Page 77 of Seduced By the Rakish Duke

The commotion she heard was not in response to her fainting but to a man charging down the aisle. An angry man.

An angry man who looked like… David.

“Stop!” he bellowed as he ran down the aisle.

“What is the meaning of this?” Harry was still holding Jenny in his arms, and his hold on her tightened.

She looked between both men, trying to process the spectacle in front of her.

“Do not marry this man, Jenny.” David’s eyes were wild and pleading. His shirt was wrinkled, and his hair, usually combed to perfection, was sticking up as if he had been running his hands through it.

Harry stood between him and Jenny, and he looked to the congregation for help. “Someone restrain this man.”

Thomas rose from his seat and turned to face the congregation, daring anyone to interfere.

No one moved.

“What is going on?” Harry sputtered.

“Jenny,” David started.

“That is Miss Bennett to you. Soon to be the Duchess of Dovegrove,” Harry snapped.

“Not if I have anything to say about it,” Thomas thundered.

David moved closer to the couple. Harry held his hands out, barring him from reaching Jenny.

Jenny stood motionless behind Harry. Her mind couldn’t catch up to what was happening fast enough. Her instinct finally kicked in, and she stepped away from Harry.

“David, what are you doing?”

“Don’t marry him, Jenny. Marry me.”

Gasps rippled across the congregation as people shifted in their seats, all trying to get a better look at the scene unfolding before them. Even little Elizabeth was enraptured.

A hot rush of emotion washed over Jenny. The room began to spin, and once again, she feared she would faint. David lunged towards her. However, it was Harry who steadied her.

“Do you see what you are doing to this poor woman? Leave now!”

David shook his head. “I’m not leaving without Jenny.”

Jenny looked up at Harry. He was usually so composed, other than the few times she saw him discipline Elizabeth. But now, he looked positively mad with frustration. His grip on her arms was beginning to hurt, and she yelped with pain.

David’s eyes landed on Harry’s hands and narrowed. “Let. Her. Go.”

Harry looked at Thomas. “Are you going to let this madman storm in here and make these demands? We had an agreement.”

Thomas, who was still standing, now with his arms folded across his chest, simply raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. Frances beamed up at her husband from her seat.

“And if you want to fight for something else, then we’ll also stand by you.”Frances’s words from the other day echoed in Jenny’s mind.

Jenny pulled her arms from Harry’s grip. “Stop!” she demanded. But his hold was too strong.

Fear seized her body. Calm and respectable Harry turned into something that terrified her.

People pushed to their feet. Thomas stood behind David, murder in his eyes.

Jenny’s eyes met David’s. He was standing, ready to charge, but there was a calm air about him that soothed her.

---