Page 2 of Her Seven Nights with the Duke

“What? No, please, I can’t—” She stopped her desperate plea to not be parted from her mother. He would only use that against her. Besides, he was not the sort of man one pleaded with.

It’d been weeks since he uttered the threat of sending her to live with his sister, a threat he knew was often effective, by the look she usually had on her face.

“I always knew you would bring me shame. Mathilda said that much the first time you met. Still, I thought to train you right, but you have spat on my generosity and proven her right.”

He affected an air of deep grievance she knew he did not feel. “Now that you’ve been labeled a loose woman, there are only a handful of men who could want you. I do not care what choice you make. Simply choose one, or I will make the choice for you.”

“Remember what will happen if you don’t,” he warned.said.

Lady Mathilda had a ghoulish behavior, a scowl forever present on her thin lips and a growl ever ready to escape those lips whenever she didn’t get her way. She did not like Nora and doubted there would ever be a scenario that would make that happen. The feeling was mutual.

Yet, despite Lady Mathilda’s antics, Nora would rather live with her than be married to a man like her stepfather. The onlything stopping her was the fear of leaving her mother with this monster.

She shook her head. She couldn’t leave. Not yet, anyway. “I understand, Lord Worlington.”Swinton.”

He grunted, his lips curling inwards. She held her breath as he walked away, only allowing herself to breathe when he had disappeared from sight.

She adjusted her mask once again and pressed her back to the wall. In the days since her reputation was ruined, she had become somewhat of a wallflower, in a bid to avoid the stares she constantly got.

With members of the ton thinking that she was a woman of easy virtue, the only men who did not go out of their way to avoid her were those who wished to have her as a mistress. Nora wasn’t particularly bothered about it, as she had premeditated all of it.

She turned when she felt eyes on her and struggled to hide her smile as a group of women who had been near her when her stepfather spoke hurriedly averted their gazes.

That was something else that she had needed to get used to—the looks she received whenever she arrived at an event or went out in public, and the conversations that started up, sometimes in hushed tones and other times in barely contained whispers whenever they wished to make her as uncomfortable as her presence made them.

Nora would gladly subject herself to the ton’s reproach if it meant she did not have to be married to a man like her stepfather. Now, she no longer had to worry about having to marry anyone, much to her stepfather’s displeasure.

She slunk out of the hall, careful to avoid being seen, not that there were any eyes on her. Ever since her reputation was tarnished, she found it easier to avoid people’s watchful glances. It helped that people did not know who she was beneath the mask.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she walked down the dark and empty halls of Thorne House, glad to not have to put up with the whispers and stares whenever people realized who she was. With light steps, she looked around as her eyes slowly began to adjust to the dim lighting.

Nora paused, startled, and turned around quickly. Her brow furrowed when she was met with the sight of the empty hall.

“What was that?” she whispered to herself.

She squinted to see beyond just a few feet in front of her. Perhaps there was something that she had missed because she wasn’t paying attention to her surroundings, lost in her thoughts.

The sound came again, this time louder and raspier. It was a woman’s voice, although it sounded different from anything she had ever heard.

Is she hurt? Has someone harmed her?

The sounds spilling from the woman’s lips were lewd. Nora’s steps quickened as a sense of urgency gripped her, pulling her towards the darkness, when another voice reached her ears, stronger and more controlled.

Her heels ground to a halt, and her eyes widened in shock. Although Nora did not consider herself worldly, she was not so innocent that she did not know what it meant when a man and a woman were dallying in the dark like this with no chance of being found.

She rounded the corner slowly, peeking in from behind a pillar at the pair. She hid between the wall and the pillar, careful to remain concealed in case they suddenly chose to put an end to their meeting and she did not have enough time to get away.

She was greeted with the outline of a man and a woman. Their bodies were pressed together in a pose that signified intimacy.

The candlelight above their heads made it possible for her to see them despite the darkness that otherwise shrouded the hallway. She could not make out the woman’s face, not that she cared much about that. She only wished to confirm that she was indeed not hurt, and now that she had done so, she could care less what they did.

Unlike the woman, who was facing away from her, the man was facing her. All Nora could see was dark hair. Her eyes flicked from the woman’s frame to the man’s face, and her breathcaught in her throat. The light shone brightly on his face, making his features as clear as day for her to see.

Nora gasped as she saw who it was pressed against the woman. It was Samuel Gale, the Duke of Bancroft. She frowned. It was shocking seeing him in such a position, as the Duke was supposed to be someone who was never involved in anything like this.

Although the men did not face a scandal like the one she was currently embroiled in, the Duke had managed to keep a spotless reputation all over the ton when it involved women, yet here he was, dallying with a woman who was clearly not his wife in the dark, since she knew he did not have one.

Despite his spotless reputation when it came to women, Nora was aware of his reputation as a cruel man. She’d never been curious enough to investigate the Duke. However, her new status as a wallflower provided her with the means to listen in on the rumors said about him, however unfounded they were.

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