Page 71 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
She got up and started to pace her chambers. What on earth was taking him so long?
She sat down again and started to pray, but she had no idea what to ask of the Lord. She had been quick to say that he worked in mysterious ways, but now she was not sure what was to be gained from a husband who did not want her.
Could the Lord fix this situation?
Unable to bear it any longer, she threw herself into the bed. The hour was growing late, which was confirmed when she heard thegirls run past her door on their way to their room, Joan yelling after them.
Perhaps he had been waiting for them to go to bed.
Margaret waited a little while longer before she closed her eyes and decided to do the one thing she had been putting off. She let herself feel the sadness and disappointment of the day—the way Leo had not kissed her, the way he had not come to her room.
She was too heartbroken to think about being pleasant anymore. Even if her husband showed up in her chambers now, she did not know if she would have him. It would serve him right if she rejected him after all of this.
She leaned back against the feather pillows and tried to rest. If Leo came for her in the middle of the night, she would hear him and wake up.
Part of her already knew that he would not come to her room.
Not now.
Not tonight.
Maybe not ever.
She let herself fall asleep and realized in the morning with a start that she had slept through the night. Nobody had come to visither in her chambers until the maid knocked to see about helping her get ready for the day.
The maid filled her basin with water, and then Margaret sent her away. She splashed the cool water on her inflamed face, chastising herself for naively believing that Leo would be different.
“What did you expect, you fool?” she said to herself in the mirror, her face dripping clean water on the table beneath. “He told you from the beginning that he did not want you as a wife.”
She hardened her expression, determined that she would not cry over him. Margaret refused to let him see that she was hurt by his absence. She did not know what to say or do, so she would have to figure it out.
And fast.
Because she now lived at Devishire Mansion and had no other place to go. Her friends were gone, departed for their own estate. It was just her and Leo here at the mansion, along with the girls. They would run into each other eventually, and she would be prepared when they did.
She would show him that she could be the duchess he thought he was marrying.
She would make herself as irresistible to her new husband as she possibly could.
Leo emerged from his chambers later than usual, despite not having slept the night before. He did not know what to expect from his new wife.
She had retreated to her chambers before they could even celebrate their union. She did not want him, the same way he said he did not want her.
How could I blame her for acting the way I wanted her to?
The worst thing Leo could imagine was caring for someone, and the little nun was the last person he should get close to. She was everything pure. She was everything that he was decidedlynot.
He ran one of the most successful gentlemen’s clubs in London. He was the King of Olympus. He was the Duke of Devishire, one of the Beasts that returned from war a little worse for wear.
Leo was always cold and aloof, and all was as it should have been.
Nothing was going to change just because he followed the Queen’s edict. He had saved a woman from certain death and a life of misery with a man who cared not a whit about her.
He put on his usual dark attire, no different from how he would get ready any other day. With his stomach rumbling, he resolved to brave the breakfast room to see what the servants had left.
After running a hand through his hair and a quick glance in the mirror, Leo decided that he was ready to see who he might find at the table. Part of him wanted to find Margaret there, waiting for him.
In his mind, he could see her in the emerald-green gown with Theresa’s jewelry. He knew it was foolish to think of her that way, the way she had been on their wedding day. The day was meaningless, but he found her ravishing.
