Page 42 of Dueling with the Duke
“So, you wish for me to marry? Is that it?” Nicholas asked.
“Have you seen how happy your brother is?”
“I am not my brother, and I am not my father. The less I am like my father, the better.”
“Michael is not like him, but he will marry soon. He will never become like your father, and you know it. Marriage should not scare you.”
“It does not scare me,” Nicholas said angrily. “Michael is nothing like Father because I protected him during his childhood. The reason he can be happy now is that he did not have to deal with any of Father’s rubbish. I was his shield, and I took on enough hurt and pain for both of us. I will not do anything Father did because?—”
He cut himself off when he began to voice his real reasons for not wanting to marry. He turned away from his mother, but she quickly turned him back around and embraced him. He felt like a child again in her embrace, but it was good this time.
“Let it out,” Rebecca said.
Nicholas loved his mother and brother more than anything in the world, and he would do anything to protect them. Not marrying and having children was part of protecting them.
“She is the only woman I have seen who can match you,” Rebecca said.
“Who?” Nicholas asked.
His body quivered slightly, and he thought he might explode with the past being dragged up. He never wanted to think of his father ever again, but the man haunted him at every turn.
“Lady Bridget,” Rebecca clarified. “A lesser woman would want nothing to do with you, but she gives you chance after chance.”
Nicholas broke their embrace, leaning back. “She does not give me any chances. She has to be here for her sister.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Rebecca countered. “I have seen the way she looks at you.”
“It would seem you have seen everything that the rest of us have not,” the Duke said. “I can assure you she does not look at me in any way, and if you are suggesting I marry her, then you are a very poor judge of character. We could not be more different, and we are both uninterested in marriage.”
“You should give her a chance,” Rebecca urged.
“More chances are not the issue. Some people are just not compatible with each other, and others don’t want to be compatible with anyone. I know you like to dream, Mother, and you must think it would be wonderful for two sisters to marry two brothers, but it will not happen. Now, I am hungry and shall check if supper has been served yet.”
“You need to find happiness, Nicholas,” Rebecca told him as he turned away from her.
“I don’t need marriage to be happy, Mother. I’m already happy.”
CHAPTER16
Problems, Problems, Problems
Bridget was utterly mortified, her heart heavy with regret after pouring out her feelings to the Duke two days ago. She was acutely aware that she shouldn’t have done it, that it could potentially backfire, but the deed was done, and she had to come to terms with it. She knew she would, eventually, but for now, she sought solace in her room, avoiding the Duke as much as possible.
Her ankle was feeling a lot better, and she had thought she might go out for a ride, but she was worried she would bump into the Duke out there and there would be no means of escape.
A knock sounded at the door, and her heart leaped in her throat. She feared the Duke had come to talk to her with some misguided opinion that he could solve all of her problems.
I might be a woman, but that does not mean I can’t solve my own problems.
“Bridget?”
It was her mother, and it brought her some relief. Bridget went to the door and opened it.
“Come in, Mother,” she called.
Penelope didn’t look pleased to have to enter the room and not have Bridget exit, but she did it anyway.
“Why are you spending so much time in your room, Bridget?”
