Page 42 of The Unwanted Duchess

“It will be the same as I have always done. I will do what is necessary to make my life the best it can be, and if you wish to stand in my way, then that is not my fault.”

“I do not intend to do anything of the sort.”

“That is just as well because William will be feeling the same way that I do, so if you want my advice, I would tell you to watch your back.”

CHAPTER 14

The more Samantha listened, the more she felt that it was a story and nothing more. It couldn’t have been true; nobody hated their children that much, even her father.

“That sounds terrible,” she whispered. “And I suppose it never improved?”

“It was truly awful for a while,” he explained. “William and Andrew seemed to join forces with Nicholas and do everything in their power to destroy me, but when it did not work, they both stopped. I have not seen them since our father died, and I think it is for the best. Nicholas, on the other hand, never stopped.”

“Which is why you believe that he blackmailed us?”

“Yes. It is why I told you that he will stop at nothing to even slightly call my reputation into question. There is no appeasing him.”

“I am sorry,” she sighed. “I shouldn’t have been so difficult about your plan. I simply did not know, and my own sister would never do that to me. It did not make sense to me.”

“It would not make sense to you because you have never had to handle such a situation. It is a sort of naivete that you have, and I have to admit that it does grate on me at times.”

Samantha was not surprised by this. She had always thought that she was worldly and wise, but the Duke was right. She was naive when it came to people with bad intentions, and he had every right to dislike it.

“I apologize. I do not mean to be aggravating deliberately.”

“There is no need to apologize. You couldn’t have known. In truth, it makes me want to protect you because Heaven knows you wouldn’t know if someone did it again.”

This was a different side of her husband to the one she had seen before. There was a passion and sincerity about him that she had not once considered that he might have. She enjoyed it a great deal, far more than she dared tell him.

“It is rather late,” she said suddenly, noticing that the sky was becoming dark, and the sun was dipping.

“Oh, so it is,” he agreed. “I shall return you to your home.”

It was so simple, so matter of fact, but suddenly Samantha did not wish to return home. She was perfectly happy where she was, and it was not helped by the fact that she did not want to return to her unbearable father though she tried to ease her concerns by telling herself that she would be seeing him far less frequently.

Once inside the carriage, sitting more closely together than they ever had before, Samantha tried to tear her eyes away from him. It had been so sudden, but she could not deny that there was an attraction there. She tried to tell herself that it was because he was kind and nothing more than that, but she knew that it was untrue. Whatever was making her feel this way, it was not stopping, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

She did not want to leave the carriage, and when he tried to help her out, she practically collapsed into his arms rather than gracefully taking his hand. He steadied her, his face agonizingly close to hers, but she did not dare act upon anything.

“Thank you,” she whispered, “for protecting me.”

“You need not thank me. It is my duty.”

“Yes,” she sighed gently, “Your duty and nothing more. In any case, I will do better. I will be more suspicious of others from this moment on.”

“No,” he said quickly. “No, do not do that. Please do not do that.”

She wanted to ask him why, but she could not bring herself to. She could not bear the thought of what the answer might have been. He went to enter the carriage once more, but she grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back.

“Yes?”

Suddenly, she could not think of a single thing to say to him.

“It is only that I — well — Diana was hoping that we would join them for dinner tomorrow evening.”

“That is rather short notice.”

“It is, but that is my fault. I have had a good while to tell you, but I have been forgetful and —”

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