Page 63 of Her Bear of a Duke

"All the same," she sobbed, "I wish I had known the truth. We all deserved that much."

Though he disliked her, Morgan had to feel sympathy for her. He knew the torment that had followed when his brother died, but at least he knew almost everything that had happened. Lady Annabelle had had nothing, and had it not been for Catherine then she may never have.

"What do you want from me?" Morgan asked. "You are here to see Catherine, but she has gone to bed. You should have left by now."

"I know, but I could not bring myself to. You do not know what it is like to live in my household, Morgan."

"Do not call me that," he instructed. "You do not have the right to such informalities."

"My apologies. I had grown used to it."

"Yes, many years ago. I no longer have any interest in following that path again. I have a wife now, and she is the only one that may call me by my given name."

"Yes, your wife… regardless, I have truly come to ask a favor of you."

"I suspected as much. What do you want?"

"I was hoping you might allow me to stay here for a while?"

"No."

"Morga– Your Grace, you do not understand. It has truly been so awful in my household. I never found a husband, and my father hates me. He says that I am an even greater disappointment than Elizabeth was, for at least she had done away with herself. I cannot be there anymore. I do not know what else to do."

"You should find a husband. You cannot stay here. Go find that viscount that you so liked the company of."

She looked at him sheepishly.

"He never truly liked me," she admitted. "I never saw him again after that night, and I have always regretted what I did to you. I should have apologized, but I was too ashamed of myself. I was a girl, Your Grace, and now I am a woman. I do not ask for your forgiveness, only some mercy. Please do not send me back to my father."

In spite of everything, Morgan pitied her. He knew what had been expected of her, and for her to have been such a failure would have been too much for her father to allow. He dreaded to think of what had happened to her since they had parted ways, even if he did not like her at all.

"Very well," he sighed. "You may stay for the week, but you are not to be alone with Catherine."

"Why not? She is as much my niece as she is yours."

"She has lived here since she was a small child. You will not walk into her home and make her believe that you are someone you are not, the same way you did to me."

That seemed to silence her.

"A week then," she smiled. "I am so grateful, Your Grace."

She turned and left, and Morgan found a maid to prepare a room for her. Suddenly, he was quite aware that Dorothy would not be happy with what he had done. He had not asked her how she felt about it, and had simply invited a lady she was not fond of to stay with them.

Fortunately, at dinner, Lady Annabelle held her tongue. He explained everything to Dorothy and Catherine, to which Catherine could not stop smiling, and Dorothy nodded quietly. He would make it up to her, but he was unsure quite how to do that.

Then, he remembered something.

CHAPTER 23

"Who on Earth does he think he is?" Cecilia asked upon her arrival, two days after that of Lady Annabelle.

Dorothy had sent invitations to her friends, which Morgan had agreed with, and it was a miracle that the quill did not snap in her hand as she wrote them. They had only just agreed that Lady Annabelle would leave, but that was not what had happened. She felt for her, truly she did, but she wanted her gone for a while so that they could agree on certain things.

"He is trying to be kind," Dorothy explained. "She has an awful family, and this is an escape for her."

"She can escape elsewhere," she argued. "There is no need for her to invite herself to the home of a man that she was once engaged to, one that is now married I shall add."

"She was invited by Catherine, for what it is worth."

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