Page 88 of The Duke of Ruin
Simon staggered, and Diana reached out to put her arm around his waist, struggling to keep him upright. He blinked at Diana, his gaze glassy and unfocused. “What are they saying?”
“It wasn’t your fault at all, my love. None of it. You weren’t even on the stairs with her. She argued with Mrs. Marley, and she slipped.”
“I tried to stop her,” Mrs. Marley cried.
Diana surveyed her with a mixture of disgust and pity. “That’s not the way Rose tells it, and she was there—which you know, since you apparently overheard us talking in the storeroom. Why else would you lock us in and set the door on fire?”
“You’re a fool,” Lowell whispered, his gaze spearing daggers at the woman he’d planned to marry.
She rushed forward and put her hands on his chest. “I did it for you! For us! I didn’t know she saw what happened. When I heard her telling Her Grace, I panicked. I just knew they couldn’t be allowed to tell anyone. You would have done the same thing!”
Lowell said nothing, just stared frigidly down at her. “You’re pathetic. To think I loved you, and here you are trying to drag me into your tangle of deceit and murder.”
“I didn’t murder Her Grace! She fell, truly.” Mrs. Marley swung her head around and looked from person to person, her eyes wild.
Besides the dowager and Tinley, Nevis had come into the kitchen along with Mrs. Dodd and Rose.
Mrs. Marley pointed a shaking finger at the scullery maid. “Shemade everything up! You’d believe her over me?”
“Since you tried to set her—andme—on fire, yes.” Diana looked to Nevis and calmly instructed him to lock the housekeeper up somewhere.
“Happy to, Your Grace.” Nevis took Mrs. Marley by the arm and led her outside.
Diana turned her attention to Lowell. “I’m not sure what crime we can accuse you of, but until I can think of one, you are hereby relieved of your duties. Remove yourself from Lyndhurst by nightfall or I’ll have Nevis lock you up with your would-be bride.”
The butler’s jaw worked, and his eyes burned with fury. He turned to Simon. “Your Grace—”
Simon looked toward his coachman. “Tinley, please see Lowell out immediately.” He turned a scathing glare on his former butler. “Someone will pack your things and have them delivered to the drive. Because I want you off my property as quickly as possible, Tinley will drive you to the village. I would encourage you to keep walking from there—straight out of Hampshire—because I will ensure that no one in this county will hire you, not even to muck their stalls or clean their chamber pots.”
Tinley gestured for Lowell to precede him, his eyes glittering with revulsion. “Happy to escort you out with or without your help.”
The butler lifted his chin and stalked out of the kitchen.
Diana coughed again as she worked to get the feeling of soot out of her lungs.
Simon turned and took her in his arms. “Are you all right? You should rest.”
She glanced down at the angry patches of red on his hands. “And you should soak your hands. And get out of your wet clothes.”
“The doctor will be here soon, I should think,” the dowager said. “In the meantime, take yourselves upstairs, and I’ll manage things here. Go on.” She gestured toward the corridor that led to the house, wordlessly shooing them on their way.
Diana took Simon’s arm, clinging to him as they went into the house. When they walked into the hall, he paused at the base of the stairs. “It’s silly, but this feels different now. I’m still sad she’s gone—I shall always miss her—but to know that I had no part in it gives me a small sense of relief.”
“I know how much you love her. Don’t think that I ever hope to take her place.” She touched his chest with her fingers. “Is there room for me in there too?”
He slipped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. “Plenty. I told you I thought I’d never be whole again. But now there’s you. And I love you even more than I thought it possible to love another person. When I’m with you, I’m more than whole. It’s you and me together. It feels as though we can do anything—overcome anything.”
She stood on her toes and kissed him, loving the feel of his lips on hers and so thankful they’d found each other.
Later, after the doctor had tended to them and they were ensconced in their bed following a dinner his mother had insisted they take in their chamber, Diana smoothed her fingers over the bandages on his hands. “Does it hurt?”
“Not much. The pain isnothingcompared to the distress of the doctor telling me not to use them for a couple of days.” He held them up and looked at them with frown. “How can I show you how much I love you without my hands?”
Diana pushed up from the pillows and straddled his hips, lifting her nightgown so she was bare against him. He still wore his shirt but had removed his breeches before they’d climbed into bed.
She wiggled her fingers. “I have hands.” She used one to stroke his hardening cock.
“Mmm, so you do.” He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as she coaxed him to a full erection. “It occurred to me that when you handled that situation this afternoon”—he opened his eyes and looked up at her—“with magnificent aplomb, I would add—you didn’t stutter once.”
