Page 33 of A Deal with her Forbidden Duke
“Excuse me?”
He ignored her, his tone matter-of-fact, yet the intensity of eyes remained, “I believe you went to the authorities, Madeleine, regarding Donald. What did they say?”
“I informed them that my husband, a notable aristocrat, was missing, and had been so for well over ten days,” she explained, “I told them that his behavior was unusual, and do you know how they handled my worry? They mocked me, Benjamin.” She frowned, her eyes narrowing. “They goaded me with my husband’s infidelity, suggesting I check brothels for him.”
Benjamin blinked. “When was this?” he asked coldly.
“The day before yesterday.”
“Ah,” Benjamin said with a bitter chuckle. “Yesterday, I was informed of a body being found in the river. It matched Donald’sdescription, and they asked me to go and see if I could identify it. So I went. I saw the corpse. And Donald’s signet ring. That was how I could identify him. Do you know anything about this?”
Madeleine gasped, although she knew deep down that would be the outcome, and she had been trying to steel herself for it for two days now, still gasped. Dread shot through her, and she could not help her racing thoughts about her future.
She shook her head. “No,” she whispered.
What will happen now?
She barely got a chance to wonder, for Benjamin came closer, his eyes glimmering now, the emotion he was stifling now in full bloom; it was both fury and hatred.
“Do you blame yourself, Madeleine? Do you, as I blame you?” He spoke in a low, demanding tone.
“Benjamin—”
“You drove him away,” he snarled. “You, and your coldness! He told me long ago that you did not, could not, love him. Whether he loved you or not should not have mattered. You should have shown him love, Madeleine!”
He took a step forward.
“Had you done so, he might not have needed to turn to mistresses, to gambling. All of that racked up his debt. He would not have had to deal with such a thing were it not for you! Why could you not have treated him more kindly, Madeleine?”
She gaped at her brother-in-law, “How dare?—”
“He was likely murdered,” Benjamin muttered angrily. “By those he owed money to. I have learned just how many, and who, and some are dangerous sorts. Powerful sorts, too.”
“Benjamin, please?—”
“No!” He boomed, “I do not care for your pathetic excuses. My brother is dead, and I am the new Lord Kinsfeld. You are not to have another penny of my family’s fortune.”
Madeleine gasped.
“Furthermore, I want you out of Kinsfeld House in three days,” he added.
She felt ill, her whole body swaying.
She was undone. Totally, utterly finished. Where could she go? Of course, her friends Tessa and Colin would take her in, but for how long would she burden them? And if her brother would hear of this… And,oh Heavens, thetonwould have the time of their lives whispering and laughing at her—for certain, that would drag John’s reputation through the mud too…
OhGod have mercy–
Suddenly, there was a scuffle from the hallway, yanking her away from her panicked thoughts.
“Your Grace, please, do not interrupt—” Her butler’s voice was cut off by Alexander entering the parlor, his face a picture of rage, aimed at the new Lord Kinsfeld.
“I heard the raised voices,” he stated quietly, that same quiet she had heard him use when he interrogated the debtors. “Why are you speaking in such a manner to the lady of the house, Lord Kinsfeld? That is what you are now, is it not?”
He knows too.
Madeleine felt a sudden rush of gratitude. Had he been coming over here to confirm her husband’s death?
“Indeed I am,” Benjamin confirmed. “And as Lord Kinsfeld, I would like to tell you that it is none of your business how I speak to my sister-in-law. I will speak to her as I please.”
