Page 10 of A Duke's Sinful Bargain
Anna had to chuckle. “I can’t imagine what interesting thing I might discover in Arthur’s study. Never speak ill of the dead, but I do believe he was one of the most uninteresting people I have ever met. A good man, but uninteresting.”
Anna traced the lines of the first ledger that lay before her on the polished wooden desk. She opened it, reading through the numbers. It made little sense, with names she did not recognize. She knew of her late husband’s debts, and she was now trying to pay them off, which was proving to be more difficult than she’d thought it would be. Eliza took a seat opposite her, her presence silent but reassuring.
After a while, Anna’s breath caught in her throat. “I found it…”
“Found what?” Eliza almost jumped out of her seat.
But Anna didn’t say anything. Her fingers trembled as the figures she was seeing, stark and unyielding, told a tale of financial entanglement that wove the destinies of Lord Arthur Ravenscroft and Duke Alexander Blackthorn together in a web of obligation.
“His name…” Anna whispered as her breath hitched in her throat.
Her emerald-green eyes flickered across the ledger’s entries, a sense of astonishment washing over her. Perhaps her husband had mentioned his name before, but she wasn’t paying attention. Or perhaps he had kept it a secret, exactly because of the truth. Anna could not tell.
All she knew was that the duke now stood as a pivotal figure in the intricate web of debt left behind by her late husband. As she kept reading, each inked line spoke of more borrowed sums and unsettled accounts, linking their lives in ways she had never fathomed.
She stood there, staring at the numbers. How had Arthur allowed himself such debts? Anna had known of his gambling preferences, but she had hoped it was nothing but a pastime, just something gentlemen partook in with other gentlemen. Only, in Arthur’s case, the hole went much deeper than the man himself was willing to admit. And it was only after his death that the truth emerged.
The debts were enormous. He owed many people, too many to count. But the overall sum was… something Anna hoped she would be able to pay off and live the rest of her life as a debt-free widow. Now, with this newfound information, she doubted such a thing would be possible.
Eliza, standing by her side, observed the myriad emotions playing across Anna’s countenance. In the flickering candlelight, the room seemed to hold its breath, as if acknowledging the gravity of the discoveries laid bare on the desk.
“Are you all right, my lady?” Eliza inquired gently, pressing her hand to Anna’s shoulder.
“No.” Anna shook her head, her fingers trembling over the numbers etched in ink, over Alexander’s name, a revelation that left her standing at the threshold of a complex and uncertain future.
Eliza boldly closed the ledger, leading Anna away from it and toward the door. “It is very late, my lady. If you will permit me, but… you need to go to sleep. Stressing over this at this late hour can only bring you more anguish. A new day brings new opportunities, a fresh state of mind to come up with new solutions to old problems.”
“No, Eliza.” Anna kept shaking her head, but she allowed her maid to lead her out of her late husband’s study and into her chamber, where Eliza helped her disrobe and go to bed. “Nothing will ever be all right.”
“Don’t say that.” Eliza tucked Anna into bed like a child who was way past her bedtime. “You will see that tomorrow, everything will seem better.”
“No.” Anna was adamant. “This… this sealed my fate.”
Eliza smiled. “Only death can seal your fate, my lady. Nothing and no one else has that power over us. As long as we breathe, there is a chance to make things better. Now, rest and we shall see what can be done tomorrow.”
Reluctantly, Anna smiled back. Eliza’s usual cheerful nature did not manage to do what it always did, and that was to infuse her with a sense of hope for tomorrow.
“Good night,” Eliza called out softly before closing the door.
Alone in her bedchamber, Anna’s restless thoughts seemed to awaken with newfound strength. The weight of everything she had come to find out—the debts, the obligations, and the duke’s looming presence over it all—pressed upon her mind, making sleep utterly elusive.
Tossing and turning in the silken embrace of her sheets, Anna found herself caught between the crushing reality of financial entanglements and the tantalizing allure of dreamworld. Her thoughts, like wisps of ephemeral mist, kept swaying from the ledger’s entries and the memory of her dance with the duke, how he gazed at her, how electrifying the touch of his hand was.
She had no idea when she fell asleep. However, as soon as she did so, constraints loosened and desires took flight. She found herself twirling in the duke’s arms once again. The music of a dream ballroom echoed in her mind as they moved in synchronous grace. His presence, magnetic and commanding, stirred a pulsing within her, awakening a slumbering fire between her thighs.
As the dream unfurled its enchanting tapestry, the duke, his piercing blue eyes locked onto hers, leaned down in a gesture of intimate connection. The anticipation of his kiss sent tremors through her, and her heart raced in time with the phantom music.
“Anna…” she heard him say, and her name upon his lips was the most beautiful melody.
“Alexander…” she called out to him, his hand finding the nape of her neck, guiding her head toward him.
She got completely lost in his eyes as their lips parted. She wanted him to kiss her as much as he wanted it, too. Nothing stood in their way. She could not hear a single murmur around them. The world had melted away, leaving only the two of them. Yet, just as their lips were on the precipice of meeting, she was abruptly pulled away from the dream’s soft embrace.
Her eyes fluttered open to the muted darkness of her bedchamber. Although it was just a dream, her entire body was left trembling. Her insides felt as if they were on fire, longing for the man who had just held her in his arms.
A sigh escaped her lips, carrying with it a mix of longing and bewilderment. She didn’t know what this meant, but she knew the duke had unwittingly become a part of her life. As for the consequences of his entanglement… that was yet to be seen.
Chapter 6
