Page 83 of A Duke Makes a Deal
“What do you know about it?” the young man argued. “You couldn’t understand what it’s like.”
Silas couldn’t and he did not envy the position the young man was in. Although, as a man who was not restricted by gender when it came to his attractions, he wouldn’t tell anyone else how or what to do with their lives. He only meant to warn him away from the devil herself.
“There are people who would accept you, Lord Valle. People who might care for you, as you are. Regardless of what you can do for them.”
“I’ve never met one,” he said bitterly.
Silas sighed.
“Perhaps you should keep searching,” he said as he left the young man alone, but before he could go, he felt Valle’s hand wrap around his wrist.
Having rarely been touched by anyone, Silas gave him a sharp glare, which caused the young man to release him. But when he spoke, Valle’s voice was low.
“She wants you back. She means to do what she can to get you.”
“She can go to hell.”
Valle shook his head.
“You don’t understand, Combe. She’s obsessed. It’s all she’s talked about since learning about your marriage. Our engagement was decided on so that we could return to England. My father finds me, shall we say, undesirable, while Cynthia wasn’t aware just how ostracized she would be following her divorce. But our coming here? It was at her insistence.”
Silas squinted at him and saw the young man’s façade drop for a moment. In an instant, he suspected that the young lordwas growing tired of his game with Cynthia, a feeling Silas knew all too well himself.
“Why are you telling me this?”
Valle shook his head.
“I… I don’t know exactly,” he said. “But just know that she won’t stop.”
Silas looked at the young man for a long time before nodding and walking away. Leave it to Cynthia to engage a man with no support. It was a weak thing to do on her part, but then Silas was realizing that Cynthia was nothing if not cunning.
Regardless, he didn’t wish to think about Cynthia’s motives. The time had come for Clara and Violet’s play, and he was determined to give it his full attention.
Upon entering the parlor, Silas saw that the guests had begun to take their seats. He made his way to an empty settee that stood towards the back and took a seat. Without failure, Cynthia entered the parlor just as his knees bent and she made her way straight towards him, as several heads turned to watch. She seated herself next to him. Silas wanted very much to leave but he remained, strictly to show he wouldn’t be chased as the play began.
To his surprise, Violet and Fredrick did an excellent job portraying two people in love. An observer never would have guessed how much they disliked one another. Silas had half a mind to tell his sister that she might have a career on the stage should she ever be desperate enough to need one, but all thoughts of praise fled from his mind when Cynthia leaned ever so slightly towards him.
Her hand wandered to the side of his hip as she tried to get his attention. Annoyed that she would try something so publicly, he shifted away from her, but she only grew more brazen. Her fingers gently found the hem of his pants pocket. Without thinking, he silently grabbed her hand and squeezed her fingerstogether tightly before glaring at her. Cynthia’s eyes fluttered closed, her mouth open slightly, as if she were enjoying his biting grip.
As the scene ended, everyone stood and cheered except for him and Cynthia. Turning his attention to the front of the room, his eyes caught Clara’s, whose face dropped at the sight of them sitting together with their hands joined.
Blast.Silas dropped Cynthia’s hand and stood, making his way towards Clara. Unfortunately, it seemed she wasn’t interested in hearing his explanation.
“Please, Silas, not here,” Clara whispered fiercely as she turned away from him.
“Clara,” he said, his tone pleading, which caused her to pause—but only for a moment.
A beat later, she peeled away from him quite easily, and Silas watched her as she disappeared in the crowd.
Chapter Twenty-One
Clara was hardpressed to keep her temper in check. The sheer jealousy that had torn through her when she peered behind the makeshift curtain to see Silas sitting next to Cynthia had been all consuming. Although she knew it was beneath a duchess to feel anything so strongly, she couldn’t help it. Clara was a human being first and foremost, and she was madly in love with her husband, a man who refused to love her back.
Feeling rather sorry for herself, she was surprised when she was approached by Fredrick Trembley to dance. While he was easy with conversation, Clara couldn’t help but notice that he was constantly peering over at Violet who was waiting against the far wall. Several yards away, Mr. Lutz stood with the baron and two other gentlemen, seemingly deep in conversation. It was obvious that Violet wished for Mr. Lutz to tear himself away and ask her to dance, but the young man seemed too engrossed to notice her.
“Mr. Trembley,” Clara said, nearly halfway through their dance. “Do you think you would be so kind as to ask my sister-in-law to dance?”
Fredrick’s eyes snapped to hers.
