those off, his stepmother would have. His father had made the tactical mistake of making the sleazy Mr. Stephen the legal counsel for the dukedom and his legal guardian. It was unfortunate that the man was seduced by his wily stepmother, and he released information to her that was supposed to be professional secrets in order to please her. She had promptly dropped him after wringing him dry of information.

When Alexander grew older and heard about it, he had sworn to be a stronger man, not a weak man like his father and the unfortunate Mr. Stephen, who had tried to redeem himself by providing the information about the contract and some private dealings that had helped Alexander.

When he thought about his life, Alexander believed that it would make one amazing story for the opera, with its numerous plot twists that would keep the viewers on the edge of their seats.

Even he was surprised by how his life unfolded sometimes.

It was unfortunate that he could not resist the temptation of pulling the fresh and innocent Helen into the drama that was his life. The best he could do was prepare her as best as he could.

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