Page 4 of A Duke, a Virgin and a Baby
He cut her off as he pulled her even closer, their faces a mere breath away now.
“How did you intend to approach me, now that you have me all to yourself? Strip yourself off your clothes, perhaps? Better still — get on your knees and service me?” He whispered in her ear.
His warm breath against her skin sent shivers down her spine and her mind grew foggy. His gaze dropped and she felt helpless to resist the pull of following it, her stomach tightening as she realized what a precarious situation this was. His eyes rose back up to her and she felt pinned by his stare, the heat of his touch burning every ounce of common sense from her mind.
It was strange, how weak she felt in his grasp, how unclear her thoughts had become. Anna couldn’t deny it, couldn’t defend herself from his claims.
“That’s not —” she attempted feebly, her heart skipping a beat as she heard shuffling from behind her.
Anna turned, shocked to meet the stares of a group of people who looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see them.
It was then she realized that due to the strange conversation with the stranger, she had failed to notice the room was now brighter and they were no longer alone.
Anna’s heart dropped as the people, who appeared to be on a tour of the manor, began to whisper and point at her. The man had released her, mumbling under his breath,
“Confound it.”
She wanted to tell them that no, this wasn’t what it looked like, but once more, her tongue felt like lead in her mouth.
Then, her mother stumbled onto the scene, looking almost breathless as she took in the situation. When Anna’s eyes met hers, Anna realized that this was her worst fear come to life.
She had been caught in a scandal.
And it was all her mother’s doing.
CHAPTER TWO
“Icannot believe you would do this to me! I tried to have some faith in you — I have asked you countless times to let me approach my courtship for myself, with my wants in mind but you have chosen to disregard all that I have said. And now look — you have ruined me!”
Anna’s mother, Sally Munro, baroness of Hayward, sighed deeply, as though Anna’s plight was nothing more than an inconvenience.
“I have told you, several times already. It was never my intention to put you in a compromising situation! I only wished for the Duke to get to know you in a private setting. I expected that you would grow closer and he might be interested in you. While this outcome might have not been ideal, it worked out perfectly! A man of his status will have no choice but to take responsibility and ask for your hand!”
Anna stared at her mother, disappointed and disgusted.
“Can you hear yourself, Mother? You had me locked in a dark room with a strange man. What if he hurt me? Or worse? And what if you are wrong? What if he doesn’t care about his reputation and refuses to marry me? All of this will be for naught because you have chosen to want more than you already have!”
Sally looked offended and she stepped closer to Anna.
“I am doing this for us. For the sake of our family. You think too small and want too little! I tried to respect that which is why I wanted you to meet the Duke first and introduce yourself, away from all those attention-seeking vultures. I didn’t want you to be found out the way you were. But perhaps we should see it as a blessing. We are deserving of much more than we have! You know that. And now, you might have gotten us closer to our goal.”
“Your goal, you mean. This has never been about me. You have never listened to what I want, what it is I truly dream of having in a marriage. All you’ve ever cared for is yourself —”
“Enough,” Anna’s father Percival Munro, Baron of Hayward, cleared his throat as he stepped closer towards them. “We have only just arrived home. Perhaps we should rest now and discuss this further later.”
“Not until Anna understands that we have only her best interests at heart. All I’ve ever done was try to help you —”
“But ruining my reputation? Our reputation? Because I do not know if you have realized this yet – if things had gone awry, ourfamily could have been destroyed. Not to mention the fact that you also endangered me as well. You do not understand what my best interests are, Mother. Because you’ve never listened to me anyway.”
With a frustrated sigh, Anna walked away before her mother could respond.
The walk to her room gave her time to reflect on all she had endured at the hands of her parents.
She had suspected for quite some time that she had no control over her life. Even as a child, all the interests and hobbies she had taken up were chosen by her mother who stopped her from doing anything she might have liked. Anna had hoped that as an adult, she would gain some sense of freedom, but now her mother was willing to go as far as risking her whole life on the basis of her own aspirations.
If the tides were to completely go against them, Anna could be completely ruined and end up as a spinster for the rest of her life, depriving her of the peaceful, loving home she had always dreamed of.
Things were less constricting when Leah was still around. She was their success at perfection, the one who raised no questions whenever they instructed her, the very picture of their dreams come true.
