Page 25 of The Duke's Second Bride
“You have been kind to my son,” he said. “Helped him, even, on a few occasions.”
Ava couldn’t help but scoff at that. “Now is when you choose to recognize that? Now? At the absolute worst possible time!”
His brows knit together more tightly still. “Would you rather I have done nothing?” he asked lowly. “Would you rather I have stood back and led that vile man?—”
He cut off, much to Ava’s relief. Still, her relief did not outweigh her anger.
Just who did the Duke of Richmond think he was, to be acting so?
“I would have been able to calm him,” she said, stepping closer towards him. Though he was much taller than she and stronger, she felt no fear even in the presence of his anger. “I wouldn’t have pushed him, stoked the fire of his anger the way you did. Before, his threat to push me out on the streets was just that—a threat. Now it is all but a certainty.”
The truth of it rushed over her. She had no other prospects. Certainly not with her reputation the way it was at present. Edith would offer to take her in for a while, to be sure, but she could not burden Edith like that. Such an imposition would drain Edith of her inheritance, as well, not to mention lowering her social stock.
“Out on the streets,” she murmured to herself. “Oh, God … what have I done?”
“I’ll marry you.”
She looked up, certain she had misheard him. “What?”
The Duke was staring at her, those blue eyes piercing through to her very soul. “I will marry you.”
CHAPTER 9
“Don’t be cruel,” she said.
Her voice shook.
Christian realized, with horror, that she was trying not to cry.
He watched Lady Dunfair’s face carefully. After a moment of frozen shock, her expression melted into one of disbelief. She scoffed, shaking her head.
“I will marry you,” he insisted, his voice even more serious than before. “You have my word. I will marry you, and thus make sure Lord Dunfair stays away from you. You can live as my duchess, with me and my son.”
She must have heard his tone, because something in her face changed once again. She straightened up and took a step towards him. Even with tears in her eyes, even shaken as shewas, there was still a strength to her, a fierceness, that nearly had him on his knees.
“And what would you be getting out of such an arrangement?” she asked him point-blank.
“A carer for Luke,” he said. “As you—and Vincent,” he said, muttering that second name to himself, “are so eager to constantly remind me, he seems to have developed a fondness for you.”
“Vincent?” she asked, confused.
“The point is—Luke has been without a mother for several years. It would do him good to have a duchess in the house again,” he said. “And, to be frank, it seems the marriage-minded mamas of the ton are determined that there should be a duchess in the house again. Whether I like it or not. If we were to marry, I could finally be rid of their meddling interferences in my life. I am tired of the gossip, and tired of the entirety of the ton trying to poke their noses into my business.”
She laughed. “That is all? Are you quite certain you won’t be wanting anything like what Lord Dun?—”
“Donotcompare me to that filth,” he snapped.
He stepped closer. Still, Lady Dunfair held her ground.
“And why should I trust you?” she asked.
“You believe I need more out of this than company for my son? I told you: with a new wife, I will no longer be subjected to the attentions of every marriage-minded mama of the ton. I will no longer be the subject of pity from people who believe I am doing my son and the duchy a disservice by remaining unattached,” he said.
Lady Dunfair narrowed her eyes, as though she still did not quite believe him. “Is that all?” she asked.
He tilted his head, stepping in closer. “That is all,” he promised. “Nothing more. I will not touch you.”
Her lips parted slightly at the proximity. Almost immediately, he regretted his promise, for he could think of nothing he would want to do more than to kiss her, to draw her close and feel her naked form against his. He prayed she could not somehow read the thoughts in his head.
