Page 71 of My Cruel Duke

“Rufus!” He called out again while working the upper buttons of her dress to release her neck.

Rufus came running, confusion etched on his face as he neared his master. He had faintly heard his master’s voice calling for him the first time and ignored it because he thought he was hearing things, but after the second time, he wagered it was reality.

“Y-Your Grace,” his eyes widened when he took in the scene; the duchess laying on the ground with the duke on top of her.

“Call for the doctor immediately! Call all the doctors you can reach. Now!”

Chapter34

“Where are we going, Father?”Penny’s little voice asked. She raised her head to look up at her father who seemed a little angry with a slight frown on his face. When he stared down at her, the frown disappeared and was replaced with a smile that did not reach his eyes. Or maybe she was just thinking things, what did she know?

All Penny knew was that she was excited to go out with her father again, without Patrick breathing down her neck and being blatantly annoying, without Lydia, she had been dancing in their mama’s arms all day. No one could take her away from their mama, not even an outing with their papa.

The outing was exactly what Penny needed to throw away the notion that her father did not like her. She could not tell when it started, but somewhere during Christmas the year before, Mama and Papa had a huge argument after dinner that scared all three children. The argument went on for hours, angry voices yelling back inaudible words at each other. Penny’s governess at the time, Patty, had held Penny close and sung her a lullaby to sleep. When Penny woke the next morning, her Mama and Papa looked nothing like the people who yelled at each other all night, but Penny had noticed the look her father shot her. His brows drew back into a hard frown, a suggestion of annoyance in his eyes. Her mother had blocked her view by standing in front of her and offering her a biscuit before breakfast.

Since that day, Penny noticed a certain hostility from her father, but now he had taken her out to buy a dress that she really wanted, and they were taking a stroll in the park afterward. It was the perfect day out a little girl could ask for from her busy father, if only it did not turn into her worst nightmare.

The walk in the park was nice; as nice as it could be with two people who said nothing but enjoyed the silence as they walked. Her father had never been one to talk much, so she understood him even when he ignored her. It seemed he could not keep up with her enthusiasm, which was not a problem.

The stroll did not stop at the park as Penny had thought, and her father did not respond when she asked him where he was taking her. Instead, he led her to the lake and stopped to take a breath, then he looked down at her, and it was as though a different person from her father was looking at her.

“Come here, dear,” he neared the lake, staring at her with a smirk. She went to him; he was her father after all.

It all happened in the blink of an eye so that Penny thought she was dreaming.

“I refuse to father a bastard,”her father spat and pulled her to him, only to lift her tiny body and throw her into the lake.

“All I wish is for you to disappear forever. I tried to love you but I cannot,”she heard him say, but she could not be so sure since she was underwater. Her eyes zeroed around the white signet ring, while his hands pushed her in deeper and deeper.

“Die!”She had heard that one loud and clear.

“I am sorry,”she wanted to say, but the moment she parted her lips, the lake water came rushing into her mouth, and into her body. Then her vision blurred and then her eyes dropped.

* * *

When Penny opened her eyes, she could not tell if she was alive or dead, because the man looking down at her with eyes full of concern, could not be Rhysand. He was away in Scotland, inviting various females to his house. He could not possibly be here in London. But he was. Lifting her index finger to poke his cheek proved that truly, Rhysand was right there, in the flesh, in all his aristocratic glory.

Penny blinked, and then she settled into the reality of everything going on around her, including the splitting pain in her head. She winced and Rhysand’s hands surrounded her immediately.

“Take it easy,” his voice was calm.What is he doing here?She wondered internally.

“My darling girl!” Aunt Augusta’s cry came from the door, and she ran toward Penny, slightly pushing Rhysand away as she hugged her.

“How many times do I have to warn you off going close to rivers and lakes?” The older woman cried.

“Oh, sister!” Lydia ran into the room also and sat beside her.

“Can you raise me up?” Penny asked her family and they wasted no time in pulling her up to a sitting position.

“What happened this time?”

“I saw a thief…” She blinked. Lydia turned her head and narrowed her eyes at her. She did not believe her. Aunt Augusta shot her a similar look.

“I am telling the truth!” Penny pushed her lips.

“Where did you see this thief? And does this thief have long black hair? Did this thief push you into the lake?” Her Aunt asked. Penny sighed.

“I really saw a thief at Thornbury Hall. I was going to call for help but he suddenly ran toward me and pushed me into the lake,” Penny explained.

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