Page 70 of Her Cursed Duke
Aiden frowned at his godmother. “Why did you send him away? What if you fall ill again? We must take preventive measures to ensure you do not face more health challenges.”
“Aiden, I am already at the age where merely breathing could be a health challenge. Leave me be. What we need to do is talk about Prudence. I heard she came to see me, and you turned her away. Why is that?”
Aiden stiffened and schooled his expression into a nonchalant mask. “There was nothing she could do, so I saw no point in having her hang around. You needed rest and the attention of a real doctor.”
Beatrice stared at him in mild disbelief. “She saved Lord Thornbury’s life at his ball! I know you witnessed her heroism, you were an active participant! Do not tell me there was nothing she could have done when you didn’t even let her try. At least you could have allowed her to stay by my side while Dr. Felix attended to me. I do not know why you insist on keeping a wall between you both. If she is to become someone you wish to keep by your side for the rest of your life, then granting her access to me is only fair. It was so thoughtful of her to come to see me, and you turned her away as if she were a drunkard begging for funds to purchase more spirits. That was quite unkind, Aiden.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he snapped, barely giving her time to finish her statement. “As of this moment, there is nothing between Prudence and me. Our courtship is over.”
“What on earth do you mean? Why would you end things between you? I’ve never seen two people who are meant for each other like you two are. What happened?”
Aiden had rehearsed his explanation a thousand times, had taught himself how to softly implore his godmother to realize that it was for the best, to convince her of the final part of this ridiculous story. A few weeks ago, it had been difficult to think about it because he felt guilty about tricking her. But now, the lies burned his throat as they spilled out, his heart clenching when he recalled the look of devastation on Prudence’s face as he ordered her to leave after ending their arrangement.
“We… we were far too different. Our characters clashed more often than not, and we just aren’t suited to be together. It was… nice, for a while, but we can’t expect that to be the case forever. So, we agreed to go our separate ways.”
Beatrice stared at her godson in disbelief, almost as if she was waiting for him to claim he was merely joking and he hadn’t singlehandedly ruined what was possibly the best thing he had ever had. And when he did no such thing, she gasped in horror.
“Aiden, what have you done?”
Her question caught Aiden off-guard, and he tried not to show it, asking her in return, “What do you mean? It’s hardly my fault. We both agreed to part ways. I don’t know why you’d think—”
“Aiden, I might be old, but I am not yet senile. There is no way Prudence agreed to part from you without a fuss—not when shecared about you as much as she did. So, I will ask you one last time. What onearthdid you do?”
Mentioning that Prudence cared about him weakened his defenses, and he felt himself cave under the weight of his sins and misdeeds.
“I didn’t think it would be possible to give you what you wish for—to see me with a family of my own. I knew that there was no way anyone would love me, and engaging that closely with someone would only put them at risk. And I didn’t want to disappoint you. I knew you meant well, but your insistence about me getting married bothered me.
“So, I tried to halt your search for a bride for me by enlisting Prudence’s help, and we agreed to pretend we were courting. You would think I was interested in her and let me be, and then at the end of the Season, we would go our separate ways, claiming things just didn’t work out between us. I would tell you that I had given it my very best, and you would cease your efforts in finding me a wife.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time because I just couldn’t bring myself to interact with anyone for any reason—much less with marriage in mind. Not again. And Prudence had plans to leave for London at the end of the Season so we would never have to see each other again. I didn’t want to deceive you, but I was left with no choice because, at the end of the day, you would be disappointed—either by my inability to be loved or the tragedy my curse would undoubtedly bring upon whoever I care about.”
“For the love of God, Aiden, I cannot believe how ridiculous you are. How many times do I have to say it? How is it that even after all the times that Prudence has stood up for you publicly, you still refuse to believe it? You are not cursed. What happened to your family wasn’t your fault, neither is it a responsibility you must shoulder for as long as you live. They were merely victims of a natural occurrence that takes place in life ever so often—more so than you think. You are not to blame, Aiden. Think about your family, of how much they loved you. It would break their hearts to know that this is how you’ve chosen to honor their memory—to see it as the moment when your life was doomed.
“It was tragic, but that doesn’t mean that it was supposed to serve as the stopping point of your existence. You have claimed that all you wish for is to live your life in solitude because you simply want peace of mind, but you know that deep down, what is driving you is fear—the fear of loss. And although it is reasonable to be scared, it is unfortunate to throw your life away because you are scared. Your family wouldn’t want that for you, and neither would I. You are too good, too precious to be subjected to a bleak, meaningless existence.”
Beatrice sighed deeply, waving her hands as she pointed out, “Even Prudence knew as much! She could see past the rumors that surrounded you, and she loved you deeply, you dolt. I saw the way she looked at you, how considerate she was of you, and I could see that she was genuinely in love with you, uninfluenced by your title or whatever perks might come with marrying a duke. She wanted you as you are—an extraordinary feat because evenIget tired of you sometimes.”
Aiden had stopped listening after his godmother had pointed out that Prudence loved him deeply, stricken as he realized that very reason was the meaning behind the way she had smiled at him, how she had reached for him, why she had always looked at him like he was something wonderful.
He’d always… He had thought that she had been simply playing the part, merely doing what was required to carry out their ruse, thinking that he had been the only one to fall in love. But she had always been there, right from the start, when he had not wanted to be caught dead among the people who had come under the guise of celebrating him. She had looked right at him when no one else would and had treated him like a human being, not a harbinger of doom.
And he had broken her heart earlier.
“I… I made a mistake. I had been so scared when you suddenly fell ill, and seeing her made me feel like she could get hurt because of me. And I said some things. I hurt her. And I don’t know if I can fix it.”
“Well, do you wish to? Because you must start with yourself before you seek to mend things with her. If you really want to be by her side, you need to be the Duke she fell in love with, not a fabled curse. It would not be right to make her stay, only for you to chase her off at the first sign of trouble. If you truly love her, you must ensure that what happened earlier today never happens again. So, what do you choose?”
Without hesitation, Aiden replied firmly, “Her. I choose her.”
Beatrice grinned. “Excellent. Fear not, my dear boy, I will guide you on just how to go about it.” She beckoned him closer. “Now, this is what you must do.”
The further the carriage rolled away from the estate that Prudence had called home for three years, the more unsettled she felt in her skin.
It had been a little sad to note that she did not have a lot of people to say goodbye to—the majority had consisted of her grandmother and the servants that lived in Fitzroy House. She felt even worse when she realized that out of the three years she had spent in these parts, the best days of her life were highlighted by Aiden’s presence, marked by his warmth, his touch, and his voice.
Although she was truly hurt and she felt pathetic, falling for a man who had clearly mentioned the sort of life he wished to lead from the start, a part of her made excuses for him, saying he was likely just stressed by the health scare his godmother had suffered and Prudence just so happened to be the one he took that stress out on.
But no matter how she looked at it, playing advocate for him was unfair to her. There was no certainty that he cared enough about her to feel bad about how much he had hurt her. She used to think so, but after what had transpired, how easy it had been for him to throw her out of his home, she felt foolishfor being wrong, for letting her hopes lead her down a path of disheartening consequences.
