Page 35 of A Duchess to Reclaim

A twisted glee filled him as he watched the happy looks of superiority slacken and pale with each fact he delivered. That was the thing about him. He did not trade in rumors, but in facts, and he had enough to damn them all.

“Pray you keep that to yourself, Your Grace.”

“Your Grace I beseech you, what do you mean?”

“I am at your mercy, Your Grace, please do not speak further of this!”

Their pleas all came to him whispered and hurried; a look of stark fear on their faces.

“Say no more of my wife’s falsities, and we are settled,” he advised them all.

Andoh,how quickly those gossiping hens changed their tunes.

He waited another half hour, carrying on a half-hearted conversation with Hugo and Everett as he watched the ladies that had just been destroying his wife’s reputation now flock to her side with praises.

“What have you done?” Hugo asked, catching Dominic’s intent stare.

Dominic sipped from his drink.

“I do not know what you are talking about,” Dominic answered smoothly.

Hugo raised a brow.

“Mhmm.”

Everett turned the conversation toward his new whiskey distribution business in a moment of stunning sobriety, but Dominic kept his eyes on his wife. He waited for the tense expression on her face to slide into something more gleeful, but it never came. She still appeared as anxious as ever to be among thetonagain; even with her friends by her side. Fidgeting and frightened, just as she had been the night he’d purchased her from auction. As he watched her grow paler by the second, he realized he needed to intervene.

Excusing himself, Dominic left his friends and made his way toward his wife.

“Pardon me, Ladies,” he said politely, giving them all charming smiles as he approached Amelia.

He held his hand out to her, tilting his head in a slight bow.

“It dawned on me that I have not danced with my beautiful wife, and that simply will not do.”

Amelia looked at him, eyes strangely glazed and narrowed as his hand remained outstretched to her.

Play along,he silently demanded, his eyes tensing just enough to convey the message. Amelia forced a smile and finally slipped a hand into his.

“Of course, husband. I would be utterly delighted,” she said sweetly, allowing him to pull her away.

Hushed murmurs surrounded them as Lords and Ladies alike turned their heads to watch them go to the dance floor.

“You have to get ahold of yourself,” he murmured, spinning her out gently from him as the dance began.

Amelia drew in a ragged breath as she twirled back toward him, her small, free hand formed into a fist as it came into punching contact with his chest.

“I hate you for this,” she seethed quietly though her outward smile.

“That’s fine,” he murmured, pulling her into the dance.

He reached up to her fist, his larger hand easily unfurling her tight fingers, and held the hand tight. She tried to fight him, but one firm hand on her waist kept her from doing so.

“You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve heard about myself,” she whispered on. “Not just about the red rooms, but my previous engagement. Awful, despicable things. You promised I wouldn’t have to be around these people again.”

Dominic glanced up at the people around them, then back down to Amelia. If he had it his way he’d eviscerate them all right there with their truths with a public brutality. But that was not how their world worked. Stealth, patience, was required.

In his arms Amelia suddenly swayed against the music, her face growing deathly pale as another ragged breath drew from her lips. She was going to faint.

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