Page 67 of Her Cursed Duke
“What are you doing here?”
Prudence whirled around at the sound of the voice she adored most, relieved to find Aiden looking calm and collected. It was when she moved closer that she realized that his countenance was far too collected, almost completely blank, as he stared down at her without the heated gaze that she had grown accustomed to.
“Aiden, I—”
“That will be all,” he said to the butler, waiting until the man was gone before he addressed her again. “You have no reason to be here. Just leave.”
She tried not to be affected by the emptiness in his voice, reminding herself that she had not just come to support him but to also ease his mind by helping in any way she could.
“Just let me see her. I can help—”
“You will not touch her!” he snapped, stepping closer to her, his gaze dark. “Who do you think you are? What do you think you can do for her this time?”
“Aiden, this isn’t my first time tending to an ailing elder, you know that. I cared for my father before he passed, and I have nursed my grandmother back to health on numerous occasions,” she reminded him gently, slowly reaching for his hand. “If you would just let me check on her—”
“Enough,” he said coldly, shifting out of her reach. “This is my fault.Idid this.”
Her heart broke at the resigned tone of his voice, and she shook her head quickly, trying to dissuade him before the notion of him being to blame took root in his mind.
“No, Aiden, you didn’t do anything. This isn’t your fault.”
“Is that so?” He laughed humorlessly. “I was well aware that she is fragile at this age. I knew that her health should have been a priority, yet I let myself be distracted by keeping up appearances on behalf of this pointless farce—byyou. I was foolish and immature, reveling in the unimportant as opposed to what truly mattered.I won’t be blinded by you anymore. It all ends today. I never want to see you again.”
It felt as though her heart had come to a chilling stop. She staggered forward pathetically, trying to catch her breath as she swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Aiden, no,” she begged.
“I have no use for you. In fact, I never should have gotten involved with you in the first place. Every moment from the beginning has been a mistake, and I cannot afford to pay for it any longer,” he stated, grabbing her arm and dragging her back to the front door.
He pushed her outside and slammed the door shut without another word, leaving her feeling cold and bereft.
Defeated, Prudence returned to Fitzroy House, and it wasn’t until her fingers closed around the reins of her horse that the tears began to stream down her face.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Prudence returned home with the weight of the fact that she couldn’t have been more wrong on her shoulders.
Somehow, she had fooled herself into believing that regardless of how things would end between them, she would be all right—a bald-faced lie that she had only come to recognize for what it was, now that she had no choice but to face the consequences of her actions. She had let herself fall so deeply for him, had unknowingly grafted his existence into her core, and had made him her dream.
And now, all her hunches had been proven false, and she could feel herself crumbling apart.
Aiden not only didn’t want anything to do with her, but he also regretted ever getting involved with her in the first place, nullifying every meaning behind his sweet words and touches, leaving her aware that she had no one to blame but herself,because no one in their right mind would have bought the genuine behavior he displayed.
If he could cook up an entire farce to fool his godmother, what was stopping him from fooling Prudence, too?
The more Prudence thought about it, the worse she felt.She tried to calm herself before she arrived home, but she had practically raced back with the same fervor she had ridden with to Serpenhood Castle, only instead of running to the man she believed was her beloved, she was running from him and out of his life—just as he had requested.
She arrived when Agnes and Silas were about to climb into the carriage at the front steps, possibly to head to Serpenhood Castle to visit the Dowager Marchioness. She wasted no time dismounting and running into her sister’s arms.
“Goodness, Prudence! I thought you had gone to see the Duke? What happened?”
Prudence had attempted to derive enough comfort from her sister’s embrace to collect her wits, but at the mention of Aiden, she couldn’t help but sob harder, her heart hurting over a love she lost before she could have it.
Agnes silently held her sister for a moment, then she turned to her husband and said, “Silas, please tell the servants to prepare our trunks quickly. We are leaving for London this afternoon.”
Silas glanced at Prudence with a look of concern, asking softly, “Are you sure, love?”
Agnes tightened her hold on her sister, disheartened by how small she felt in her arms, each sob causing her chest to hurt deeply.“I am,” she replied, more certain than ever. “We have no reason to stay any longer.”
