Page 72 of The Duke and the Scarred Bride

No matter how he thought about it, going alone was the better option. He would rely on his stealth while being vigilant. Having an escort would just cause more problems, as he could not be sure if they would exercise the level of vigilance that his years in His Majesty’s army had hammered into his consciousness. The added burden of keeping another person safe would only leave him vulnerable to any attack.

With his mind made up, he left his study, starting up the stairs to his chambers to change out of his sweat-drenched riding habit. Just as he stepped onto the landing, he was greeted by chaos as many of his servants hurried back and forth, carrying away some rotten pieces of furniture and cleaning up the mess left behind.

He could hear his wife’s low voice instructing his butler who, in turn, relayed her instructions to the workers. It appeared that she was efficiently supervising the repairs at the manor.

In recent days, she had made a lot of changes in the manor, slowly returning it to the home he had grown up in. So far, she had restored many of the rooms in the south wing of the house, where their bedchamber was located, replacing the windows so that the cold air no longer seeped through cracks.

The old hinges of the doors were replaced along with the doorposts, and the doors now boasted a healthy sheen, brought about by several coats of paint.

With each change, Percy swore that he felt the fog that had pervaded his head in the last year or so lift slightly. When he had informed his lovely wife of this new development, she had laughed and denied that her renovations could perform such a miracle.

He was happy, and beyond the repairs, Louisa was the light that lit up his house and the walls of his life. The sound of her disembodied voice threatened to unravel him, but he had errands to run. If he gave in to the need to see her, he would distract both her and himself, leading to them being unproductive. Perhaps when he came back, he could check on the ongoing repairs.

She had said something about changing the bathtub and getting one that drew water directly from the lake on the estate to reduce the servants’ load.

It was no wonder that his staff loved her and followed her instructions to the tee so that the house ran like a well-oiled machine, especially as she hired more servants. She wasthoughtful and cared about their well-being rather than being self-absorbed as many ladies of the ton were.

On his part, he was curious about how the new bathtub would be built. He bet that it would require a lot of engineering to manage such a feat, and he was definitely looking forward to enjoying many erotic baths with his wife. The idea of having a bath whenever one wanted without waiting for buckets to be hauled up was a novelty.

The activity in the manor that morning suited his purposes, since he aimed to leave as quietly as possible without alerting her to the danger his quest involved.

He padded to his chambers and then cleaned up with the water in the basin at the edge of his bedroom. Then, he changed into a simple tunic, not bothering with his hair. He stepped out of his manor, ignoring the puzzled look on the stable hand’s face as he took in his attire and the fact that he had chosen to use a hackney instead of his favored stallion.

The lad would soon learn to live with a lot of absurdities if he was to work long at the estate. Besides, Percival had dressed that way with the hope that his tunic and his disheveled hair might help disguise the fact that he was a nobleman. Now that he thought about it, perhaps he should not have bothered with the disguise.

Percival acknowledged that at a physical level, he looked nothing like the average commoner. Not with the toned muscles that spanned most of his body and the darker hue of his skin wrought by the countless hours spent under the punishing sun.That, along with the multiple scars that marred his torso and face, made him look dangerous and nothing like the typical gentlemen, who knew little about physically demanding work and the dangers of battle.

As the hackney moved further away from his estate into the more populated town square, he hoped that his outward appearance was enough to deter any potential assailants and afford him protection of some sort.

As the hackney moved deeper into the slums of London, he was hit by the pungent smell of human excrement and unwashed bodies. The streets were littered with dirt and a lot of hungry children. The soulless, helpless looks on their faces reminded him of a time he would like to forget. The time when his regiment had run out of food and the enemy had ambushed the routes, making it difficult to receive fresh supplies. He had watched, ravaged by hunger, as his comrades had fallen one after the other, felled by exhaustion and mind-boggling hunger.

It was in those moments that he had understood and hated the reality of war. The helplessness to help oneself and his friends. Fighting against an unseen enemy while weapons lay out of reach. It was terrible and possibly the most inhumane way to die.

Presently, he avoided looking at their faces, shutting the door on the dark memories that haunted him. It was enough that they haunted his sleeping hours, he would do his best not to allow them to haunt his waking hours as well.

Besides, he needed to keep his wits about him because hunger, while it can be debilitating, can also give people uncommon courage and push them to do anything to have their next meal.

Even the most innocent of children could become beasts if it gave them a better chance at survival. He was not willing to become an unwitting victim to some street urchin who wanted to obtain a handkerchief or some flimsy item from him.

So many gentlemen had met their deaths on these streets simply because one street urchin had wanted things as flimsy as a handkerchief and was willing to do anything, even take a life, to buy themself the food that would warm their belly and stave off death at least for the day.

He understood the helplessness that came with the uncertainty they faced every day, not knowing where the next meal might come from. The helplessness that came with such a situation bred anger, resentment, and ruthlessness.

The streets were a jungle where the ones who lived in it could only kill or be killed, and it was unfair that innocent children lost their innocence very early on. But life itself was not fair, and the reason why some people had lives easier than others was one of life’s unanswered questions.

Why some people had to face death a thousand times, losing a part of their soul in the process, while others led a life untouched by misery? He had learned over time not to allow comparisons to take what remained of his sanity. His only hope now was toprotect his life the best way he knew how for the sake of the many people who depended on him.

He might not have cared about his life before, but now he had a wife and potentially children who would depend on his survival and his protection. He would do everything within his power to make sure that his beloved Louisa was protected and well cared for, especially now that there was a chance she was carrying his child.

Going merely by how frequently he took her, it was safe to assume that she might be carrying their child, and no power on earth could prevent him from doing his best to stay alive and be the best father possible to their babe, whether it was a boy or a girl.

Standing at the mouth of the alley, his back to the wall, he kept his eyes peeled for his quarry, but after an hour passed and another one, he decided he had either been pranked or his quarry had balked and decided to cancel their appointment.

Whatever the reason, Percy was not particularly happy that he had wasted most of his morning hours waiting aimlessly while risking his back in such an unsavory neighborhood.

Leaving the alley, he hailed another hackney that took him home. He just hoped that the next time he came for such an assignation, his informant, whoever he was, would have the decency to keep his word.

In no time, the hackney came to a halt, and he paid the driver before making his way to the manor. He was greeted at the entrance by Tobias.

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