Page 75 of The Duke's Spinster Bride
“I do not suppose you would mind if I borrowed Andrea for a moment?” Her father inclined his head towards the people gathered around her. “I shall return her to you once we have had our little chat.”
Andrea wanted to tell him that she had no wish to talk to him, but how was she supposed to deny his request without causing a scene?Where is Frederick?
She had no doubt her father would never have dared approach her if Frederick had been by her side.
“Oh, of course.” Lady Arlham frowned. “I am sure we will speak later, dear girl.”
Andrea nodded, unable to find the words as her father moved her through the crowded ball room to one of the large doors that led out into the grounds.
He smiled and nodded at the people they passed, but no sooner had they stepped out of the doors and into the grounds, than his smile vanished.
He rounded on her, voice little more than the hiss of an adder that has been stepped on. “Have you no shame?”
Andrea recoiled, tugging free of her father’s grasp. Her heart thundered in her chest, blood rushing in her ears. She met his cold grey eyes as they bored into her.
“Of course I have shame. You made sure of that, Father.” She shook though whether it was out of fear or anger, she could not be sure.
“Clearly I did not do a very good job or you would not be dressed like that.” He wrinkled his nose and gestured to her. “Really, Andrea, such finery only highlights how very lacking your features are. I see marriage has not only robbed you of shame, but your senses as well.”
“It has done nothing of the sort.” Andrea clenched her fist, indignation rising up within her.
“How can you say that when you kissed the duke like some harlot not just once, but twice! In full view of the ton!” He took a step towards her, lips so thin they were barely there. “You have the gall to stand there and lie to me. I warned you there would be consequences.”
“I am not lying to you. But I will not let you speak to me like this. I will not let you bully me just because I am finally happy.” She straightened, looking down at him over the bridge of her nose.
If he wanted to be miserable, then let him. But she had no wish to let him drag her with him. She would not let him bring her down with him.
“Oh of course you are happy. You do not give a damn how your behaviour might impact me.” He thumped a hand hard across his chest, spittle spraying across her face. “I wager you did not even spare a single thought for how your wanton disregard of propriety would impact my health. Or had you forgotten that I am dying, Andrea? Have you forgotten my promises?”
His words were like a punch to her gut and she winced. She had let his threat slip from her mind, let the safety she had felt with Frederick cloud her judgement. Though, Frederick had been the one to kiss her and not the other way around, she doubted the ton or her father would care about that particular point of clarification.
“I did not want to hurt you, Father. I just… I just wanted to be happy.” She dug her fingers into her thighs, forcing her breaths to come in long measure bursts.
“And yet you did not think of my happiness? After everything I have done for you, after all the sacrifices that I have made? Were you so desperate to make a spectacle of yourself by acting like some common who-”
“- I would think very carefully about your next words, Lord Statton.” Frederick’s voice boomed out in the darkness and Andrea spun around to see him walking towards her, holding an envelope of some kind. “After all, you are talking to my wife, and I happen to be rather fond of her.”
Andrea saw her father sneer at Frederick’s approach, but beneath the bluster, she noticed the way his eyes darted from Frederick to the doors to the ballroom and then back to Frederick again, as though he was plotting his escape.
As soon as the smell of Frederick’s cologne washed over her, she felt like she was able to breathe again. Without thinking, she leaned into his touch as he slung an arm around her, drawing strength from it.
Her father’s lip curled. “Clearly my daughter’s immorality has rubbed off on you, or perhaps you are just as indecent as her. Either way, neither of you seem to care how your behaviour affects me.”
“If anything, it is I who have rubbed off on your daughter,LordStatton.” Frederick gently squeezed Andrea’s upper arm.
“I see she has infected you with her callous nature, or you would not be so dismissive of the consequences of your actions.” Her father glared at Frederick.
“And what consequences would those be?” Frederick arched an eyebrow at him. “After all, it is not like you are dying.”
Andrea frowned at him, looking from Frederick to her Father. Lord Statton was apoplectic with rage. “Are you a physician now, Your Grace? Who are you to make such proclamations about my health?”
“No, but I am a duke, and unlike you, I look after my family.” Frederick’s voice was cool, his smile dagger sharp, but his words sent a jolt of warmth through Andrea that twisted her heart into pieces. “I had someone look into you. I thought, if you were dying, perhaps I would pay for your care so that you would leave Andrea alone. Imagine my surprise when my man revealed that not only are you not dying, but according to your doctor, you are in fact in rather rude health.”
Andrea rounded on her father. “You are not dying?”
“Be quiet when men are talking, simple girl,” her father snapped.
Before Andrea could stop him, Frederick had moved in front of her, towering over her father. Every bit of cavalier charm had vanished as he dwarfed her father. “Do not mistake my kindness for foolishness, Lord Statton. You have tested my patience to breaking. Take that tone with my wife again, and I will show you what it means to be on the wrong side of the Duke of Caverton.”
