Page 96 of A Virgin for the Duke of Ash

In a few more weeks, when he would finally manage to quash all the rumors that surrounded them, Evie would be able to promenade in Hyde Park as she used to. He did not care who he had to threaten or how much he had to pay to get it done, but he would.

He would craft and mold the whole world to suit her if that is what it took.

“His Grace, the Duke of Blackthorn, also wishes to relay a message to you.”

Daniel arched an eyebrow at that. He could not imagine what hisold friendhad to say to him after everything that happened with Evie.

“What did my good friend, the Duke of Blackthorn, wish to say to me?”

The butler looked uneasy and cleared his throat—wholly unnecessary, Daniel was certain.

“He told you to leave Her Grace alone,” Barnaby replied. “Although the wording was not quite as polite, I’m afraid.”

Daniel laughed harshly at that. He was quite certain Colin had a great many words for him, none of which could be uttered in polite company, and he deserved them all.

“Do you want me to relay your response, Your Grace?” his butler asked him.

Daniel waved his hand dismissively. “There is no need for that, Barnaby.”

There was nothing he could say that Colin would heed anyway. The man was as stubborn as a mule, and he knew that better than anyone else.

“Also, you have a guest, Your Grace.”

“I am most certainly not in the mood to entertain callers, Barnaby,” he replied sarcastically.

“I did not come to call on you, Ashton,” a cold voice intoned from the door. “I came to see if you have come to your senses. Apparently, you have not.”

He looked up to find Hudson standing in the doorway, a broad shoulder leaning against the frame.

“You came all the way to check up on me?” Daniel sneered. “Some recluse you have become.”

“I came to see just how stubborn you are and if that same stubbornness has killed you already.”

His friend pushed off the doorframe and stalked towards him like a panther prowling in the jungle.

“You must be disappointed to see that I am still alive, then,” Daniel replied with a casual shrug. He glanced briefly at his butler, who bowed politely before quietly exiting the study.

“Cut the crap, Ashton,” Hudson grunted. “It took you less than a day to get a special license to marry her. It would not take you this long to get an annulment. If you truly wanted to sever ties with your Duchess, you would have done so already.”

“Annulments take time, you know?”

“Not,” Hudson sneered, “if you did it the day after the wedding.”

Daniel glared at him. “I was not aware that we were working under time constraints,” he shot back sarcastically.

If he annulled the marriage the day after the wedding, where would that leave Evie? He had barely finished cleaning up the mess that bastard Sidmouth and his sister left with her last publication. If he were to annul the marriage so soon, Evie’s reputation would suffer another blow.

“I do not want her to suffer anymore because of my mistakes,” he told his friend softly. “I have already done enough damage, don’t you think?”

“Well, you sure as hell aren’t doing anything to fix it.” Hudson glared icily at him. “You know that you have it in your power to fix all this. You just refuse to do it.”

Daniel clenched his hands into fists. “Do you think I am not aware of that?” he growled. “Do you think that I enjoy knowing how much I have hurt her? That she could barely hold her head up high in Society after that blasted scandal sheet came out?”

The truth was that he wanted nothing more than to rush over to Blackthorn Estate and take Evie back to Ashton Hall, where he would properly make amends for all the hurt he had caused her.

However, he also knew that being with him would only make it worse for her.

“I swore that I would never have children,” he admitted harshly. “I swore thathisline would end with me.”

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