Page 56 of His Duchess' Wicked List

“What?”

Daniel reeled back as if his cousin had punched him. He hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t even suspected that Chris had known what was going on between him and Maddie. His cousin had never intimated that he did.

But now… it all made sense, of course. His cousin’s resentment towards him had spilled over into interfering in his private life, as well as stealing from the estate.

Daniel rubbed a hand over his face. It was all such a mess. He had never suspected that his cousin had favored Maddie justbecause he did. Or that he wanted to take her away from him for his own purposes.

But now, that also made sense. Christopher had never been a ladies’ man. Daniel had never seen him act in such a deliberate, obvious way towards a lady. It just wasn’t in his nature. He had always been a cold fish. A calculating cold fish, as it turned out.

Still waters ran deep.

“You never even liked her at all,” Daniel said, shaking his head incredulously. “You pursued her so obviously just to rattle me.”

Christopher scowled at him. “I wouldneverbe interested in one of your trollops. She’s just like all the others, lifting her skirts for you as soon as you snap your fingers. I just enjoyed watching you boil with jealousy. That was all.”

Daniel seized his cousin by the lapels of his jacket. Their faces were only inches away. “Do not dare talk about her like that,” he growled, shaking him. “Do notevertalk about her like that! You aren’t fit to lift her petticoat.”

Christopher laughed in his face. “Go on! Hit me! And then I shall go to Mrs. Camberwell to tell the world that Lady Madeline Cole is indeed a trollop! She will be ruined. No one willevermarry her!”

Daniel shook him again, throwing him across the room. His blood was boiling. He wanted to hit his cousin so badly that he could taste it.

But he wasn’t going to stoop to his level. Christopher thought he had outwitted him. He thought wrong.

“Go on, then,” Daniel challenged, his face contorting. “Go and reveal her identity to your scandal sheet. It won’t matter, because as soon as the sheet is published, the word will be out that I intend to marry her. No one will care anymore if she is about to become a respectably married duchess.”

Christopher glared at him. “You are bluffing. You don’t want to marry anyone. You willnevermarry!”

“You are wrong,” Daniel countered, his heart suddenly lifting in the strangest of ways. “Iwillmarry her. And I will count myself lucky that such a glorious woman would have me, for I do not deserve her.” He paused, his voice trembling. “For I love her, you see. More than life itself.”

Christopher stared at him uncertainly.

“So, you have nothing to hold over me any longer, Cousin,” Daniel spat, his chest heaving. “Leave this house, and do not return. If you do, I will have you arrested. Do I make myself clear?”

Christopher glowered at him for a moment, before shaking himself like a dog and leaving the room.

Daniel heard the bang of the front door as his cousin slammed it shut behind him. He then walked over to the liquor cabinet in the corner, pouring himself a double whiskey. His hand was shaking so much that he spilled a little of the brown liquid.

He took a long sip. The liquid was like a trail of fire to his stomach. He put down the glass, pacing around the room, like a lion in a cage.

I love her.I truly love her. And if I hadn’t been so muddle-headed about marriage, I would have realized that I was falling for her from the very start.

His hand tightened on the glass. Everything was clear to him now. The reason why he was so struck by her, unlike anything he had ever felt before. The reason why she haunted him, why he couldn’t let the game go, why he kept pursuing her so relentlessly. The reason why it had felt like a punch to the gut when his cousin had started pursuing her.

He had been afraid. He had been scared of the enormity of it, repressing it, deluding himself that it wasn’t what it was. But now… now, he felt the release of it, like a tight ball of string unwinding within him.

It felt good. It felt freeing.

He wasn’t going to run anymore. He had run for long enough.

He put down his glass and then walked quickly out of the room. He grabbed his hat and gloves off the hallstand. There wasn’t a moment to lose.

“Where are you going, Brother?”

It was Selina, drifting down the hallway towards him. His heart lurched.

“To Maddie,” he said slowly, wondering what she would think. “I… I think I love her.”

Selina’s eyes lit up like candles. “At last. What on earth has taken you so long, Daniel?” She smiled. “Good luck.”

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