Page 53 of A Deal with her Forbidden Duke
She did not know what to say. That petty distraction had snapped her out of her own delicious, dangerous haze, and she did not know how to get back to it. Or if she should.
She went back into her chambers.
“Is everything all right?” Alexander asked.
“A maid dropped your glass from your nightly drink.”
He huffed a laugh. “As long as it is cleared up and nobody got hurt.”
Madeleine couldn’t believe the odd consideration he had for the staff. She smiled but could barely meet his gaze.
The silence pressed around them, her thoughts getting lost in his prior touch beneath her skirts. She’d grown so breathless, aching and needy for him. She needed something else to distract her.
“Have you—” Her voice was hoarse. “Have you heard from John yet?”
“No.”
“Right.”
She stepped back, and she knew she was raising her defenses. Alexander did not take his attention off her, though. But he eventually pushed off from her desk and bowed to her.
“Thank you for assisting me,” he said, his voice sharp but not unkind. More guarded, distant, as she felt. “Good night, Duchess.”
“Good night, Your Grace,” she whispered, and he slipped out through her main doorway.
He was true to his word, it seemed: the connecting door would remain shut unless invited. He was still giving her that semblance of privacy.
Her chest ached as she collapsed back onto her bed.
And she stillachedfor him.
Chapter Eighteen
“We have received an invitation.”
Madeleine cocked her head at Alexander, her toast halfway to her mouth. “We have?”
After the gossiping at Lord Banbury’s ball, they had not received another invitation, and Alexander suspected Madeleine was upset about it.
Every day, he swiftly discarded the gossip sheet before she could find any mention of her name, but he knew that Madeleine worried over the gossip.
He nodded. “A young gentleman has settled in London as the new Lord Hartford. He is an earl following his father’s death. I imagine the wholetonhas been invited to his ball, and it is only customary for him to host this. He will want to make a good impression.”
Alexander looked at Madeleine as she ate her toast.
“That means I also wish to make a good impression. You will attend with me.”
“Will I?” she asked, trying to tease but it was clear that her nerves didn’t quite manage it.
“Yes.”
Madeleine looked downwards at her empty breakfast plate, realizing she had nothing else with which to busy her hands. Instead, she reached for her teacup but Alexander reached over and rested his hand on her wrist.
“Madeleine, the culprit liable for Donald’s murder has been arrested. The case is now closed, and you are not to be blamed. We should not be afraid to show our faces.”
She wouldn’t look at him, had barely looked at him since their heated moment in her chambers last week. But he reached out for her now and grasped her chin, forcing her gaze to rise to his.
“You should not be afraid of the ton, not now, not ever. Not while you are with me.”
