Page 59 of A Duke, a Virgin and a Baby
Miss Snowley jumped, startled at the loud voice that was screaming her name, recognizing it a moment later.
“Seth. Seth is here,” she stared at Anna, wide-eyed and alarmed.
The duchess patted her shoulders gently.
“Are you ready to face him?”
Marjorie shook her head fiercely as she spoke, “No, but I must. I need to know what my future holds.”
“I will go down with you. Do not worry.”
Together, they made their way back downstairs, faltering at the sight of Julian threatening to smack Seth on the back of his head.
“Would it kill you to act with a twinge of decorum? Would you like the entire estate to know that you are searching for the mother of your child? Who actually should not even be here and therefore her presence should be kept quiet, to keep things from going away?” he scolded his brother angrily.
“You should’ve sent for me as soon as she arrived. What if she’s left already?” Seth fussed, pacing about.
“How, if I might ask? Through a window? I told you she’s with —”
“I’m here, Seth,” Marjorie spoke up, tightening her grip on Nicholas protectively.
Seth took in the sight of his child in the arms of his former lover and he said,
“So it is true. He is yours.”
“Ours,” she corrected quietly, handing the child to Anna before she stepped closer to Seth. “He is our son, you and I.”
Seth let out a strange, strangled sound before he demanded,
“Why did you not tell me? How could you hide something so important — how could you keep him from me for so long?”
“I did not believe you cared enough about me or my affairs and as such, I determined that you wouldn’t care for him either,” Marjorie responded, hiding the tremor in her hands by gripping at her skirts.
Seth looked as though he had been struck across the face.
“How could you believe that?”
“How could I not? After everything you said — after all that we had shared, you had no problem tossing me aside once you no longer found me entertaining enough.” Marjorie said, her voice relaying the hurt in her heart.
Seth shook his head fervently, reaching for her, hurt flashing across his face as she stepped back.
“Marjorie, that wasn’t what I wanted. I am so sorry for the hurt I caused you. I know it seems as though I did not care enough about you, but the truth is… I loved you then. And even now, I still love you.”
Marjorie went still, her eyes wide with shock.
“W-What? But you left me —”
“Because I was scared. I was too much of a coward to admit your feelings for you because I did not believe I was worthy of you. I don’t even — I am not sure if what I truly feel for you is love. My father’s trysts made me believe that the only way I could bewith a woman was for a single night. Each time my mother tried to beg him to stay with her and his sons, he would laugh in the face of her confessions of love and tell her love did not exist. All I know is… right now, I can no longer live without you. I tried to put some distance between us because I thought it would be for the best but I can no longer stay away. If you’ll have me, I would like to marry you and spend the rest of my life atoning for my sins and proving to you, just how much you mean to me. Both you and our son.”
Seth sank to his knees before Marjorie opened his arms and declared,
“Marry me, Marjorie Snowley.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Marjorie clapped her hands against her mouth in shock, her eyes filling with tears as she asked, voice slightly muffled,
“Do you really mean it? Do you really want us to be together forever?”
