Page 66 of Taken By the Beastly Duke

She could imagine it.

Even with the terrible scars on his face, he was still one of the most beautiful men in England. He would have had an endless number of women eager to be charmed by him then. Even now, she knew perhaps if he smiled as he did with her, that she would have to fight women off of him.

"I can imagine that." She laughed. "But were your affections never engaged or did no young maiden make you want to amend your ways?"

Her tone was light but it was obvious her question had ruined the light mood that existed between them.

She already knew the answer to the question she had asked him since Theo had revealed the results of his unsolicited investigation but had asked anyway, wanting to see if he would trust her enough to reveal a secret only a handful of thetonknew.

"I was engaged previously." He answered.

"Really? To who?" she asked excitedly, then remembering she was to feign ignorance, she fixed her face into a contemplative look.

He shot her a funny look.

"I don’t think I should reveal that information." He answered. "But I can tell you it was a short lived affair."

"Why?"

"She could barely look at me after I returned from the continent and quite literally begged me to end it."

"Oh."

There were no words she could form that would sufficiently convey what she truly felt.

He looked distraught, as if talking about it pained him, but spoke nonetheless and she wondered if he were starting to trust her.

"I saw her at the ball yesterday." He added not meeting her eyes.

"Is that why you wanted to leave?" she asked already knowing the answer to her question.

He looked startled for a moment then a barrage of emotions flittered around his face as though deciding if he wanted to go down the honest route.

He sighed and nodded then and it took her almost a minute to hide the smile that stretched her face.

Victoria truly had not expected him to answer her honestly and it only made her to ask more probing questions to utilize this mood as best as she could to fully understand the man she had married.

* * *

"Did you love her?" Victoria asked surprising him which had been her custom with each day that went by.

Her questions were always bold and she never hesitated to speak her mind which was a far cry from the training debutantes received.

Her face held a questioning yet patient look as he regarded her question. It wasn’t at all hard to answer as he had never been in love with Rose. Not even remotely.

"No." He answered tonelessly. "I did not so her rejection did not hurt in the way one would expect. We were betrothed at infancy and grew to only tolerate each other. There were no feelings of that nature between us."

"But her rejection still stung." She added looking thoughtful.

"Alas it did." He nodded. "But not for reasons you might have thought. I knew it would be hard for anyone to accept me even when I were yet to accept myself but I had harbored a kindling of hope that perhaps not all would reject me. She only made me fully aware of the new reality my scars had created for me and I can thank her for it or I would have harbored delusions that perhaps thetonwould accept me with little difficulty."

"Hmm." She answered with a nod. "I am sorry that you were made to feel that way. Your scars do not entirely define you. They are a part of your appearance now, yes but ultimately, it is the man beneath that matters. I hope that you have come to accept that now."

She was making him start to but he did not answer. There was no way he would phrase that that would not stun her.

Anthony is surprised when Victoria leans forward to kiss him, her lips soft and pliant against his, sending words of comfort that he would have rejected in the past.

He buries his hand in the hair at her nape and makes no move to deepen the soft kisses they shared.

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