Page 66 of Unchaining the Heart of the Marquess
The Duke stared at him as if all the fire and fight he had once possessed had gone out, replaced by an empty nothingness, a specter of the man he once was. “What is it? What has happened?” he asked resigned to accept whatever bad thing was to come.
“Mother has returned.”
A blank expression fell over the Duke’s face as he looked into his son’s eyes. “What?” he managed to stammer out.
“Mother has returned. She is just outside.”
“Aurora?” The Duke whispered her name as if it were the holiest of prayers. He rose from his chair grasping his son’s hand in his own. “Aurora is here?”
“Yes, Father.”
“Praise be to God and all the saints,” his words rushed out in a sigh of relief so intense he began to tremble. “I feared the worst,” he admitted in a whisper.
“As did we all.”
The Duke closed his eyes as a single tear rolled down his cheek, disappearing into the creases of his face. Opening them once more, he straightened his shoulders, released his son’s hand, and firmly nodded his head once again a man in control of his faculties. “Now, let us hear what she has to say for herself.”
Frederick nodded, proud of his father’s strength in spite of the torment that they had so recently been forced to endure. “Yes, Father. I will inform her that you are ready.”
Frederick left the library to find his mother waiting in the entrance hall. “Father will speak with you now,” he informed her curtly. Try as he might he could not forgive her for the hell she had put them through, and it came out in the tone of his voice.
“I wish to speak with the both you, together.”
“As you wish,” Frederick acquiesced to her request. “It is long past time.”
The Duchess closed her eyes, took a deep breath, then entered the room where her husband awaited her, where he awaited the truth.
* * *
Josephine urged her horse to go faster the closer she came to Chescrown. She had left the Greeves farm, without her mother, or most of her belongings. She had told no one but Owen that she was leaving, unable to bear the thought of so many sad farewells and her mother’s immense displeasure. Owen had given her his horse to ride, promising to tell the others where she had gone. Josephine had, in turn, promised to return to say a proper goodbye once she had ascertained where her life now stood.
The future was like a blank page that stretched on uncertainly before her, with Frederick as the only one who could reveal its hidden stories. She was not certain she had made the right choice returning to Chescrown, but she knew for the sake of her heart that she had to try. She owed it to herself and to their friendship to see if his love for her was as true and enduring as her own for him. Love, real love, was worth fighting for and Josephine had traveled across England alone on horseback to do just that.
As she approached the manor house, she suddenly became quite nervous and dismounted to gather her nerve. She clutched the horse’s reins in her hand and moved forward, fear of rejection gripping her heart in spite of the blood-soaked letter hidden in bodice that stated she had nothing at all to fear.He loves me,she reassured herself as she put one foot in front of the other. Her heart raced in her chest, and she felt a bit dizzy, but she kept going.
It was not that she feared Frederick himself, but the idea of his rejection after everything that had happened would be too much for her to take. Within his hands, he held the power to break her, and that terrified her already battered heart. Rounding the corner of the house, she headed toward the stables when someone moving about in the bushes nearby caught her attention. Knowing how much the Duchess hated it when people trampled her flowers, Josephine moved to warn the person away.
What she found stopped her in her tracks, causing a shiver of fear to shoot up and down her spine. There outside of the library window stood a man with a gun pointed straight at the Duchess.She has returned…
Josephine rushed forward to take the gun from the man’s hands. His face was covered with a long scarf, and his hat was pulled down low over his eyes. The man as strong and knocked her to the ground causing her to cry out in pain as she landed in the thorny rose bushes. The man looked at her, and she gasped. “How could you…” She was unable to say anything more before the butt of his gun came crashing down upon her head.
Chapter 32
“Aurora,” the Duke calmly greeted as his wife entered the room. He kept a reserved distance between them, but his bloodshot bitter tear-filled eyes revealed the turbulence that lies within. She had hurt him, and it was plain to all with sight that he still loved her in spite of it all. His hand trembled as he took a step forward, then paused, thinking better of it.
“Marcus,” the Duchess replied, a high, frightening quality to her voice.
Frederick watched the entire heartbreaking scene from the doorway. His parents stood across the room from each other, staring at one another and yet saying nothing.This is unbearable.Moving into the room he walked over to the settee and sat down, hoping that his presence would move the conversation forward. He had waited too long, fought too hard, not to hear the truth now.
“Mother,” he pointedly addressed her, his no-nonsense tone insinuating what his words did not.Speak.
His mother moved to sit in the chair opposite him, while his father remained standing, too nerve-wracked to do aught else. He walked over to the desk to pour himself a brandy, but then did not drink it. Instead, he left it sitting and leaned his fists against the flat surface of his desk, closing his eyes as if he were praying for strength to survive whatever was to come. Turning back around, the Duke came over to sit beside his son on the settee.
“I am ready,” he announced meeting his wife’s eyes as steadily as he could given the circumstances. “I am ready to hear the truth.”
Frederick nodded his agreement, and the two men sat quietly waiting for her to explain herself, to explain why she had felt it necessary to rip their family, their world, asunder. The Duchess opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the sound of Josephine’s voice outside of the window, “How could you?” she exclaimed, the fear and anger evident even through the pain of glass.
“Josephine?” Frederick questioned, a combination of confusion and elation coursing through him.
