Page 66 of Her Wicked Duke
She realized he’d coaxed her along using that grip. As the door shut behind them, she realized he hadn’t even asked why she had not gone to her sister, or who else knew.
“We won’t be long. Don’t fret, my beautiful Anne.”
The horses began to gallop down the street, but Anne was frozen on the carriage bench.My beautiful Anne.When she blinked, she saw those words scrawled in neat handwriting on a sealed letter.
Do not jump to conclusions.This is Patrick! You have known Patrick for many years, and he has been good to you. He has not once been a nuisance, nor has he once been too forward, like your stalker.
“You froze, dearest,” Patrick noted in a soft voice.
Why is he calling me that?
Anne felt ill, and it had nothing to do with the panic of trying to stop the duel, nor the fact that she had barely slept at all.
Knuckles brushed against her shoulder. She was still wearing her shift, she realized. Only her robe protected her, but in her dash to Yore House, it had slipped off her shoulders.
She tugged it back up, knocking Patrick’s hand away, still trying to convince herself that he was honorable and good. That he was simply helping her stop the duel.
“Patrick,” she said, shifting away from him. “Please, do not call me by those sorts of names.”
“But aren’t they the names lovers use for one another?”
Anne’s eyes widened in horror and disgust. “Patrick, whatever are you saying? You are my brother-in-law! You are married to my sister. We—we are not lovers!”
But he was there, advancing on her. For a man who had only shown her mild interest and polite kindness, the look in his eyes now terrified her—disgusted her, more like.
“Anne, do not say such awful things!” Patrick insisted. “Yes, I am married to Mary, but then I met you, and oh, Anne, my beautiful Anne, you are the heavens, sun, and stars as they collide into something brilliant. I have watched you fawn over gentlemen for weeks—months, even—and I was so happy when you finally distanced yourself from them by pulling out of the previous Season!”
“Patrick, please stop,” she cried. “This is not right!”
“But it could be! You do not have to put yourself through this awful gossip. You are ruined by the Duke, yes, but act on your feelings for me once and for all, Anne, and I shall save you. I shallmarryyou.”
His hand gripped her arm, pulling her to him. His other hand drifted up her leg, and she squirmed away. “No, Patrick, donot?—”
“Do you not love me, Anne? Do you not pine for me the way I have pined for you in all of my letters? Have you not imagined the life we could have together? There surely is a reason why you ran to me so frantically this morning. I know you feel the same for me, Anne.”
“You are mistaken!” she shouted.
All her fear, her worries, her withdrawal from the previous Season—all because of this mousy man! This coward, who hid behind letters and threatening words. This man, who swore he was good with a weapon to warn her off the Duke.
I fled my home thinking the stalker wouldn’t find me at my sister’s house… The letters only stopped because I had stayed at the stalker’s house!
The realization horrified Anne, and she pushed his hand off her leg, her body shuddering at the unwanted touch. Disgust churned in her belly.
“My sister deserves so much better than you,” she said, her lip curling. “You disgrace yourself, Patrick.”
“No, Anne, you don’t understand. I love you! I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. It was unfortunate I was already married to Mary, but I can undo that mistake and?—”
“My sister is not a mistake!” Anne shouted. “And I am not your lover, nor would Ieverwant to be.”
The carriage was hurtling down the road, yet Anne opened the door and jumped out, landing hard on the soft ground of the fields leading up to the hill where the duel was due to take place.
The sun was rising up in the sky. She had mere minutes to get there and stop something terrible from happening.
Chapter Twenty
Ihave told him to duel with me or marry you.
Christian’s words rang in her ears as she ran across the fields, escaping Patrick and his awful, vile words. Her breaths came in short pants, and footsteps thundered after her.
