Page 63 of Bound to a Wicked Duke

Percy shook his head. Releasing her arms, he took a step back away from her. “Madeleine would never agree to such a marriage. She would never agree to marry the likes of Herbert Mowbray.”

Laura’s eyes glowed with malevolent knowing. “She will not be given a choice. Either she weds Mowbray, or I destroy her reputation amongst the ton, informing them of her deflowering. Then, once I have done that, I will kill her too, unless you marry me.”

“I will not allow this! I will not allow you to destroy her!”

Laura shrugged her shoulders. “You are too late. I have already set her demise in motion.”

Percy took off running out of the house and towards the stables, fear for Madeleine gripping his very soul. “Mr. Hargraves, do not let that woman leave, and please send a messenger for the magistrate! Be on your guard! She is a murderess!”

“Yes, Your Grace. Right away.” Mr. Hargraves rushed to do as bidden.

“You are too late,” Laura called after Percy from the door of the house. “You will never make it to them before they reach Gretna Green!”

“Mr. Mowbray, what are you doing here?” Madeleine asked with uncertainty. She looked around the garden but did not see anyone else. This made her even more uncomfortable. “We should not be here alone unchaperoned like this.”

“And yet, you had no issue with it when you thought that it was Percival Hardy, Duke of Greyhall, that was awaiting you here. Is that the difficulty between us? Is it that I am not a duke?” His tone held an angry bitterness that made Madeleine uneasy.

She shook her head, edging back towards the door. “Rank has nothing to do with it. We are simply not suited for one another.”

Herbert shook his head in argument. “Your father disagrees. He believes that we are quite suited for one another.”

“My father does not always know what is best for me.” She had almost made it back to the kitchen door when Mowbray stopped her.

“If you refuse my troth, it is certain that the entirety of the English ton will know that you have been deflowered by Percival Hardy. No other man would consider marrying a dishonored woman, and your family will be plunged into shame. They would never be able to show their faces in polite society again.”

Madeleine frowned at him, anger giving her courage to stand her ground. “I have not been deflowered, and I care not about marriage. I have no desire to wed. My family has nothing to be shamed for.”

Mowbray shook his head in disapproval. “Denial does not suit you, Madeleine. I know the truth, and I know that you would never wish to bring such shame to your family. Please, see reason.”

“My family is strong. You know not of what you speak.”

Mowbray gave her a judgmental look. “Would you ruin them for the sake of your own reluctance to admit to the iniquity of your sins? Would you allow your shame to stain their good name? I am offering to save you. To save them. Refuse me, and the world will know all that you have done. Let me save you all.”

Madeleine shook her head. “You are not our savior. You are threatening to ruin me, to ruin them. For what? So that you can share my bed? The shame is on you.”

Mowbray’s eyes showed surprise at her boldness. “I am not the one who is threatening them. There is another that has made it clear that if I do not follow through and convince you to wed me,” here he paused, shaking his head in distaste, “there is a witness to your deflowering that will tell all.”

This stopped Madeleine in her tracks. “Who claims such a thing?”

“Lady Laura Knight witnessed it all. She saw everything that transpired between you and the Duke of Greyhall in the garden at the ball and has promised to make certain that all know of it unless I can convince you to marry me. I am here to save you, Madeleine, not to ruin you. I know that I am not the most exciting choice, but I am a stable choice. I will provide you with honorability.”

Madeleine was trapped. He was right in that such a scandal would ruin her family. It would bring shame to all within hersphere. It did not matter that she had not been deflowered. Her petals had been a bit ruffled to be certain, but she and Percy had not consummated their relationship. The noble ladies and gentlemen of the ton would not care about the difference. Her family would be ruined regardless.

Mowbray’s eyes turned earnest, the bitter anger draining from him. “I am offering you safety, a way out of this. I suggest that you take it before it is too late. It is not a threat. It is a fact that you must now come to terms with. You must come with me now, before it is too late.”

Madeleine looked back at the house full of all of her family and their guests. If Laura Knight wished to cause a scene, tonight would be the perfect night for it. It would be very easy for her to simply walk in and announce to the gathering that Madeleine was compromised and that she had seen it with her own eyes. With Percy leaving England for the continent, he would not be there to help her overcome the scandal by making her a proposal of marriage.

Madeleine’s mind scrambled for an answer, any answer, that did not result in her spending the rest of her life with the likes of Herbert Mowbray. “I could wed someone else. Hamish MacElroy would be a much better match than you and I would be.”

“There is no one else that could save you in time. If you did wed another man, he would come to know the truth of it on your wedding night, and he would reject you. Your reputation wouldbe in ruins regardless. MacElroy is indeed a good man, but his family would never agree to his wedding a soiled lady.”

“I am intact,” Madeleine spat angrily.

“My dear, we do not have the time to argue this. You do not have the time. Lady Laura only gave me to the end of the dinner party to convince you to marry me. If we are not wed before the dawn, she will expose your ruin. As alluring as you are, that is not enough time for you to extract a proposal and wed another man. I am your only option. I do not expect you to love me, but perhaps in time, you will see me as the man who cared enough for you to save you.”

As much as Madeleine did not wish to admit it, Mowbray was right. She did not have enough time to convince Hamish MacElroy or any other man of worth to marry her. She had spent so much time attempting to avoid the sacrament of marriage, thwarting the efforts of every suitor who had darkened her door, that she had not considered that the day would come when she would be desperate for just such a proposal. The irony was not lost on her.

Madeleine could feel the fight slowly draining from her body as her mind surrendered to the inevitable. “And how do you propose to have us wed before the dawn? There are formalities and practicalities that must be observed. We cannot simply walk into the dinner party and announce that it has been turned into a wedding. The banns would need to be read, a ceremony arranged, contracts to be drawn up betwixt your father and mine concerning my dowry.”

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