Page 8 of My Cruel Duke

“I am sure the smile on your face will be enough to let him know just how grateful you are for him,” came Penny’s response.

“I am forced to believe our benefactor is a ghost. For you will not mention his name nor his title.” Aunt Augusta emerged from nowhere, dressed in a pale blue evening dress, looking just as elegant as the Hislop sisters.

“He is not a ghost, and he has asked that his identity be kept hidden for the time being. When the time is right, he shall reveal himself to you.” Both Lydia and Aunt Augusta nodded. Clearly, they had more to ask about their benefactor, but it seemed all they needed was some patience.

A quick knock on Lydia’s door averted their attention to it, and Penny rushed to get it. Their newly appointed butler, Randolph, a man slightly younger than Aunt Augusta, appeared with his hands behind him.

“A carriage sent from Thornbury Hall has arrived,” he announced.

“Thank you, Randolph. We will be out soon.” The man bowed and disappeared while Penny closed the door along with her eyes and released a sigh. She dreaded turning around to face her family.

My secret is out sooner than I thought.

“Thornbury Hall? That is where the Duke of Huxton resides, is it not?” Aunt Augusta asked. Penny turned around with a straight face. They did not have the time to go over the details of why the duke’s carriage was outside for them.

“Duke of Huxton? He is the man that put Papa in prison?”

“Let us focus on the ball for tonight. When we return, I shall explain everything.”

Aunt Augusta laced her hand with Lydia’s, and with a sly smile, she tilted her head toward the younger girl and said,

“My dearest, I may have the faintest idea who our mysterious benefactor is.”

Chapter5

“Did you hear the Hislop sisters arrived in the Cruel Duke’s carriage?”Penny heard a whisper from beside her.

“The Cruel Duke? How scandalous…”another voice responded.

“Indeed. One can only wonder what her association with him means…”

The Hislop sisters' arrival in the duke’s carriage turned out to be a far more prominent matter than Penny thought it would be. Those who saw them emerge from the carriage were quick to discuss it with others, and before long, the little family of three were drowned in whispers and gossip from every angle. Some stared at them in awe, while others in pure distaste, making up outrageous rumors about Penny’s dignity, but she did not pay any mind to them. Instead, she raised her shoulders high, pushed her chest out, and, with Aunt Augusta by her side, presented Lydia to the Ton. Hungry eyes lingered on Lydia, and though most of them were far from appropriate, Penny smiled. It was a start.

After Lydia’s presentation, Aunt Augusta got lost in the sea of the fashionably dressed Ton, leaving Penny to tend to a worried Lydia alone.

Penny suspected Aunt Augusta was off to gossip.

“I feel it was a waste to come.” Lydia fiddled with her empty card. It had been twenty minutes, and yet not one of the gentlemen approached them, though many had watched them.

“Have some faith, dear sister, and be patient. They will come.” As though her words were a spell, a tall, elegantly dressed man approached them. His brown eyes locked on Lydia as though she was a gold trophy and not a person. Baron Sigertem was his name.

Charmingly, the baron requested Lydia’s hand in a dance, and as she accepted him, gasps followed while a proud smile sat on Penny’s face. It had only been one dance, but Penny let her mind wander, building castles in her head of the life Lydia would live if she married the baron. They made such a handsome couple, and with his wealth, she would live her life to the fullest.

Speaking of wealth, Penny discreetly peered around the room, searching for a pair of blue eyes that haunted her dreams. She saw many blue eyes, but none of them belonged to the duke she was to marry.

Has he not come?Why, then, did he send his carriage to her house if he would not show up? They had to be seen together in public before their marriage, or did he simply not care about society?

As Penny’s mind wandered, her legs carried her to the back of the room, where she and her friends usually hid to watch the Ton unfold before them. There, they could see everything and everyone; they heard juicy gossip from agile mamas and made fun of titled men who made a fool of themselves at the feet of the beautiful ladies. After their first Season, it had been the perfect pastime activity for the ladies, and it would have been the same in this Season had the Duke of Huxton not ruined her family’s reputation.

“Penny?” It seemed to be a habit now of her friends calling her out in surprise. “You are here?” Eleanor said, but it sounded more like a question. Penny did not miss the small distance her friends kept between them. How had she not seen them as she walked to the spot?

“I am, and so is Lydia.” Penny pointed a gloved finger at the floor where Lydia twirled in excitement.

“She looks beautiful,” Marian gushed and quickly cleared her throat as though she misspoke.

“We heard about your arrival in the Duke of Huxton’s carriage,” Cordelia narrowed her eyes. So that was why they were speaking to her. Penny nodded.

“Do tell what your relationship with His Grace is. I find it quite strange that you would arrive in the carriage of the man that ruined your family,” Eleanor noted, but as Penelope parted her lips to reply to her, a fine gentleman approached them, his eyes on Penny as he requested her hand.

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