Page 57 of Taken By the Duke of Stone

"Of course I will help you, you are my best friend, but do not think I shall let this go."

"Alright."

"There is a door right through there," the red headed girl pointed in the direction she had just come through, "it leads to the gardens at the back. From there, you can get into the carriage without being seen. Shall I tell Noah to find you there?"

"Yes. Thank you," she sniffled, "I will be most grateful."

Shooting her a narrowed eyed, worried look, Jenny hurried away, leaving her standing there alone and trying to quiet herraspy breaths. How could one go from feeling so much pleasure to being so wrecked?

Squaring her shoulders, she followed the direction her friend had showed her to the glass doors leading into the poorly lit garden. There was a couple at the balcony, but they were far too distracted with each other to notice her slipping away beneath them.

To her relief, her cousin was already there, pacing in tight circles as she appeared.

His eyes zeroed on her pale face and then her mussed up hair, "I am going to kill that good for nothing cad!"

Noah made to walk back into the building but she clutched his hand, panicked, "what do you think you are doing?"

"Defending your honor," he barked, eyebrows pulled down into a scowl.

"He has done nothing!" Except make it clear that no matter how far she so stupidly thought they had come, his unknown reasons for keeping her at arm’s length still remained concrete.

"Then why do you look like that?"

She lowered her lashes, trying to buy herself some time to give him some version of the truth, but it only set off his fury again."How dare he? Does he think that because he is a duke that he can get away with anything."

"Oh, Noah," she cried, "my virtue is still intact." Was it? She wasn't even sure anymore. "We merely kissed. That is all. I am simply shaken up by the torrent of emotions inside of me."

"You can fool Mother and everyone else, but you cannot fool me, Lavinia, " he scoffed, "I knew there was something amiss between you and the Duke from the very beginning and I know that he must have said or done something that-"

It was at that moment that she snapped. "If you do not believe me, then by all means, go in there and cause a ruckus and announce to the whole world what I have done in secret. Call out a duke and then kill him and be hanged for murder. Go on, Noah! Go and behave like a caveman whose property has been damaged. The Duke and I are set to marry, so what does it matter anyway?"

"It’s a matter of honor and principle,” he gritted out.

"I shall wait in the carriage while you go and defend my honor then," she stomped her way to the carriage, sick and tired of infuriating men and the entirety of society.

She would still marry the Duke but now she would allow him to keep to the rules of their arrangement, because she was the only one who seemed to be able to get hurt.

"What is the matter?" She met her aunt standing by the conveyance, shawl wrapped tight around her shoulder.

"You do not have to end your night on my behalf," she said without looking at her, "I think it might be the flu."

"The marquess enquired about you after you disappeared from the ballroom," it was as much a question as any. Where had she gone was the subtext and with whom?

Lavinia decided to take the statement as it had been rendered, "did he? How nice."

She had laughed too hard at everything he said and only used him for the sake of getting back at Victor. Her stomach churned at the knowledge that she had used someone so callously for her own selfish purposes.

And it was all because of the blasted duke.

This thing with him had the power to destroy innocent bystanders in its wake, but they were too far gone to end it.

Unless of course she was willing to face complete ruin and bring down the Hartfields along, and after all they had done for her, they didn't deserve to suffer for her harebrained decisions.

Mouth set in a firm line, she stared ahead unseeingly and stayed that way the entire journey back home.

Victor moved out of the library and out into the ballroom like a ghost, his mind racing with image upon image of her.

No matter what he told himself, he didn't succeed in erasing the taste and feel of her from his brain. The sounds she had made, he was afraid he would be replaying them for the rest of his life. The entire encounter with her in fact was going to be the sole subject of all his dreams going forward.

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