Page 71 of Bound to a Wicked Duke

Madeleine stepped forward, her chin up, shoulders back, braced for whatever might come. “I was headed to Gretna Green.”

“Gretna Green?! Why would you be…?” Understanding dawned in his eyes. He looked at Herbert Mowbray then at Percy.“Which of you wished to dishonor my daughter?! Which of you wished to destroy her reputation and that of this family?!”

“Her reputation has already been tarnished,” Mowbray replied, indignation returning to his voice. “I only wished to save her from herself.”

“What did you just say?” The Earl looked as if someone had punched him in the stomach. “Did you dishonor my daughter?! I believed you to be an honorable man.”

“I did not dishonor your daughter,” Mowbray reassured him, shaking his head in protest. “It was this one who did the dishonoring,” he gestured towards Percy in disapproval. “It was Percival Hardy, Duke of Greyhall that I was attempting to save her reputation from.”

The Earl’s eyes swung to Percy. Anger, hurt, and disbelief clouded their depths. “Greyhall, what did you do?”

“I love your daughter.” Percy stepped forward to stand beside Madeleine.

Madeleine looked up at Percy in surprise. “You love me?”

Percy turned to meet her eyes. “I love you,” he replied, reaching up to brush a lock of hair out of her face. “I now know that I always have.”

“What did you do to my daughter, Greyhall?” The tone of the Earl’s voice held a warning. Madeleine feared that her father was about to challenge Percy to a duel.

Percy looked up to meet the Earl’s eye. “I did not dishonor your daughter, Stonefield, but I do wish to marry her.”

Madeleine gasped in surprise. “Marry me? What about the curse?”

Percy turned his gaze back to her and smiled. “There is no curse, my love. Laura Knight killed Francis. Her death was the act of an evil woman, not that of a curse. I was foolish to believe such a thing and to allow it to come between us.” He cupped her face with his hand, brushing his thumb across her lower lip. “Marry me, Monkey, and make me the happiest man on this earth.”

Madeleine looked up at him in shock. She was speechless. Percy took it as hesitation. “I know that you never wished to wed, and this is not how I would have wished for us to come together, but I promise you that I will make you happy. I will love you all the days of my life until the end of time itself.”

Madeleine was stunned. “I do not want to die,” she blurted out in answer.

“Die?” Percy asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. “I will not let Laura Knight touch you.”

Madeleine shook her head. “Not Laura.”

Percy frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I do not wish to die giving you children. I do not wish to be the cause of someone else’s pain.”

Madeleine watched the color drain out of Percy’s face. “Madeleine,” he breathed.

“When your mother died, her death nearly broke you and my mother. It nearly broke me. It did break your father. I cannot be responsible for inflicting that kind of pain on those that I love. I cannot be responsible for what I saw in your eyes that day.”

“Oh, my beautiful darling,” Percy whispered, kissing her forehead and pulling her into his arms. “That is why you did not wish to wed? All of these years, this has been the shadow that tormented your heart?”

Madeleine nodded. “I cannot be responsible for causing such pain.”

Cecil looked at his sister, his eyes filled with compassion. “You are not as the Duchess was. You are strong, healthy. Percy’s mother suffered from illness for many years. She was not strong. Yes, women die in childbirth, but that does not mean that you will be one of them.”

Madeleine looked up into Percy’s eyes, searching his face for answers. “Cecil speaks the truth. My mother was not strong in body. She had not been healthy for many years. I would loveany child that we might create together, but we need never have children if that is what you wish. There are ways to avoid conception. My grandmother knew the ways of such things.”

“Blasphemy,” Mowbray protested.

Percy glared at Mowbray, causing the man to shrink back in fear.

“If I were you, Mowbray, I would not speak unless asked to,” Cecil advised. “I still have not ruled out challenging you to a duel.”

Mowbray gulped and fell silent once more.

Madeleine looked up into Percy’s face. “Do you mean what you said that we need not have children? What of an heir?”

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