Page 74 of Her Duke By Accident
Matthew’s eyes flickered up to her own quickly, as if he argued within himself. “The ghosts of Garvey,” he whispered, repeating her own words. “They might make you turn away from me.”
She tilted her head at him. “Memories cannot harm you, Matthew, or the life you live.”
“They can,” he said. “They have.”
Alicia reached, grasping onto his clenched fist that sat on the table. He felt incredibly cold as she wrapped her fingers around his, unable to cover his entire hand. Matthew’s chest rose and fell quickly at the contact.
“I can protect you,” she firmly said. “I can.”
A smile finally coaxed itself across his lips. “I have no doubt.”
Alicia kept a tight hold on his hand as he sighed, leaning back in his chair with a heavy exhaustion, as though he hadn’t slept in days. A strand of hair fell from his forehead, striking across his eye like a lightning bolt.
“Lucy is my greatest pride,” Matthew whispered, his voice barely carrying. He stared into the flames once more, his eyes narrowed and brows furrowed tightly together. “And my deepest shame.”
“Why?”
He glanced at her. “Do you truly not know?”
“Know what, Matthew?”
Matthew shook his head at her, a look of astonishment on his face. “She is a bastard, Alicia.”
A sharp exhale left Alicia’s lips. She covered her mouth, surprised at herself for reacting so visibly. “I–I?—”
“Does it all make sense now?” he asked, almost venomously.
She met his eyes. “Matthew… ”
“I’m surprised she never told you.”
“Why would she?”
“Don’t you see the way she watches you?” Matthew asked. “There hasn’t been a woman in her life that hasn’t scorned her, berated her for an origin she did not chose. My mother would spit on the ground where the girl dared walk, calling her a dirty-blooded bastard whenever she got the chance. Even Miss Aylestreats her in a lowly way, as though being a bastard changes her station at Garvey.”
Matthew leaned forward suddenly, taking Alicia’s hand within his own, the tightness sending a wave of goosebumps up her arm. “Except for you, Alicia.”
“Me?” she breathed, still reeling from the duke’s grip around her fingertips.
“You are the only lady who has regarded her as a girl,” he explained. “You have never treated her any differently.” Matthew stared at her with a heaviness she couldn’t recognize. “Will you change now, Alicia, that you know the truth?”
“Of course not,” she quickly replied. “I–I love her.”
Matthew’s lips parted in shock. “What?”
“I love her, Matthew,” Alicia whispered, a smile pulling at her lips. “How can I not? She is a wonderful girl, and I want her to succeed. It’s the only reason why I fought you so hard, Matthew.”
He tilted his head.
“For a ball,” she said. “I wanted her to experience things she wanted to have. And I feared that she was lonely without you around. You left so often, and I?—”
“I’m sorry,” he interrupted. “For leaving.”
“You had business.”
“No,” Matthew said with a humorless laugh. “Nothing that needed me right away.” He leaned back in his chair again, dragging a hand through his hair. “I was afraid, and I ran.”
“What was there to be scared of?”
