Page 57 of Tempting the Scarred Duke

He glanced at his pocket watch after some minutes to find that it was a quarter past three in the morning. Tucking it back into his pocket, he closed the window and proceeded to the stairs and descended to the first floor, then walked down the hallway that led out into the garden. The moon was full, illuminating the lovely landscape. The sight always brought a smile to his face when he was in a good mood, and even when he was blue-deviled, his spirits changed. Not tonight though.

The darkness was still stirring in his chest, and it pushed him to seek justice for Diana. Spotting a bench near a fountain, he went to sit, placing his elbows on his knees and linking his fingers.

Matthew wanted Crawford to regret every tear he had made Diana shed because he was sure the wretched cur had made her cry a lot. So, he began to plan carefully in his mind. Several minutes later, rustling behind him diverted his attention, and he turned, thinking he would find a rodent or some other small animal.

What he saw instead was the shadow of a man between some trees about thirty yards away, donning a cloak with a hood over his eyes. Matthew shot to his feet, the cords of his muscles growing rigid. “Who is there?”

The figure turned and began to run, clearly not expecting to be spotted, and without a moment’s hesitation, Matthew chased him. He could barely see in the dark, but he relied on his ears and followed the trespasser’s footfalls into the woods north of the castle. As the vegetation grew denser, Matthew’s senses started to elude him until the only footfalls he could hear were his own.

He stopped, peering into the silent darkness and finding nothing. The hair on his neck stood, and the dreadful sense that something villainous was looming refused to leave him.

Chapter 30

Matthew searched the woods for more than an hour after losing the interloper and was forced to return to the castle when his efforts were fruitless. Once the sun had risen, however, he gathered several men to search the woods again with bloodhounds.

They ventured deep into the woods, at least five miles away from Kendall. When a dog barked in the distance, he began to run in the direction of the sound, which led him to a small wooden house. It barely had a roof, the door was broken hanging drunkenly on one hinge, and the wood was rotting.

“Perhaps he came here, Your Grace,” said Matthew’s gamekeeper, Foster, when they stopped in front of the house.

Nodding, Matthew pulled out his pistol and walked through the broken door. The three of them, Matthew, Albert, and Simon had once played in this old house, it had been falling apart then too. There was no telling how worse it had gotten.

“Beware of the roof. Bits of it could fall,” Glover said to the men before Matthew did. “This house is not stable.”

Matthew separated from the others to search one of the rooms while they looked through the remaining three. Matthew wanted nothing more than to return home to Diana but this was necessary. Someone had been stalking the castle, and he wanted to know who. Protecting her was his foremost priority.

There appeared to be nothing suspicious in the room he was in, and just as he decided to move to another room, he caught sight of something in one corner of the room. Moving closer to inspect it, he found damp ashes. Someone had been here, and recently by the look of the ashes.

It could be the man he had chased the night before, but the main question was what this piece of evidence hinted at. Matthew strode out of the room and into the one across the narrow hallway. “Have you seen anything of note?” he asked Foster.

“No, I have not, Your Grace.”

He moved to the next room, asking the same question when he found Glover. After searching all the rooms, they found that the only place that contained evidence of recent human presence was where Matthew had checked, and the trail ended there. The hounds would not go further because there was nothing for them to find, and realizing that continuing the search would be futile, he decided to return to the castle.

As he walked back to Kendall, he thought of Crawford, and what role he possibly played in this new development. “I am certain the man I chased into the woods was not Crawford,” he told Glover.

“But he could have been employed by Crawford,” Glover surmised.

“Yes. We should keep that in mind as we proceed.” Matthew glanced at Glover and a small smile came to his face. “I do not believe I told you about my engagement.”

Glover stopped walking, his thick brows rising. “You are marrying Miss Pearson?”

“Yes,” Matthew replied, his heart expanding.

“Congratulations, Your Grace.” Glover was grinning widely, and Matthew took that to be his approval, which pleased him greatly.

They continued walking and reached the castle an hour later. He was heading toward his study when he heard voices streaming into the front hall from one of the drawing-rooms. Had he not heard Diana’s voice, he would have disregarded them and continued his procession.

He changed his course and walked to the door, the sight he found pushing his frustration away. Diana was on a long chaise with her feet on a pillow, while Emma was in an adjacent chair, and Albert was opposite Emma.

Seeing them thusly made his worries rise and fall all at once, but as his eyes returned to settle on Diana, he felt extraordinarily happy and fortunate. As if she could feel his gaze, she looked up, her eyes widening ever so slightly with delight before a bright smile spread across her lips.

“Matthew!” she breathed in delight, and he chuckled, pushing away from the doorframe to walk into the room.

“Your majesty,” Matthew bowed halfway into the room, “what an honor to see you this morning.”

A sweet blush colored her cheeks, and the sound of her giggle brought a wide grin to his face. “Likewise, Sir Matthew,” she replied.

“Your majesty? Sir Matthew?” Albert chuckled.

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