Page 26 of His Highland Duchess
Lysander curled his lip. “I am glad you are having fun at my expense. Far more than I am, for that matter.”
Sampson laughed. “Your wife was just telling us the details of your marriage.”
“Oh?” He looked at Margaret as if expecting the worst. She looked right back at him, refusing to back down.
“How happy the two of you are,” Sampson assured him, although there was a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “She says that married life with you is bliss beyond her reckoning.”
“Did she now?”
“I did,” Margaret assured him with a forced smile. “My sister could nae believe how wellbehavedI was being…” The duke stiffened noticeably to hear the use of that word. “… but as I told her, there is nae reason to be surprised. Such is the happy state of our marriage, yes?”
The duke looked at her flatly. “Might I have a word alone with my wife?”
“I was just going to suggest we find a drink…” Sampson took Catherine by the hand. “Shall we?”
Catherine looked between Margaret and Lysander. No doubt she could sense the change in atmosphere that had arrived, and no doubt she knew for a fact that everything was not as it seemed. But she did not argue, allowing herself to be pulled away, leaving Margaret and Lysander alone.
“What do you think you are doing?” he spoke at once, keeping his voice low to that nobody might hear them.
“Me?” She touched innocently at her chest. “I am doing exactly as ye asked.” A fluttering of her eyelashes. “Behaving meself. Is that nae what ye wished for?”
“You know what I mean.”
She dropped the act, her expression turning flat, her eyebrow raising in a dismissive gesture. “I am doing exactly as I promised and nae more. You wished for me to be on me best behaviour, tell me how I have nae done so.”
He clicked his tongue. “While I admit you have done well tonight, it would not do if your sister suspects –”
“She suspects nothing,” Margaret cut him off. “Although she knows me well enough to know that somethin’ is nae right. Nae that it matters, as she and Sampson are both privy to the truth.”
The duke hesitated, looking about them again to ensure that they were alone and not being listened to. They were, but he stepped in closer anyway, wrapping a hand around her waist in a way that to the observer would have looked like a loving gesture. But his grip was strong, and Margaret knew it to be an act of taking control.
Her breath caught at his touch. Her mind flashed back to that kiss. She tried to dispel it, for she did not wish to concern herself with such things. But standing this close…dammit, how he undoes me!
“And pray, do tell, what is the truth?”
She shook her head and forced herself to concentrate. “That you and I hate one another.”
This had the duke leaning back in surprise. “Margaret, I… do not hate you. Surely, you know this.”
She scoffed. “And how can I possibly ken such a thing? Ye demand that I stay away from ye bairns as if I carry some sort of disease.”
He winced. “That is not…”
“And then, just when I think that ye are starting to change yer mind and admit that maybe I am nae the worst possible person ye have ever come across –”
“I do not think –”
“-- ye double down,” she spoke over him. “Telling me that our…” She felt her cheeks flushing. “That our kiss was a mistake. That ye did not mean it.” She scoffed. “Confirming, as I suspected from the beginning, that ye wish for little to do with me.”
This had the duke frowning at her. Not angered by her rancor. More surprised, as if he hadn’t considered for a second the things that she said. “I’m confused,” he began carefully. “Are you saying that you want to kiss me again?”
Her eyes turned wide. “Nae, that is nae what I –” She caught her tongue and took a breath. “I am simply referring to the mixed messages ye continue to send me. I do nae ken where I stand in this marriage, outside of your desire for me nae to ruin your life and that of ye bairns.”
“So…” The duke smirked as he so often did when they started arguing. “I should not have told you I wouldn’t try to kiss you again? I had no idea you would be so upset by such a thing.”
“That is nae… you ken that is… do nae twist my words.” She was becoming flustered, made worse by the smirk on the duke’s lips and the look in his eyes that was both mocking and elated. “I do nae wish to kiss ye again. Ever.”
“Are you sure about that?”
