Page 16 of Wedded to the Ruthless Duke

“Thanks, but you’re a soldier. I’d end up more scarred than you.”

Aaron didn’t crack a smile, but Philip knew that was his way. Aaron rarely ever smiled at anything. He was still, defiant, reserved, but Philip liked him all the same.

They understood each other and had known each other for so long now, they fell in step with one another in great ease when Aaron returned from his battles.

“Besides, you could have done me a greater favor by coming to the ball last night. I would have preferred that to being punched in the face.” Despite his words, Philip turned and pummeled the bag again.

With his footsteps covered by the sounds, Aaron crossed the room.

“Well, I assume you’re so angry as you’ve already read the scandal sheets this morning then,” Aaron observed, coming to the side and holding the bag in place. “Again.” Aaron nodded at the bag. “This time, widen your stance further.”

Philip did as Aaron instructed. The bag was easier to hit now with Aaron taking the brunt of the force and refusing to let it move. With the wider stance too, he was able to recoil faster, to come back with fresh punches. After a few strikes, Philip turned away.

The fury he felt was now purely aimed at himself.

I never should have lost control like that with Grace. I should have kept her at an arm’s distance as I have done for the last three years.

“Wait…” Something clicked in his brain. “What do you mean scandal sheets?”

“You haven’t seen them?” Aaron asked, releasing the bag. “You haven’t seen what they say about you?”

At Philip’s obvious look of confusion, Aaron reached into a pocket and pulled out a scrap of folded paper.

“Brace yourself,” Aaron warned coolly.

Philip glanced at Aaron, noting the serious look that was somehow even more tense than it normally was.

He carries the war with him wherever he goes. I know that.

Philip dragged his gaze back down to the scandal sheet and read.

‘Well, there is a surprise in our midst this morning! Someone at the summer ball last night decided to take a turn in the garden for some fresh air when they came upon a scandal unfolding before their eyes.

Lady Grace, a lady who has been mentioned in these pages more than once for her rather unorthodox manners, has transgressed in a way that perhaps will not surprise many though the gentleman she was seen with will surely shock everyone.

Lady Grace was seen clasped in the arms with none other than her dear friend’s brother, the Duke of Berkley. My informant tells me they were tucked secretly away in the garden under the moonlight, and by the strength of their embrace, she would have called them lovers.

Anyone who might have thought Lady Grace and the Duke of Berkley indifferent to one another for their different manners is clearly mistaken indeed. With such scandal unfolding, one has to wonder if the Duke of Berkley intends to step forward and protect Lady Grace from further disgrace, or if he will let her reputation slip even further than it already has done?’

The piece went on in great detail of what the two of them were seen doing together. The kiss was known; they had been seen.

The curse which escaped Philip’s lips was sharp indeed, so sharp that the poor maid who scurried into the room at that moment jumped in alarm though it had no effect on a hardened soldier like Aaron at all.

Aaron grabbed Philip’s shirt off the nearest hook and threw it at him. Philip pulled the shirt over his head as the maid began to make her way toward them, flushed in the face.

“Well?” Aaron said to Philip in an undertone so the approaching maid couldn’t yet hear. “Is it true?”

Philip didn’t need to answer with words. He looked at his friend, and Aaron nodded.

“You were seen,” Aaron hissed in a low tone. “I thought you were a man of discretion.”

“I always have been.” Philip was beginning to think he should have changed his ways.

When he was younger, he had been something of a rake though as Aaron had said, always discreet. That had calmed down in recent years as Philip tried to battle with the struggling finances that his father had left him. Perhaps the amount of pent-up frustration from not having a release in so long was why he had transgressed so far with Lady Grace last night.

“Your Grace.” The maid had reached their side. She bobbed a curtsy, still flushing bright red in the face.

“Yes?” Philip said, trying to keep his voice calm though inside, he was raging.

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