Page 5 of A Virgin for the Cruel Duke

But this was enough, Elizabeth felt, closing her eyes tight so that she wouldn’t have to let the tears fall. This was what a mother’s blessing was meant to feel like. This was all that she really wanted. She squeezed Mrs. Adams back and whispered, “Thank you,” and hoped that it said everything that she meant in her heart.

“I really cannot thank you enough, sister,” Dudley said, his long legs crossed as the carriage carried them towards the church. “Your generosity and self-sacrifice will not be quickly forgotten by the family, I assure you.”

Lottie made a loud sniggering noise and Elizabeth wondered if she thought the Duke of Seymour would approve of his wife making such a vulgar sound.

“Is the Duke of Westall really wicked, Dudley?” Rose asked. She was the youngest, and she should perhaps have been the sweetest. Elizabeth could still remember when she was a little baby, all rosy cheeks and those wide eyes of innocence.

Their gazes met across the carriage. There was no innocence in Rose anymore. There was nothing in this whole family but malice and misery.

“I couldn’t possibly scare my sweet sisters so terribly,” Dudley said. “Exposing your delicate ears to the tales of his villainy? And so close to our sweet Elizabeth’s marriage to the devil? Oh! It would be too cruel for words!”

“You can’t simply tease us and leave us wondering,” Lottie said, her fan dropping to her lap and her eyes sparkling with merriment. “I’m sure that Elizabeth will appreciate any truth about her intended in the spirit in which it’s meant, won’t you Lizzie?”

Elizabeth looked at her steadily, but said nothing. It was always best for her to say nothing when they were like this. They circled her sometimes, like hungry beasts tracking their prey. They surrounded her and if she was still and quiet and gave no sign of the blood they were drawing they got bored and went away.

“You are quite right of course, Lottie,” Dudley said, slapping his thigh. “I had not thought about how it might be useful for Elizabeth to know what she must be careful of with her new husband.”

Of course sometimes they were just encouraged to try harder.

Dudley leaned forwards, his face twisted into a mimicry of concern. “Now, Elizabeth. I have met your intended several times, and quite a few of those times were with a sword in my hand. The first thing you should know about Westall is that the man has a temper that would put the devil himself to shame. One time I was trying to retreat from the field after winning the first blood, and he was so enraged that he came at me with his bare blade and tried his best to cut me open with it.”

Lottie and Rose gasped, their hands going to cover their mouths and Elizabeth raised both her eyebrows. It would be rude to roll her eyes at him. She would not do so, no matter how much she wanted to.

“It was only the involvement of our seconds that saved my life, that day,” Dudley said. “He is a fiend when things go against him, but he is even worse when they go for him. One time when he had disarmed me and all should have been ended, he came forwards and ground the heel of his boot into my hand.” He turned his left hand, showing the faint scars across its back. “He said ‘that will teach you to try to best me, you young cur, you’ll think of this next time you raise a sword against me’.”

“The scoundrel!” Lottie said, heat in her voice.

“How can it be borne,” Rose said. “You must have gone back to teach him a lesson, brother darling, you must!”

“Of course I tried,” Dudley said, attempting an expression of modesty which fit very poorly on his face. “But the man is such a slippery fellow. One cannot fight him fair and to his face and one cannot trust him to leave be once the fight is done. He is all temper and cunning, like a howling dog.”

Rose wrapped her arms around Elizabeth’s shoulders. “Oh we are so fortunate to have a sister who will save us all from him!”

“Aren’t we?” Dudley said, meeting Elizabeth’s gaze and smiling.

Was it possible that even this man could be worse than her own family? Elizabeth wondered.

But then he had warned her not to provoke him.

And he was so tall. So strong.

“Of course his sisters are no better,” Lottie said sharply. “That older one with all of those strange ideas, she’s loud and coarse. If I ever find myself in company with her I quickly make my excuses, it’s just impossible to have a normal conversation with her.”

“And the younger, she’s not even out yet,” Rose said. “And she’s eight and ten! It’s all because the older one just won’t abide a man, but I can’t imagine that the younger is much better. I’ve heard she’s touched in the head.”

“That or she has some sort of disease,” Lottie said. “That would explain why she’s so old and hasn’t any suitors.”

“Of course it might just be because she is rather plain.” Rose tittered here, her smile broad and her cheeks dimpled.

“The brother is awful too,” Lottie said. “Going after Dudley the way he did, he must be quite mad! He very nearly killed him!”

“I wouldn’t say nearly,” Dudley demurred. “He was lucky, that’s all. I was feeling quite ill on the day.”

His sisters petted him and Elizabeth swallowed, her stomach churning as they drew ever closer to the church. This was what her life was going to be, was it? An angry violent man and a family who hated hers and wanted them dead?

She could certainly tell that the Duke was dangerous when she first met him, it was in the controlled liquid way he moved, the broadness of his shoulders and the quick way his gaze assessed everything around him. It was frightening but it also made a part of her thrill a little, like liquid excitement in her veins. She had never felt it before.

The carriage drew up and rumbled to a stop and there was a flurry of activity as the Duke came over to help his little girls down and fuss over them. There was so much of a fuss, so much going on that Elizabeth didn’t notice until too late that she was on her own with Dudley.

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