Page 10 of Bound to the Heartless Duke
“But why would you do that, old chap?” Edwin Crawford, the Duke of Gillingham, asked before taking another swig of his tea.
They were sitting in the drawing room at Gillingham Manor, staring out the open double doors at the grounds. Magnus had arrived on the second morning after Lady Lily’s visit and had just told his friend about the Earl’s debts, the reckless gambling, and Lady Lily’s determination to pay off the debts.
He smirked. “Why wouldn’t I?” Images of Lady Lily in his study flashed through his mind. “I just wanted to do it.”
Edwin shook his head and set his teacup on its saucer. “Well, I do not think I fully understand your motives. Why would you strike such a deal with Lady Lily? I happen to know you handle your problems in a very different manner.”
Magnus leaned back in his chair, considering his answer.
Edwin wasn’t all that wrong, though; Magnus did have a motive for striking a deal with Lady Lily, but most of it wasn’t clear to him yet.
“Two nights ago,” he started, letting his thoughts guide his words, “I saw the same sickness in the man’s eyes I once saw in my father’s, and that helped me understand Lady Lily better.”
“A riddle, Blackmore. I have never been good at riddles.”
He chuckled softly. “The Earl of Medlin… I believe he has the same sickness my father had. Greed. Recklessness. I saw it in his eyes that night at the gaming hell. He was so… ready to put his home on the line for an amount of money that isn’t even enough to renovate the drawing room. So, when Lady Lily came to see me yesterday, asking me to overlook his foolishness, I understood her situation clearly because I had been there myself.”
He glanced at his friend to see whether he understood what he had just said, but Edwin still looked lost.
At least, he is not the only one.
“So that is why you felt inclined to help her?” Edwin asked.
Magnus shrugged. “I still haven’t figured that part out yet. But I’m not going to seize their house. I do not have any use for it.”
Or do I?
“I know that. But still, why would you do all of that just to help her? Are you attracted to her?” Edwin teased.
But Magnus simply waved him off.
Edwin wasn’t all that wrong, but Magnus would be damned before he admitted it. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t seen Lady Lily before, but they had never had reason to interact before this incident brought them together.
He conjured her image in his mind again, wondering what precisely had driven him to make her such a deal. But when she looked up at him that day, he knew he had to help her.
He wasn’t unaware of his reputation among the ton, so her coming to him must have been a Herculean effort. She could have chosen to use her connection to his sister, but he respected her for coming to him directly.
Still, he couldn’t help but put that condition, despite its ridiculousness.
“I do not like the Earl. It was his reckless behavior that put them in such a situation and pushed Lady Lily to come to me for help. How could a grown man be that irresponsible when it comes to his family?” He sighed. “I do find Lady Lily… easy on the eyes, but it is not for that reason I offered my help.”
Edwin let out a mischievous chuckle. “Ah, you had better be careful, Blackmore, for the Duchesses of Gillingham and Emerton will not like that very much,” he joked.
Magnus shot him a glare at the mention of his sister, Cecilia, who was now Duchess of Emerton, and Ava, the Duchess of Gillingham, who happened to be close friends with Lady Lily.
Of all the men Cecilia could have married, it just ahd to be one of my friends.
“Then we had better make sure the ladies never find out about it.”
A long pause ensued.
“So, when do you leave?” Edwin asked.
“At the first cock’s crow. In two days.”
Lily eventually told Nathan about her conversation with the Duke at breakfast two mornings after. She had hoped to tell him much sooner, but he had been absent the entire day.
She even had enough time to write a letter to the matchmaker, half hoping Nathan would find out and demand an explanation. He hadn’t come home the previous night either, when she hadhoped to sit him down and tell him about everything—the deal she had made and the Duke’s condition.
