Page 3 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
“Your invitation. Surely, you did not sneak into the club without one. You would not want to cause trouble, would you?” He quirked a brow, waiting for her response.
Margaret opened her mouth to tell him about the series of events that led her into this… this debauchery, but she could not summon the words.
“Well…”
The man sighed and looked up, as if he would find help from the heavens if he only prayed hard enough.
Margaret thought that the people in this room should pray more. She doubted whether this was what the nuns had in mind when they talked about the important duty of a wife to her husband.
The women who surrounded her in the library did not appear to be merely fulfilling their duty to their husbands. Margaret knew what it was to fulfill her duty; she did it every day at the convent when she had to clean and scrub and pray.
No, these women were having far too much fun to be merely doing their duty.
Margaret reached for the rosary that was always in her pocket, only to realize that she had left it at Theresa’s home. She felt compelled to pray and confess her sin, though she had no idea what she would confess. It wasn’t as ifshewas the one on the settee with that book in her lap.
The man reached out and gently took her by the upper arm, turning her away from the scene. He took her back the way she had come.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re coming with me.”
CHAPTER 2
Margaret allowed herself to be dragged away by this man, who was so cold and imposing. The grip on her arm reminded her that she was in serious trouble for sneaking into a club where she did not belong, but she could not shake the sense that she would let this man touch her in any way he pleased.
What kind of sinful thought is that?
Margaret tried not to think about the man’s hands on her, but it was difficult as he marched her through the halls. She would have to confess her errant desire when she returned to the convent—something that she was not looking forward to.
If Mother Superior saw her now, surely there would be discipline on the horizon for her.
She stole a glance at him, her curiosity getting the better of her.
I should have learned my lesson about curiosity today.
As if it were not bad enough that the Earl had caught her visiting Theresa, she had somehow stumbled on this… party.
Could she truly call it a party? Whatever the driver had said, this was no book club!
Both times she had let curiosity best her, and both times, she had been caught. She supposed this was the Lord’s way of punishing her for the folly of seeing what she was not meant to see.
Margaret was destined to take her vows and become a nun. Once she took those vows, there would be no more opportunities to see the Earl’s estate or to stumble upon book clubs. She was to be cloistered in the convent, given over to a life of chores and prayer. Trying to make herself content with endless rituals and soft-voiced sisters.
She could not think of a life that she wanted less.
Except perhaps a life where the Earl dictated what she would do with her days. Surely, that would be worse than anything she would endure in the convent. Her life might be dull, but she had no idea what ill fate she might suffer at the Earl’s hands.
She thought of the scars on her mother’s back, not so different from the ones that nuns left on her. That was a story from her childhood that her mother never wanted to discuss, but thedread on her face when the Earl of Riley came up in conversation was warning enough.
It was no surprise that she had been adamant that Margaret would have a better life. She had given her daughter every advantage she could—until it was no longer up to her.
Margaret had been on the run for a very long time.
She returned her attention to the situation at hand. The man who guided her through the halls opened another door and ushered her inside. It was a study, large and spacious. A fire roared in the hearth, casting minimal light and lots of shadow.
Margaret was tempted to run her fingers along the volumes on the shelves to see what kind of books this man kept. Were they full of the same pictures she had just seen?
The memory caused her to blush again, and she hoped she could pass it off as being flushed from the heat of the fire.
