Page 65 of Her Cursed Duke
“Here’s to the end of summer and the others about to come.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
“This is quite the guest list,” Aiden commented, scanning the list of names his godmother had handed over to him to examine before she sent out invitations.
There had to be at least a hundred names as potential guests for her annual summer feast.
“Which is why I am glad you offered to help me with it. I could question your motives, but we are adults, and I do not need to tease you to convince you that your participation is greatly appreciated,” Beatrice returned, staring at a different list through her gleaming spectacles.
Aiden sighed, appreciating the consideration—as flawed as it was. She had every right to be suspicious, or at least curious, of his reasons for choosing to help her plan an event that he had always been begged, bribed, or forced to attend.
The Dowager Marchioness always threw a summer feast at the end of the Season before most of thetonheaded back to London, only to be seen the following year. And this was the first time Aiden had ever expressed any sort of interest beyond the bare minimum required of him.
His reasons were simple if one thought about it. Following his resignation over the inevitable end of his agreement with Prudence, he had decided to make her journey back to London full of nothing but fond memories. He sent her more flowers and gifts and made an effort to ask her out on one last stroll with Snowflake, thankful when she showed up in the evening without a chaperone. He had kissed her under cover of darkness as much as he could that evening.
For some odd reason, he hadn’t sent over the box of paints he had bought for her, unable to do so whenever he considered doing it, stuck staring at the wrapped parcel whenever she danced through his mind for minutes on end. It was almost as if a part of him wanted to hold onto it until the very last minute, unwilling to sever the very last connection he had to her.
He offered to help his godmother oversee the preparations for the summer feast because he wished to contribute to the greatness of the event in some way, wanting his and Prudence’s last public appearance to be as enjoyable as possible—for her and her family. Aiden wasn’t sure if he could achieve that, but he wished to try.
“Shall I expect some good news at some point during the party?”
Aiden understood what his godmother was trying to imply and felt his stomach churn at the thought of the pending disappointment that awaited her instead, knowing that the moment of ending his “courtship” was drawing closer with every passing minute. He would eventually have to tell her it had not worked out between him and Prudence, would have to give some spiel of how they were too different, and, in the end, their incompatibility was too great to ignore.
The fact that the whole affair had been a ruse had been a draining thought to entertain from the start whenever he pondered the outcome he had settled on from the start. But thinking about the additional lie he would deliver soon about how he couldn’t grant his godmother her desire to see him married to Prudence—or anyone else—made his heart heavy.
Because once or twice, he had imagined it, being with Prudence beyond their agreement. And every time, he had been terrified by how much he liked the images that flashed in his mind.
“I am going to attend without a fuss this year. I feel as though you should focus on appreciating that detail first, before anything else,” he chastised lightly, crossing the names of the people who had looked wrongly or said something about Prudence during some of their public outings off the guest list.
“Ah, yes. I shall be grateful for the miracle and not expect anything more. I never thought I’d see the day when I’d regret teaching you about the joys of contentment.”
Aiden paused at the tone in his godmother’s voice, looking up at her in concern. “Are you all right?”
Beatrice blinked up at him owlishly, her fingertips pressed to her temple as though she had begun to massage it but stopped when he caught her. “Yes, darling. Why do you ask?”
He narrowed his gaze at her as if something about her body language would serve as an obvious tell. “Just… you sounded tired. Additionally, we’ve been together for over twenty minutes, and you haven’t tried to throw anything at my head.”
Beatrice chuckled, and Aiden couldn’t help but frown at how weak it sounded, wondering what he should do if she refused to admit something was wrong.
“I am fine, dear. Perhaps a little tired. I have not been sleeping as well as I would like. It’s nothing, do not worry about it,” she said with a wave of her hand.
Aiden pursed his lips, feeling caught between pushing further and relenting, not wanting to stress her even more. “If you say so. Would you like us to suspend the remaining preparations so you can get some rest? I would offer to handle what is left, but I know you prefer to oversee the preparations for your events closely.”
“Thank you, darling, but I am really fine. We don’t have that many details left to iron out, so I would like to get it all out of the way as soon as possible,” she assured him gently.
Aiden still felt uneasy, but they both possessed the same stubborn streak, so he knew there was nothing he could say that would convince her to take a break. So, he simply told himself to nod along while keeping a close eye on her.
Apparently, his gaze wasn’t close or keen enough because when he turned around to search for the list of groceries to be purchased for the feast, he heard the sound of glass shattering.
“Godmother, I had been jesting when I mentioned you throwing things at my hea—”
It was as though his world had come to a screeching halt when he found her slumped back against her chair, her eyes closed.
Panic welled up within him and he rushed over to her side, reaching out for her but hesitating, old memories that had haunted him for so long causing him to falter.
Did… did he do this? What if he made things worse? What should he do?He didn’t want to lose anyone else.
Then help her, a voice said, sounding suspiciously like Prudence’s.Check on her and then call for help. Do it now.
