Page 44 of His Forbidden Duchess
He narrowed his eyes at her, his anger radiating from him.
“Your appearance is not my problem,” he snarled. “Your debt, however, is. Tell me, do you have my money?”
“Oh, dear Lord!” Lady Danridge cried. “Whatever will we do? Oh, my nerves!”
Eloise glanced quickly at her mother then returned her attention to Mr. Carlisle. She had hoped to make him feel like he was the only man in the world, but it had not worked. Or if it had, he didn’t care for it.
“I am afraid to say that we do not have your money quite yet, Mr. Carlisle, though we are working tirelessly to ensure that we have it by?—”
“Dancing, drinking and feasting?” he sneered. “Is that how oneworks tirelessly? No, I will not have it.”
A loud crash erupted behind her as another ornament shattered. Eloise winced, and her mother cried out again.
“If only we could have a little more time, Mr. Carlisle. Even just the week we were promised. You are surely a man of your word, Mr. Carlisle. A man of honor.”
He took another step closer to her so that their noses almost touched, and he spoke in a low, cruel voice.
“I am indeed a man of honor, Lady Eloise, but only where it is warranted. I do not like liars, and I do not like those who refuse to pay back their debts. Your time has run out. Jack and Reggie will search the house for anything worth taking, and if there is not enough to repay what is owed, my pretty girl…” He curled a finger beneath her chin and jeered. “Well, then I shall have to takeyou.”
Chapter Seventeen
Felix knocked on the Danridge family’s front door. He had spent all morning worrying about Eloise. She had disappeared so quickly from the ball. The moment they had shared had been wonderfully intense, and he wagered that, had it not been for Lord Mortcombe’s announcement, Eloise would have left the ball happy.
He needed to speak to her. He wanted to understand what was truly going on—why she wanted Mortcombe and how she felt about him.
He shook his head of the thought. As much as pursuing her appealed to him, he had to remember Jeremy. Besides, he was a rake. He had no reputation worthy of a lady like Eloise.
But maybe…
“They are in the parlor, Your Grace,” the butler said as he let him into the Danridge townhouse. “But?—”
“Thank you,” Felix said. He didn’t allow the man to finish and strode across the tiled floor toward the parlor.
“Your Grace!” the butler called, but Felix had no time for propriety.
Besides, he had been here often enough. As his mother had liked to tease him, he’d nearly lived here as a child.
He heard the crashing long before he reached the parlor, and his steps slowed, so he could listen more carefully.
The low grumble of a man’s voice was intermingled with cries of despair from Lady Danridge. He could hear the sounds of items being smashed against the floor.
His footsteps sped up again.Eloise. He had to get to Eloise. He had to make sure she was safe.
“What in the blazes is going on?” he demanded as he rounded the corner, and the sight he found made his heart freeze with terror.
Eloise. His Eloise. She stood with her head raised and her shoulders pushed back in defiance—a bear protecting her home, while some brute of a man leered over her, his finger beneath her chin.
Felix felt sick; he would not tolerate this brutality, and neither would he allow his beautiful, brave Eloise to handle this alone.
“Who are you?” the man snarled. His teeth were rotting, and his scalp was balding. Felix had a flash of recognition.
“I have seen you before,” Felix said simply, stepping into the lion’s den with little care. “In the gaming hells. Causing trouble.”
Carlisle. That was the swine’s name.
“Claiming what is mine as I am doing here. Are you her brother? Marquess Danridge?”
“I am the Duke of Kingswell,” Felix replied through his teeth. “And I demand that you let go of her immediately.”
