Page 4 of Nothing Compares to the Duke
The moment Rhys stepped toward her, Bella had to escape. She couldn’t bear to look at him, to hear hisvoice. She didn’t want explanations or apology. Getting away and trying to forget what she’d seen was all she needed.
She stumbled along the stone path. Tears came so hot and quick her vision blurred, but she could see clearly enough to note that the Debley sisters were no longer on their bench. Bella swiped at her cheeks and nose and noticed someone waving in the distance. Her mother stood at the edge of the garden paths, gesturing her forward.
A little keening sound bubbled up and her throat burned. She couldn’t give her speech. She couldn’t pretend as if her heart wasn’t shattered.
Rather than head toward her mother, Bella veered left toward the house. Before she could get halfway there, footsteps rushed toward her from behind and Rhys gripped her arm.
“Arabella, please. Listen to me.”
Even turning to face him took effort. She feared if she looked at him, she wouldn’t be able to walk away.
“I know what you must think of me.” He let go of her and ran a hand through his hair. “And of Lady Nelson.”
“I don’t give a damn about Lady Nelson.”
“No, of course not, but—”
“Leave.” Saying the single syllable brought a pain in the center of her chest so sharp, it felt as if getting the word out had cut her from the inside.
“Arry—”
“Just go. Go!” She didn’t even realize she was shouting until he jolted back and began glancing around, as if worried she’d attract notice their way.
Looking at him was too hard. Standing this close, all she ached to do was reach for him. Even now, after the unequivocal proof that he did not care for her. That he didn’t care for his own reputation. That he wasn’t a proper honorable sort of gentleman at all.
And despite everything, she still wanted him. She still wished he wanted her.
He bowed his head and nodded once, then walked away.
Bella wrapped her arms around her chest and bit down to stop a wave of shivers. The afternoon had turned warm after a day of unclouded sun, but inside she felt chilled. Empty.
She looked up when she realized his footsteps had slowed. He’d stopped and stood looking back at her.
“Good-bye, Bella.”
She said nothing. There wasn’t anything left to say.
Bella willed herself to stand still when he walked away, not to call out or run after him as her heart insisted. She couldn’t find her usual rational self. This wasn’t a riddle she could unravel. Pain and confusion clouded everything, but intuition told her he wasn’t just walking out of her party.
Rhys Forester had just walked out of her life.
Forever.
Chapter One
July 1848
London, Lyon’s Gentlemen’s Club
Rhys Forester, Duke of Claremont, was a lucky man.
He told himself as much as a blade cut the air a hairsbreadth from his cheek, its glinting silver flashing in his periphery. A streak of heat whispered against his skin and his heartbeat spiked before the knife lodged in the wooden board at his back.
Partygoers crowding the opulent private room in Lyon’s Gentlemen’s Club let out a murmur of relief. Rhys swept his gaze across the assembly of noblemen and their paramours, forcing a rakish smile. One of the young lords he’d invited tightened an arm around his lady companion’s shoulders when she let out a flirtatious giggle.
He understood the man’s worry.
Rhys had spent years earning his scandalous reputation, and he’d had a hell of an example to follow. The late Duke of Claremont had been known for his decadent tastes and very few morals. Rhys had never been close to his father, but now he’d grown used to the same whispers about his own behavior.
