Page 85 of Wedded to the Ruthless Duke

Grace stepped into the room, a tear escaping down her cheek as she looked between the two of them. Her eyes fixed on Philip for longer, an unspoken question lingering in her gaze.

Philip wasn’t surprised. He was a mess of a man. He had no idea where his tailcoat was, his shirt sleeves were rolled up, his waistcoat half unbuttoned, and his knuckles were red and raw from where he had been punching that bag so badly in his boxing room.

“Boxing,” his mother said by way of explanation, pointing at him.

“Oh.” Grace nodded. She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “I don’t understand —”

“Don’t you dare.” The words snarled out of Philip’s lips before he could stop them.

Grace’s alarm stole his breath away. The way she jumped back from him hurt. He never wanted to frighten her, but neither could he hold back his anger now.

Everything I have fought to protect now lies in ashes around me.

“Mother.” He moved to crouch down beside her. “I am sorry this has all come out. I’ll come and see you later, but perhaps it’s best you go back to the country now as you wished to. What do you think?”

“Yes. I’d like that.” She nodded, drying more tears on her cheeks. “Lord knows I cannot face thetonagain. Not after this.”

Philip took his mother’s hand and helped her to her feet.

“Stay here,” he growled out at Grace. She moved her hands to her hips, looking ready to argue with him again about giving her orders, but he was in no mood for that argument. There was another he was quite determined to have in its place.

He helped his mother out of the room and delivered her into the arms of Mrs. Williamson, who promised to arrange a carriage to have her taken to the country seat. After Philip had waved his mother off, he returned to the study to find Grace re-reading the scandal sheet.

More tears were on her cheeks now. As Philip closed the door behind him, he wanted to believe as they were left alone that she had nothing to do with it, but he couldn’t. His sense of logic and reason argued against him.

“How could you do this?” he hissed out.

“What?” She lifted her head from reading the scandal sheet, staring at him, agog.

“Onlyyouknew about my father’s gambling.”

“I didn’t even know about it until yesterday!” She threw the words at him in sudden fury, casting the scandal sheet aside.

“So you admit you knew. Your father told you.”

“Yes, he told me yesterday. Before that, I knew nothing.”

“How convenient.” He snatched up the sheet from the floor. He moved around the desk, needing it as a barrier between them. He laid the paper flat to the desk, planting his hands to the desk and glaring down at the printed words. “The day you discover my father’s shame, it is printed in the paper overnight.”

“You don’t think…” She didn’t finish the words but marched up to the desk on the other side. “You think I would print this? You thinkIwould do this to us all?”

“You already admitted to me you don’t care what the scandal sheets print of you. The only people this could hurt are me and my mother. Someone I have worked so hard to protect from pain like this, and what do you do? You publish it in London for all to read.” He waved a hand at her in accusation.

“Are you mad!?” She squealed the words in her anger. “I wouldn’t do that. I couldn’t ever.”

“I can only presume you wanted to be free of me. That was it, wasn’t it? Why else take this story to a scandal sheet?” His mind was working fast, jumping from one conclusion to the next. The only other time in his life he had ever known such anger was when he had discovered all of his father’s betrayals.

When he had been old enough to understand all the gambling, all the affairs, all the pain his father had delivered to his mother, he’d snapped. He’d destroyed a room. It was the first time he had ever gone to see a boxing match in his life. Rather than just watching the boxing, he’d joined the ring and offered himself up as a fighter.

He'd gone home bleeding and bruised that night, but it was worth it. It had been an escape from other pain.

“You think I want to be free of you?” she said, spluttering her words. “That’s what you think after everything you and I have done together?” She gestured between them.

“You played your part well.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means that you adhered to your agreement so far in that you were willing to give me an heir. Everything else, well, you put on a good act.” He knew it was cruel to say the words, but it was the only conclusion he could make.

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