Page 14 of Trapped with her Cruel Duke

“And what will become of you?” Louise whispered. “I do not wish to leave you, Mama. I do not wish to leave you with him!”

“You are a strong woman, Louise. You always have been. Strong-willed and capable. If you wish to visit me, you can persuade your husband to allow it. Do not do as I have done. Do not allow him to control your life and your future.”

Her mother turned her toward the mirror. “Come now, get some color in your cheeks. The eyes of the ton are ever watchful. You must be resolute and sure, regardless of what you feel inside. Nothing is certain, my darling girl. Nothing in the world.”

Louise felt tears prick her eyes again as her mother moved behind her to fasten the last of the buttons on her bodice.

Everything seemed to have moved so fast, and yet it felt like an age since the masquerade ball. The image of the Duke’s tall frame coming into view had been at the forefront of her mind in the days leading up to this moment.

There was no denying that she was intrigued by him. She had thought about him often over the following days, but his arrogance overshadowed every quality he might have.

If all he wants from me is to manipulate my father into revealing what happened to Marcus, what will become of me when he gets his answer?

A long life of misery spread before her like a dark road she did not wish to set foot on. The Duke represented a side of Society that she loathed, filled with arrogant men who believed they controlled the world around them. Yet, Marcus Wright was part of Society, and he was the dearest man she had ever known.

How can two brothers be so utterly different from one another? I have never had thoughts about Marcus like the ones I’ve had about the Duke of late.

Before she could say anything more to her mother, the door opened again to admit her father. He was red in the face and perspiring—usually a sign that he anticipated an argument or was ready to initiate one.

Louise paid him no mind. She was uninterested in how he felt and what he wanted today.

“Are you ready?” he barked. “We cannot keep the Duke waiting.”

He did not comment on her appearance. Indeed, he barely looked in her direction at all.

“Papa,” she said, turning around and drawing back her hands. Her mother sucked in a sharp breath beside her. “I always swore I would never beg a man for anything, but I am begging you now.Please do not make me marry him. I do not wish to be his wife, and I cannot think of a man less suited to me.”

Her father made a predictable wave of dismissal and shook his head. His skin was mottled with patches of dark red, and his neck bulged unpleasantly over the edge of his cravat.

“You have a duty to this family and must uphold your responsibilities.”

“A duty to thisfamilyor your purse?”

Her mother laid a hand on her arm as her father advanced on her.

“Do you intend for us to lose our home? Is that what you want?”

Louise’s gut clenched at his admission. Deep down, she had known they were in dire straits, but nothing like this.

“So, you have gambled our home on a deck of cards, is that it?”

“Louise,” her mother whispered.

“I have made an arrangement that will save our family from ruin,” her father spat. “You are the daughter of an earl—your sole purpose in life is to make a good marriage and honor your father. Do not think that I will not cast you out if you make a fool of me today.”

Louise narrowed her eyes at him, her teeth grinding together. She wanted to snap at him,strikehim. She wondered how the gossip columns would react if she broke her father’s nose.

“You’re going to force me to marry this man, knowing he will never make me happy? You’re willing to condemn me to a life of misery so that you can continue living in the comforts you yourself have thrown away?”

“You will be silent!” he snarled, and she recoiled at the rage on his face.

He looked deranged, ready to fight her until the bitter end. Still, she wanted to rail at him, to continue to shout and scream until the whole of London heard her.

If only she could run and disappear into oblivion.

And then what? Where would I go? I would be utterly alone.

Her mother’s hand loosened on her arm as her shoulders sagged.

---