Page 16 of My Ruthless Duke

“Perhaps this afternoon you would like to accompany me to Georgie’s riding lesson again? He only goes in circles just yet, but the weather is just too nice today to be cooped up indoors, do you not agree?”

“Right,” Cordelia said, feeling a hint of frustration but keeping her tone light. “Tea and sunshine, the perfect way to ignore all worries.”

It was harder and harder to have a serious conversation with her when she insisted on changing the subject every time that things even broached a ‘too serious’ subject.

“Exactly!” Mary exclaimed, raising her cup. “To ignoring worries, then!”

“To ignoring worries,” Cordelia echoed, clinking her cup against Mary’s but wishing she could be more honest about her restlessness.

What Cordelia was unwilling to even attempt to ask waswhythe greenhouse was so forbidden. She had snuck down there the other day just to see if she could sense what all of the fuss was about. The doors were chained shut, and from the rust on the chain, it seemed to have been that way for a very long time. There was too much grime on the windows, and she could see nothing beyond the untended, long, withered plants that seemed to have been left there to rot from neglect.

It was the same greenhouse that she could see now out of the corner of her eye. It was like she was inexplicably drawn to it.

More of her attraction to the dangerous or forbidden, she supposed. Fitting, with Dorian in the same house. It was the same for him, was it not? She could not deny herself the allure of him, frightening or not.

The one task that sheknewwould ease some of the weight in her heart was the one thing that everyone kept telling her that she was not allowed, under any circumstances, to do.

Being off-limits did not make the greenhouse any less appealing.

Everything in this estate seemed to be a secret wrapped in an enigma and all forced up onto a shelf that she was not allowed to touch.

The cup of tea in her hands had gone cold quite some time ago. The two women stared out at Georgie, watching him silently.

“Mary, do you know anything about the duke’s acquaintanceship with my father by any chance?” She asked finally, moving just enough to place her tea on the small metal table that rested between them.

Surely, this was a neutral topic to gain insight about.

It took Mary a moment to shift her focus from her son. “I beg your pardon, what did you ask me?”

Cordelia smiled. “I was just asking if you happened to know my father or the business dealings that he had with the duke?”

Mary tilted her head, attempting to remember. “My brother, understandably, does not involve me in his business ventures very often. It is a rare thing that I even meet any of his contacts.He usually prefers to handle all things of that nature on his own.”

“I see.” Cordelia nearly sagged into her chair. “I had hoped that maybe it was a closer relationship than I presumed. He said that it was because of my father that we were to be wed in the first place.”

Mary eyed her curiously but did not comment.

Cordelia did not dare approach the duke himself with the subject, not yet. She certainly was not comfortable enough for something like that.

“I suppose that it is good he can stand up forsomemorals,” Mary muttered into the brim of her teacup. It was so softly said that Cordelia was not entirely certain if it was meant for her to have heard in the first place.

“Hm?” Cordelia questioned, giving Mary the chance to shy away from the topic.

Instead, Mary smiled at her with a thin-lipped smile. “Nothing, do not mind me. I know not of what I speak.”

Perhaps there was more between Mary’s relationship with her brother than it appeared on the surface.

Chapter 8

“It would be far simpler to just talk to her, Dorian.”

Dorian was not a person who startled easily. However, his sister interrupting his private time was not something he ever anticipated. His jaw tightened as he turned to glance over his shoulder. How could she possibly know he was watching his wife out of the window? It was so improbable. Cordelia was on the lawns again, just outside his window. She was merely taking a leisurely afternoon walk, and it should not be nearly as tempting as she was. Did she know how the sunlight seemed to illuminate her skin? Slender frame and delicate curves, but it was always the cherry red lips that pulled him in.

“She would not be likely to reject you if you simply went down there and asked to join her…” Mary continued as she invited herself further into the room. Perhaps it would be simple enough to go down there and join her, but that would be counterproductive.

“My wife seems perfectly content on her own,” he answered, pulling the drapes shut in protest and turning away from the window entirely. He dropped himself roughly into his leather desk chair.

“I do not pretend to know why you feel like you need to keep her at arm’s length. She married you. Cordelia is here in your home, and yet you insist on treating her like a stranger. Why did you marry her, anyway?”

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