Page 42 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
“I can only imagine the trouble you got into,” Leo said, snapping Margaret back to the present. “If your behavior here in London is any indication, you must drive the sisters mad.”
Theresa and Aaron stepped toward the path that led to a clearing in the trees. The path was too narrow for the four of them to walk side by side, so the married couple walked ahead of them.
“Do you remember the first picnic we had here?” Aaron asked, just loud enough for Margaret to make out the words.
Theresa laughed and whispered something to him that made him smile.
“You will be alright here with Joan, will you not?” Theresa asked Margaret.
Margaret looked around for the governess and found her just a short walk away. She nodded, but Theresa was already following Aaron down the path, clearly with no intention for Leo and Margaret to follow.
Margaret could not help but be suspicious of her friend. Theresa had been so concerned with propriety, ensuring that Margaretwas never left alone with Leo. And here she was now, taking a walk so that Margaret could have alone time with Leo.
“We should take a seat, My Lady,” Leo said, directing her toward a bench to their left. “The girls should not be left alone with Joan.”
“I fear that we may never find them if we do.” She laughed and lowered herself onto the bench.
From her seat, she could still see the girls and their governess, but they were hidden away from most of the parkgoers by a large hedge.
“I believe I owe you my gratitude for our discussion last night. It seems that you were correct about how I have been handling the girls.”
“They do seem so excited to escape Devishire Mansion today.”
She watched as Annie scooped up one of the ducklings. The mother came waddling after her, quacking. Margaret laughed quietly as Annie put the bird down.
“I cannot help but think that they would be better behaved with someone who understood them more,” Leo said. “Someone like you.”
“You brought me here to help. It seems I have already done you a great service,” Margaret teased.
“You have, but I have not held up my end of our deal. You have not told me what you are so afraid of so that I might offer my protection.”
“It does not matter.” Margaret shrugged.
“But it seems that it does. The way you ran out of the opera house yesterday made it clear that you are running from someone. Do you not trust that I can make any problem disappear?”
“You cannot makethisproblem disappear.” Margaret looked around them to try to avoid his gaze. She could tell that he was looking at her intently from the way her cheeks burned.
“You do not know what I am capable of until you ask.”
“My problem will resolve itself when I take my vows.”
“I thought I told you that you were not to think of that while you are here with me.” His voice was low, making it impossible for even those closest to them to hear. “You areminewhile you are here. And I will protect you, even if you do not trust me with your problems.”
“There is no problem that cannot be solved.” She sighed.
“Then explain how you stumbled upon my book club. What were you running from then?”
“Oh, look!”
Margaret turned her head to the side and caught sight of the ripe fruit hanging from the tree. It was enough to halt Leo’s train of thought and distract him from thinking about her problem.
She could not tell him about her grandfather or the promise she had made to her father, but she could ask him to pluck the fruit from the tree.
“My Lady, have you never seen a peach before?”
“I have never had one ripe from the tree,” she said. “Would you pick it for me?”
Leo rose from the bench and walked over to the tree. Margaret was too short to reach the fruit, even on the low-hanging branches, but Leo was much taller and plucked it from the branch effortlessly.
