Page 49 of Unraveled By the Duke
“I came here to discover your intentions. Something in your manner tells me that I am about to find them out,” Celia said.
Alexander arched an eyebrow. “Really? And what do you think my intentions are?”
“To expel my sister and me, and annul our marriage. To wash your hands of my troublesome family once and for all.”
Alexander watched her intently for a moment.
His stare made her feel naked, but she refused to squirm before him. The memory came back of a time, just a couple of hours ago, when he had made her squirm. When she had squirmed deliciously with unadulterated delight.
Is he thinking of what we were doing when Aurelia screamed? Does he want to be back in that garden, hidden by shadows?
She tightened her grip on her skirts.
“I am sympathetic. I know the kind of man Phillip Grimaire is. Aurelia would not have known.”
Takes one to know one.
Celia felt her suspicions may be uncharitable, but she could not help it.
“But that does not change the fact that you are tainted by another scandal because of a member of my family,” she pointed out, daring him to come right out with it.
If it will happen, then let it happen quickly.
“You are right. But it does me no good to wash my hands of the Frid family. I will be blunt; I need your dowry, or else Hyacinth’s debut will be at risk. That need becomes even more urgent if I have made an enemy of Sir Nathaniel Grimaire.”
Celia’s relief was tempered by her disappointment that Alexander’s motives were purely mercenary. After she had experienced his passion breaking through his glacial self-control, she had hoped for more. Even the barest chink in his armor, a hint of feeling towards her.
So, I am to be merely a bag of gold to clear his gambling debts, am I?
Her cheeks colored, and she looked away. She felt the onset of tears, but they were born of anger and frustration, rather than sadness.
Alexander reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “All will be well. I have written to a man whose services I have used before. We met him this evening—Archibald Wainwright. I will give him the task of mitigating this scandal when it rears its head. There is a good chance that no one was able to identify your sister. Aurelia’s name may not even be in people’s mouths. But if it is, Wainwright will find out.”
Celia took a step back, withdrawing from his touch. She hugged herself and crossed the room to put some distance between them.
“That is well,” she said in a brittle voice. “Thank you. We are both most grateful.”
“I sense hostility, and yet I am innocent. I have done nothing except try to help?—”
“To protect the source of your funds. Am I to become a bank for you?” Celia snapped, unable to contain her bitterness.
Alexander frowned. “We both understand the nature of our marriage, do we not? To squash the gossip and obtain your dowry as payment.”
“Payment?” Celia hissed. “Do you hear yourself? How am I supposed to feel when described in such a way?”
Alexander pushed off the desk and walked towards her. She stood her ground, refusing to back down.
“If you had illusions that this was some grand love affair, those were your own illusions,” he said.
“Love affair!” Celia barked. “Love? I have harbored no such illusions nor given you cause to believe so. This is far from love; it is two people trying to make their way in a world that desires nothing more than to drag them down.”
“What do you want from me?!” Alexander roared. “! You attacked me, and I ended up tangled with you on the floor…”
“With the chains that I had used to shackle you to me,” Celia added sarcastically.
“But it wouldn’t have mattered how long we were rolling about on the floor, if not for the enmity you apparently earned fromMiss Dunnings,” Alexander spoke over her, and her mouth dropped open.
“For witnessing her with her lover and daring to tell the truth—much good it did me. I should have kept quiet and allowed you to be cuckolded. You were engaged to her, were you not?”
