Page 49 of My Ruthless Duke

Rebecca pulled her pearl earrings right back out of her pocket and practically forced them back into Cordelia’s hands. “Why did you not say so earlier, Your Grace? Please, I cannot express how grateful I am. I do not… the man had come out of nowhere. I do not think of myself as a woman surprised by much but that night, my whole life could have gone in a very bad direction if your husband had not been there to save me. He is nothing less than a hero.”

Cordelia could not help but smile at that. “The man who attacked you, I am not sure if you know… but he died.”

It was hard to speak about her father like this, even though she was not naming him.

“Good. That rat bastard deserved what he got then,” Rebecca continued.

“They claimed that his death was a suicide… do you have any idea why they would have thought that?” Cordelia asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Rebecca exchanged glances with the bartender, who nodded once. “When I ran away, Moe was the first person that found me after… I told him what had happened. He did not want anything that could tie the incident to the pub, of course. He went back with me to make sure that it was handed… so… he made it look like he had taken his own life… so that nobody could come looking around for us, or me…” She trailed off, knowing that what she was confessing to was a whole other crime in and of itself. But at least it gave Cordelia some closure. “We were not too certain if it had been an accident… or if the man had done it… it did not seem right to have that man get in trouble for saving me when he did not have to.”

Cordelia did not know what to say. Penelope squeezed her hand more tightly in support.

“I… wait here, I have a letter that I would be honored for you to pass along on my behalf,” Rebecca continued quickly.

“Of… of course,” Cordelia stammered and was frozen as the woman hurried out of the room to fetch the letter.

“Are you all right?” Penelope asked gently.

“No.”

It was the only answer that she could give with any honesty. Her father had attacked this poor woman. It was too much. It was entirely too much to fit in her mind.

“It would be strange if you were,” Penelope agreed, pulling closer to her as Rebecca came back downstairs and pressed the letter into Cordelia’s hand with another bow of gratitude.

“Here, Your Grace. I had the vicar write this for me, and I kept it just in case.”

“I shall be sure to pass this on, on your behalf. I promise.”

“Thank you,” she agreed. “Any time that you or your husband come here, drinks will be on me. All right?”

Cordelia smiled softly. She doubted that Rebecca would feel the same if she knew that the man who had almost attacked her was actually her father. “I must be going. Thank you for speaking with me.”

The pair of women left the pub quickly. Cordelia did not know if she was ever going to be able to process this properly.

The other question nagging at the forefront of her mind—how was she going to tell her mother? Lavinia was not going to take the news well. Assuming, of course, that she even believed her in the first place.

Chapter 23

When they arrived back at the duke’s manor, it took almost little to no convincing Lavinia to escort her back to their home in London. She claimed that she was feeling nostalgic, but in truth, she did not wish to have either of them under the same roof as the duke until Cordelia could sort out her feelings. Besides, with how much her mother had been grieving lately, there was no promise that she would not attack the duke herself. The whole ride from their manor back to their home, Cordelia said not a single word. She merely peered out of the carriage window and let the scenery attempt to calm her mind. She felt as if she were grasping at straws or looking for evidence in her memory that might not even exist.

Some part of her knew that it was the truth the moment Dorian had told her. But why? Why had she not outright refused him? If somebody had said such slander against Dorian himself, she would not have stood for it and instantly rebuked the person. But… maybe it was the way that he had been speaking to her thatwas so raw and real… but then again… perhaps she knew that there was something off about her father.

Cordelia mourned her father, of course, she did, but not to the same extent that her mother had.

Until now, she had just assumed that it was because her mother had lost the love of her life, and Lavinia simply was capable of feeling things more deeply than Cordelia must have been herself. And yet, that was not right either.

“Are you going to be so silent the whole time? My head is pounding. You did not bring me anything to drink, not even a hint of wine with breakfast, and now you are leaving me alone with my thoughts? Have some mercy on your poor mother,” Lavinia whined, rubbing at her temples as she spoke.

At first, Cordelia was going to rise to the bait. She could have pulled a random topic from out of nowhere that would have appeased her mother but then when she found out the truth, she would only be mad at Cordelia for waiting. They were presently in such a small space for her to share such volatile information. She did not wish to break her mother’s heart either.

“What is the matter with you? Has the cat got your tongue, daughter?” Lavinia asked as she crossed her arms over her chest like a petulant child.

Cordelia closed her eyes and focused on her breathing for a moment.

“Honestly, Cordi! Dispense with the dramatics!”

When Cordelia opened her eyes again, her mother was halfway to fuming. “I found out some information about Father that I do not think that you are going to like.”

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