Page 60 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
Her voice was confident and sure, stern and commanding. If he had been able to chase away his nieces with his silence, it was clear that Theresa would not be easily scared away. She would stand here and demand answers until he would take responsibility.
Leo did not answer her. Not because he could not, but because he truly did not know how.
“Don’t think I don’t know what you have been doing with her.” She tapped her foot impatiently on the ground in front of him. “Margaret does not have the stony face she believes she has.”
Still, he could not bring himself to answer her. He merely shook his head.
Margaret was not as interested in him as Theresa seemed to think she was. Margaret knew that he would not marry her.Couldnot marry her.
She had gone to seek what she needed: a husband.
“Why would you let her marry another man?” Theresa’s question hung in the air between them.
This time, Leo had an answer that he could give her, though it may not be to her satisfaction. He considered the advantages of voicing it, but then thought better of it. His reply was simple.
“Because I cannot marry her.”
“Yes, you can.” Theresa sighed and rolled her eyes, as if she knew something about him that he himself did not yet know or understand. “In fact, youmustmarry her.”
“I must marry her? You misunderstand our arrangement. I did not ruin her.” Leo did not want to admit how desperately he had wanted to ruin her, to have her in a way no one else ever had.
But the truth was that while he had not been a perfect gentleman, he had done nothing irreparable. Theresa was within her rights to demand that he marry Margaret, but he would not heed her. He had never been interested in marriage before, and he would not start now.
“You may not have ruined her, but you defy the Queen.”
“I defy nobody,” Leo laughed bitterly.
How could Theresa accuse him of defying the Queen when he simply chose not to claim Margaret?
“You are one of the ton’s Beasts,” she said simply. “Now that Margaret’s true identity has been revealed, she is an unwed lady over the age of twenty-two.”
She looked at him pointedly, trying to force him to see things her way.
Leo knew that the Queen had mandated that he take a wife from a titled family and that Margaret fit the requirements. But he could not force himself to do as Theresa asked.
“I could not care less about the edict,” he said, looking up at her.
Anger clouded her features; her eyes narrowed, and her nostrils flared at his defiance.
“And whatdoyou care for, Leo?” She stomped her foot to make her point. “Obviously not my friend. Not those girls who just ran out of here because you refused to speak to them. Is it just yourself then?”
Theresa demanded an answer from him, but he could not bring himself to give her one. The truth was that he was not sure what hedidcare about. He thought he had an answer at some point, but it was long gone.
“My, my. What a lonely life you are forcing on yourself,” she said sadly when he did not answer. Her features softened just the smallest bit, her eyes growing glassy.
Leo could not argue with her. She was right in many ways. He was the monster that she painted him to be. The monster who would allow Margaret to fall into the clutches of her grandfather, despite knowing what he had done to her family.
“I do not expect you to understand, Duchess.”
“But I do,” Theresa retorted. “Margaret was truly terrified of that man. She hid in a convent to get away from him. I do not expect you to understand what life was like there. How desperate she would have to be to endure Mother Superior’s harsh treatment.”
Leo thought of the discipline Margaret had talked about and winced at the idea of her in the clutches of the nuns.
“You are truly going to leave her to face her grandfather alone?” Theresa’s voice was suddenly low and quiet. It could have been a growl if she had not been such a perfect lady.
When Leo did not respond again, she shook her head.
“Aaron and I will be leaving. Thank you for your hospitality.”
