Page 27 of Bound to a Wicked Duke

Cecil nodded.

“Very well. I shall go back to White’s and have a little talk with our friend Quinley. You should go home, Percy.”

The relief that Percy felt as Cecil drew the conversation to an end was unexpected and intense, and though he normally did not do well with orders, he nodded his head in agreement. As they parted, and Percy walked toward his carriage, he began to worry about how much he had said regarding his affection forMadeleine was actually true and if he was putting her in more danger by trying to help.

CHAPTER EIGHT

“My word, Lady Madeleine Gillett, but you look positively breathtaking!”

The voice of Lady Laura Knight interrupted Madeleine’s search for Percy among the throng of the Englishton,and she turned to see the young lady who had abandoned her in the park. Madeleine and Percy had arranged to meet at a ball being held by one of her father’s business associates. Percy was supposed to have the first dance, and Madeleine did not wish to be forced to dance with Herbert Mowbray again.

Madeleine smiled politely in gratitude for the compliment. The modiste had designed a lavender gown with a royal blue silk sash to emphasize the empire waist. Silver thread had been used to create vine-like designs across the skirt of the garment, causing it to shine in the flickering candlelight of the ballroom.

Lucy had taken full advantage of the dress’ color scheme and had woven lavender and blue flowers along with silvery ribbons through Madeleine’s hair. She had thought that it would lookridiculous, but when Lucy had finished, the effect was quite enchanting, coronal even.

“As do you,” she returned the compliment, taking in the white fabric and gold details of Lady Knight’s ballgown with approval. “You shine as the sun.”

Lady Knight waved away the compliment in modesty. “Not at all.” She joined Madeleine in scanning the ballroom before them. “Have you heard the latest gossip?”

Madeleine shook her head. “I do not believe so. I have not spoken with anyone since our promenade in the park.”

Laura’s eyes lit up with excitement as she leaned in and whispered into Madeleine’s ear, “People are saying that the Duke of Greyhall is cursed. As you have a romantic attachment to His Grace, I thought it best to tell you with all haste.”

“Cursed?” Madeleine did not like that word used in relation to Percy. It made her uncomfortable. “I had heard whispers at the last ball, but I did not believe it. How is he cursed? He looks healthy and thriving to me.”

Laura shook her head. “It is something about the people nearest to him dying.”

A cold chill washed down Madeleine’s spine.

“He is not responsible for the death of his parents,” she disputed. “I was with him when his mother died. He was not involved. She died in childbirth. His father’s death was from illness. There was nothing more that the Duke of Greyhall could have done to help him. Dr. Moberly was quite clear in his expression of this at the time.”

Laura shrugged her shoulders noncommittally. “Perhaps it is the curse of his mother’s gypsy blood. His grandmother was one of them, you know.” She said the wordthemas if it was a derogatory term.

“I am aware of the Duke’s lineage and do not believe that simply because his grandmother was of the traveling people that he is cursed. Curses are naught but the nonsensical stories of children and the idle of mind. He cannot help what happened to his parents, no more than any of us could. Besides that, the deaths of two people does not make a curse,” Madeleine insisted. She was surprised by how fiercely she spoke in Percy’s defense.

“There were more than two deaths, my dear Lady Madeleine. He is also responsible for the death of Francis.”

“Francis?” Madeleine’s brow furrowed in question, attempting to remember a person in their circle of friends and acquaintances by that name. “Francis, who?”

A commotion near the entry to the ballroom caused Madeleine to shift her attention away from Laura in time to see the entrance of the tall, handsome form of the Duke of Greyhall himself. Madeleine smiled in relief that he had at last arrived.She turned back to demand that Laura explain herself only to find that the young woman had once again slipped away into the crowd, her hand raised in farewell as she disappeared from sight.

What a peculiar young woman,she silently mused as she wove her way through the crowd to Percy’s side.

“My, my, Monkey,” Percy practically purred, his eyes sweeping down her figure as he took her hand. “You are spring incarnate in this gown. Perhaps I should change your name to Persephone.”

Madeleine’s polite smile dropped into an exasperated frown, and her eyelashes began to flutter as she fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“That is a much, don’t you think?” she said dryly.

Percy, seemingly unbothered by her unpleasant expression, only grinned and asked, “You do not believe me?”

He pressed his hand against his chest as his brow drew down and a pitiful pout formed on his lips.

“I am wounded, Monkey.”

“I do not believe that for a moment,” she retorted.

“It was a compliment.”

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