Page 53 of My Blind Duke
“No! You do not! You have no idea what it feels like to be hated by your father. I only wanted to… I wanted to impress him. But I just humiliated him instead. And now he is upset with me,” Melanie cried.
“He is not upset with you, poppet.”
He is upset withme.
But Prudence knew bringing that up would not help matters.
“I assure you, he does not blame you for what happened. He was just… struggling a little. And he did not want you to witness that,” she continued gently.
“He should,” came a muffled reply.
Prudence frowned. “He should what, dear?”
“Heshouldblame me. I know it is my fault.”
Prudence decided to open the door of the wardrobe then. “Sweetheart, no. The fault is not yours at all. I should have prepared better –”
“You do not understand,” Melanie shook her head, the annoyed action sending her curls bouncing. “I-I heard the servants talking. Years ago. Papa had… papa got in the fire to save me. And that was when he lost his sight. If he had not–”
“Melanie, stop. There is absolutely no way he would have chosen any other course of action than to save you. No one filled with love for their child would do otherwise. And that is how I know he does love you. He cares for your improvement, he worries for your future, and he is so proud of you today. Do not let yourself believe that he does not value you. Because he does. More sothan anything in the world,” Prudence told her, hoping with everything she had that the child would believe her.
“I wish he would tell me so himself,” Melanie muttered, burying her tear-streaked face in her arms.
Prudence sighed, reaching out to pat the girl’s hair.
“As do I, darling.”
Chapter 17
“You imbecile, they are still uneven. Do it again.”
Henrietta winced and nodded, taking Clementina’s plate away to start her task of cutting the elderly woman’s food into perfect squares.
According to Prudence’s count, this was the fourth time she had been asked to start over, and usually, she would feel immensely sorry for the woman. But tonight, she could not bring herself to care.
She was filled with conflicting emotions for the duke, who sat in his usual spot, aggressively cutting into his steak as though it had offended him.
Prudence had understood his frustration and anger, but did he value his pride more than his daughter? Would it have been sodifficult to explain to her the reason why it was hard for him to play with her rather than dismiss their efforts as a waste of time?
It was frustrating how he managed to rile her up so much.
“Finally, you mutton-headed ingrate. I was starting to believe you intended for me to starve. Can’t you do anything right?” Clementina hissed at her companion.
“I am sorry, my lady,” Henrietta sniffed, looking quite pathetic.
Prudence sighed and raised her glass of wine to her lips, trying to ignore how uncomfortable the dining hall felt. Clementina’s ramblings were one thing, but neither she nor William had said a word to each other all evening.
She had not even expected him to show up for dinner. Prudence tried to prevent her thoughts from straying in his direction, disturbed by how they kept switching from pity to disappointment.
Noticing her glass was empty, she beckoned a footman closer to refill it.
“Have you heard about Lady Knox’s scandal? She was caught in bed with her gardener!” Clementina announced, lifting her glass of water to her lips. “Disgraceful, truly. Apparently, he was meant to be the groundskeeper of the estate when her husband was away on business. As it turns out, he was also keeping Lord Knox’s side of the bed warm. No matter how the shamelesswoman begged her husband, he refused to ignore the offense. I heard she was roaming about, visiting her friends to see which one would let her stay with them in their homes. But so far, there have been no takers. I cannot say I am surprised, though.”
Prudence tried to focus on just her dinner, hoping she could quickly clear her plate and leave the dining hall, intending to visit Melanie.
The poor dear had fallen asleep after crying so much, and Prudence had carried her to her bed and tucked her in snugly. She had told Melanie’s governess to wake her up later to eat something, but she was worried that Melanie might ignore the request.
“Although she was truly an embarrassment, that and more can be said about Lady Beatrice, who was seen canoodling with a dear friend of her betrothed only the day before their wedding. From what we have heard, she had been seeing the lout even before Lord Simon had begun to court her, but she wanted to marry Lord Simon for his wealth. All these women and their needless and constant thirst for fortune they are not entitled to are a blithe upon society. Her parents have disowned her, and her family has turned against her. As to be expected because no one wants such a woman under their roof,” Clementina continued, jumping when the duke stabbed a piece of meat with such force they heard the dish crack.
