Page 1 of A Duke's Wicked Secret
Chapter 1
Exhilaration filled Penelope’s entire being as she and her horse, Phoenix, a beautiful sorrel mare, galloped across the countryside surrounding London. The morning was bright and clear, which was unusual for that time of year.
Usually, in early March, it would be damp and misty out, but today the sun was out in all its glory, and Penelope was drinking it in hungrily. Her chestnut brown curls bounced gracefully as they rode over the green hills, and all the while Penelope’s eyes flashed with the brilliance of their bright blue hue.
There was nothing in the world that Penelope loved so much as her early morning rides. Her mother and father had long since given up convincing her that it was improper for a young debutant to “gallivant around” as they put it.
For no matter how much they fussed, she still found time to sneak out and ride. In consideration of their unhappiness about this, she made sure to rise early before the rest of the household and come back before it was time to break their fast. It was a kind of unspoken agreement she and her parents had.
If she went without them explicitly knowing and returned before her absence was taken note of, they would all pretend that it had never happened.
Penelope and her family had just settled in her father’s new estate because his father had lived to a very old age, and with his passing, the estate had finally gone to her father. Usually, she would go for a more peaceful ride, but since the move, she had been unable to sneak away for those precious hours with Phoenix, and instead of proceeding with caution so that they could avoid anyone else riding, they continued at full gallop.
As they passed a small meadow, Penelope noted the sounds of the presence of another rider, and due to the speed she was currently riding at, she barely managed to manoeuvre so that she and this rider did not collide.
Penelope struggled to stay seated in her saddle, so she called for Phoenix to slow down to a gentle trot, and in doing so, she saw that the other rider was a tall gentleman with dark wavy brown hair. He looked to be no more than four and thirty, but Penelope did not dare to take in more not to appear completely uncouth.
The moment she averted her gaze from this man, she found herself curious to look at him again. He was so intriguing, not to mention exceedingly handsome, and as of yet, Penelope had not been introduced to him or even seen him at any of the events this season.
It was obvious that he was a man of great wealth and being that she had never seen him made her all the more curious. She was sure she had been dragged in front of all the eligible bachelors of the ton. With his brooding demeanour and the deep scar on his chin, she thought he could only be one man, the one known as the Mad Duke.
The thought of meeting this man here in such a precarious manner sent a chill through her body. Much of the ton spoke of him, how his father, the late Duke, had been stark raving mad, and now he was also following in his father’s footsteps.
Though his case was not as severe, it was only a matter of time before he was just as utterly insane. Insane or not, this man had thighs so evidently toned underneath his britches, and he was incredibly alluring to Penelope.
Both she and the gentleman pulled their horses to a stop, and upon realizing that he was not going to speak first, as he should, being a man and her senior by ten years, Penelope gave a polite smile and spoke.
“I am so sorry, sir. I truly did not see or hear you until the last moment. I do hope you and your horse are both alright!”
Again, there was an awkward pause, and he looked as though he might not respond to her, but finally, he curtly told Penelope, “Madam, do you realise how unwise it is for you to be riding out here by yourself with no chaperone? The safest course of action would be for you to turn back for your home and refrain from such reckless actions in the future.”
He said this firmly, but under the seriousness of his voice, Penelope detected a note of genuine concern for her well-being.
“Oh, of course, sir. I would never stray far from home, and I can assure you I am perfectly safe,” Penelope answered him gaily to ease the tension in the air. However, the man said nothing to this, which only increased Penelope’s nerves towards him, so she bid him adieu, stating the hour was growing late and it was time for her to return home.
All the way home, the tall stranger danced across her thoughts. His piercing deep blue eyes and how he looked directly at her caused her to feel chills of delight course through her as she rode. Penelope had never met a man that made her feel this way, and she could not even sort how she felt in her mind, only that it was definitely excitement.
As she arrived home and began to dismount, she whispered into Phoenix’s ear and ran her hands through her mane saying, “Wasn’t that a strange adventure girl! And goodness what a man … Oh, he never even told me his name, so how am I to be sure if he was indeed the one known as the mad Duke?”
***
Theo rode swiftly home, annoyed at that young lady for being so reckless as to almost cause a collision with their two horses, but truthfully, he was much more frustrated with his harsh demeanour towards her. He was so surprised to come upon anyone else riding at such an early hour.
One of the main reasons that Theo chose to ride at sunrise was because most of the ton preferred to sleep in, and he could enjoy the solitude of his ride without the interruption of gawkers.
Thinking on his interaction with her, he silently scolded himself for admonishing her, even though she was alone. The gentile thing to do would have been to ensure that she was all right and possibly even escort her safely to her estate or, at the very least, introduce himself to her. But, of course, he did none of that.
“Well, she probably thinks I am mad as everyone else in the ton does, so what is the difference?” thought Theo, trying to convince himself that he did not care and should forget about this nagging feeling eating away at him. As was the memory of her lovely curls streaming through the wind and her dazzling blue eyes, not to mention her lovely bosom that he could not help noticing was rising and falling rapidly even once they stopped.
Furthermore, a single droplet of sweat was making its way down the centre of her chest of creamy white skin. God, she was a vixen! Even if she was reckless, something about that also caught his attention. She was of a different cut from the other debutants of the ton.
Just the mere fact that it was clear that she was not afraid of him though slightly shy also set her apart. As for her shyness, it made sense that she would be such; for one, he was not amicable towards her, and she did not know him, but he could not help wondering if she “knew of him.”
The whole ton saw him as mad and the only reason he still had a place in high society was his title of duke. Even so, this did not keep the ton from gossiping about him behind his back and making up lude and obscene stories about him. In truth, he was not mad at all, though he was reserved, straight forward (usually, he found the fewest number of words possible to get his point across), and rarely went to social outings if he could avoid it.
Although he could not be sure if this was his born nature or if he had adopted this persona to fit into the ton’s perception of him. Although he was not mad, it was one of his greatest fears that he would succumb to madness someday. This was because his dear father had truly gone insane in the last few years of his life.
The slow demise of his father had begun after Theo’s beloved mother had died of consumption. Watching her slowly suffocate had simply been too much for his father and his only relief was found at the bottom of a whiskey bottle. After she finally succumbed to her illness, his father lost all reason for living and eventually all his wits.
