Page 43 of Her Duke Next Door
Dominique left the room swiftly, closing his eyes as he leaned against the wall, breathing in deeply. He needed to leave Mary to have her family reunion alone. The two men were friendly enough despite sizing one another up at the start. He bid her a brief farewell, made his apologies to the rest of her family, before going on a stroll in London to clear his head.
Where have I got myself into?
* * *
“And then Eloise put a spider in his coat!” Mary cried, laughing, clutching her teacup.
Anne burst into laughter, kicking her feet with delight. “Oh, what a horrid man!”
“Mary, my darling, I am so glad you did not marry Lord Yore. Just one man from that family did enough damage to us.”
“I agree,” Anne said, sipping her tea. “The Duke is quite an agreeable match.”
But their mother, Annette, sniffed, glancing away pointedly. “I fear for your safety with him, Mary! Do you know what the ladies of the Ton are saying?”
“Yes, and most of the Ton’s gossip is heresy, Mama,” Mary told her. “I am simply glad that Eloise and I have found some stability.”
“Speaking of, where is my beautiful granddaughter?”
“I believe that His Grace took them out with him on his walk but they shall be back later.”
“Eloise and His Grace’s daughter have become fast friends,” Mary told them. “But Anne, how is darling Matthew doing?”
“Oh, wonderfully! He keeps trying to eat biscuits as he has found out where the cook keeps them stored in the pantry and he is quite the explorer. Alexander is overprotective, as always. It shall be wonderful to see you and His Grace at Matthew’s birthday party next week.”
Mary recalled that mention in one of Hugh’s letters. It was when they had meant to formally meet again but now she had the Duke to accompany her, and she would be safe. She needed to start trusting that. Still, there was an uneasiness to Mary’s stomach, as though she could not quite settle as she wished to.
Why would her mother think of her in danger? The Duke had promised to address the rumors directly with her and she wished to wait for him to do so but her mind could not help but turn over questions.
Have more faith in your new husband, she chided herself.He has acknowledged that there are rumors and he has been open to discussing them with you when he is ready.
But according to her mother, there might be such thing astoo lateto wait for the Duke to explain. She put those thoughts to rest as much as she could and tried to focus on having her family back around her.
“I have missed you all so terribly,” she said. “The countryside was beautiful but lonely, although I did not like to admit it at all.”
“I knew it would be!” Annette insisted. “I begged you to return to Angleton many times, darling.”
“Yes, Mama, but I am a woman with my own life. I can make my decisions and London proved to be difficult to stay in.”
“It is no matter,” she said. “Now you are back, we can visit every day!”
“Mama, we shall be returning to the countryside before the week is up, I am sure,” Mary said, biting her lip anxiously. She never liked to confront her mother, who was whimsical and dramatic with many things. She went into hysterics over small things.
“Oh, at least stay for Matthew’s birthday party!” Anne pleaded. “Please, Mary, I beg of you. Alexander shall want to see you, and Christian will return for the party too!”
“I shall discuss it with His Grace,” Mary assured her even though she would have loved to reunite with her brother and nephew. Then she reached out to lace her fingers between her mother’s and sister’s hands. “I am so glad to have been visited by you both.”
ChapterThirteen
“You were not teasing when you said your mother truly would practically move in to watch over you,” Dominique muttered to Mary several mornings later after breakfast, in which Lady Angleton had joined them at the break of dawn.
Mary’s cheeks flushed a pretty pink color that he decided not to take too much note of, lest he think her more. With Mary’s mother around, it made it harder to maintain that their marriage was genuine and from love rather than convenience. But that was Mary’s decision: if she wished to tell them then she could do so.
“She seems to think you are dangerous,” Mary murmured, keeping her voice low as Lady Angleton began inspecting all the hedges in the house. It had fallen into neglect during the years, and she was now snapping at the gardeners, newly hired, to replenish it into a beautiful splendor.
“And what do you think?” he asked quietly.
“I do not trust you,” she whispered back. “Which you already know. I think you are a rake.”
