Page 27 of A Deal with her Forbidden Duke
I do not need to tell her it is because I could not afford the jam I usually buy. Donald’s debts continue to bury me alive.
“They are positively delicious,” Tessa giggled, crunching through another one.
Relief flooded her.
Madeleine scooped one up, and, with her friend, having relieved her thoughts, she felt the most normal she had felt in a long, long time.
“Lady Kinsfeld, there is a visitor here to see you.”
Her butler announced that her visitor was in the parlor, and Madeleine, still in her dinner gown, stood, and went to the parlor.
Surprised, she entered the room to see the Duke.
“Your Grace?” Her voice was thin. “It has been a while. I… I thought I might have heard from you.”
He turned to her, “Lady Kinsfeld.” He gave her the ghost of a smile. “I apologize for my silence.”
The last time I saw you we nearly kissed, her thoughts tumbled over one another, piquing her heartbeat’s interest.
“I have been very busy, but I finally have something to report on. I have found the mysterious woman that your husband was seen with. Would you like to come with me? I can assure you it is not so seedy as the Horseshoe Pass was.”
“But your carriage is at the front gate. I cannot just hop into your carriage. Someone might see,” she replied.
“I thought that would pose a problem. I came through the servant’s entrance.”
“What?” Her butler had not said anything.
“Yes. If we leave from the back of the house, no one will see you leave,” he clarified.
She could not have agreed more quickly..
In the Duke’s carriage, she spoke up. “I am rather surprised you invited me along. I thought your silence meant that you were done with your search.”
“You seem to hear words that I do not say,” he teased her. “It is only fair to invite you along. This woman is likely your husband’s mistress.”
Madeleine’s jaw clenched. Even if she did not love Donald, it was still not pleasant to hear something so bluntly.
The Duke’s eyes tracked over the side of her face until she turned to face him.
There was a dark look in his eyes as he said, “Your husband is a fool. If you were my wife, Madeleine, you would be the only one I would take to my bed. The only one I would need.”
Madeleine’s breath caught, shock stealing all her words. She blinked at him.
He had used her name. Heavens, he spoke it so…
Compose yourself, Madeleine.
Taking advantage of her speechlessness, the Duke leaned in, eyes meeting hers in a way that had her dizzy.
“He is an ungrateful bastard,” he murmured. “If I had a woman like you, I would never let you out of my sight. I would make damn sure you never doubted your place at my side.”
Madeleine gulped loudly, shivering from his dark promise. Her vision blurred slightly as her heart beat faster, and she flushed so hot she might have fainted, had she not gripped the carriage seat so tightly.
He leaned closer still, his mouth close to her ear. “If you were mine, I would never be absent. Neither the staff, nor anyone else, would gossip about our union. The only thing they would have to gossip about would be how loud you call my name at night.Alexander, Alexander, Alexander.”
She imagined herself saying his name and gasped softly. Her voice was lost to her as he lifted a hand to brush down her cheek, as he had that first day in her parlor.
But before he could touch her, the carriage drew to a sudden stop.
