Page 30 of His Highland Duchess
“This is not an argument,” he cut over her. “Where my daughters are concerned, my word is as good as law.”
“Is that right?” she scoffed.
“They are to be raised properly,” he continued with a growl. “In a manner befitting their station. Which means that they are not to roll around in the dirt like a couple of boys.”
“And does that mean they are to have nae fun either?” she countered, standing up to him. “That they are to grow into lifeless adults incapable of enjoying themselves – nae kenning how because their father has denied them the chance.”
“That is…” He took a deep breath. “That is highly exaggerated. I am not saying that they cannot enjoy themselves. Simply that they must behave.”
“As they have done,” Margaret insisted. She could see the duke turning angrier by the second, but she did not back down. She was stubborn like that… plus she liked the way his anger made her feel.Already me thighs are tingling from memories of the last time he spoke to me like this.“In fact, both were utterly distressed at the mess they had made. Terrified that ye would be angry with them.”
“They…” He leaned back as if struck. “They were?”
“Are ye surprised? Ye are so strict with them that if ye are nae careful, they will grow up to fear ye.”
She could see the worry flash behind his eyes. “I… that is not my intent.”
“It is a guid thing that I am here then.” She then cocked an eyebrow at him. “Even if it is for only the Season.”
He scoffed. “Is that what this is? Your attempt to try and worm your way into my household so that when the time comes, you won’t wish to leave? Or that I might ask you to stay?” That resulted in a smirk, that sense that he was trying to pry a reaction out of her.
She did not take the bait.
“Yer words, nae mine,” she said simply, choosing the moment to step around him before this conversation unravelled.And before I do also. “I am simply doin’ what ye have nae been able. Showin’ yer daughters how to have fun.”
“Where are you going?” He spun about as she walked past him. “This conversation is not over!”
“It is,” she said without looking back. Her heart was racing. She could not believe she was being so defiant! But she had to get away, now, before it was too late. “I told ye, remember, that I will be avoiding ye as much as is possible.” Onto the porch, she reached the door, opened it, and then turned back to look down at him. He stood there stunned, unable to comprehend how she was behaving. “But ye are so desperate to spend all this time with me…” She smirked and then shrugged. “Something else for ye to think about.” And with that, she walked inside and closed the door behind her.
The duke did not follow her, and she was glad for that fact. If he had and they’d begun to argue again…who knows where that would have led.
Even her defiance of him right now felt foolish. It felt as if she was purposefully baiting him. Did she wish to upset him? Did she really wish to avoid him? Truly, she could not say. But she sensed that duke felt the same way, creating a situation that was as curious as it was dangerous for them both.
This marriage, whatever it was, would not be boring. Of that, Margaret had no doubt.
CHAPTER TEN
“Iknow you are not asleep,” Lysander said with a deep sigh as he walked to the edge of Aurelia’s bed. “If you were, Aurelia, I would be able to hear you snoring by now.”
“I do not snore!”
He chuckled. “See, I told you that you were not sleeping.”
Despite the way that his daughters were feeling about him at the moment, Lysander wasn’t about to miss his nightly tradition of seeing them turn in for bed.
That they were angry with him, he had no doubt. Hence, their efforts to feign sleep to avoid speaking with him. Lysander hesitated by the end of the bed, wondering if perhaps he should just leave it for now. Ordinarily, he might have done just that, but he could not stop thinking about what Margaret had saidconcerning his daughters’ being afraid of him. That was not the type of father he wished to be, and he needed them to know it.
“You are angry with me,” he said. It wasn’t a question. “No need to answer, for I know that you are.”
They did not respond. Through the darkness, he spied Lenora watching her older sister for guidance. That made him smile, as he loved how Lenora looked up to her.
“Which is why I wish to apologize,” he said. “For how I acted today, how I treated you. That was not…’ He sighed loudly and let his shoulders slump. “It was not fair on either of you, and I should not have become angered. I am sorry.”
The girls hesitated. No doubt they were confused, as this might have been the first time he had ever apologized to either of them. That in itself was a problem that needed to be rectified, as Lysander was not unflappable, and more often than not, he was wont to admit that mistakes were made when it came to how he raised his daughters.
“I will apologize to Her Grace also,” he followed up. “I know she was only trying to show the two of you a fun time. Something that I admit I don’t do nearly enough of.” Sitting on the edge of Aurelia’s bed, he wrapped a hand around her leg and gave it a loving squeeze. “I am sorry, girls, truly I am. And I hope that you will forgive me.”
“Of course we do, Father,” Aurelia said softly.
