Page 8 of Her Duke By Accident
“Don’t act so ignorant.”
“Your Grace,” she said with an exhausted huff. “I only wanted a glass of brandy.”
Matthew’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “I don’t understand why you must keep the act up.”
“There is no act.”
He watched her, his gut telling him not to believe a word that came out of her mouth. Finally handing over the glass, Matthew frowned.
“Enjoy the fruits of Lady Tollock’s labor,” he said. “I’m sure she will be quite disappointed in your inability to wed me.”
Matthew had a hand wrapped around the doorknob when he heard the girl rise from her seat.
“Whatever I have done to invoke such a lie to be spewed in my direction will not be forgotten, Your Grace.”
He paused. “A lie?”
The girl raised her chin. “How dare you assume I have planned out this scene to entrap you as though I am a weed?”
“My lady?—”
“You entered this library, Your Grace,” she said. “There was no beckon, there was no call. I did not leave the door ajar for you to take it at your leisure. I came here for solace. I came here for a moment of peace. I became ill and took a solitary moment of respite. I have planned no such thing of which you so willingly accuse me.”
Matthew turned back towards her, shock stamped on his face. He began to march across the library to her. “My, you’re a peculiar one,” he said, “All this trouble to wed me?”
“Wedyou?” the girl didn’t bother to hide her ‘shock’ as she inched closer. “I don’t even know your name!”
“Well, I’m sure you were just thrilled I walked in, and not some lowly baron.”
She gasped. “Who do you think I am?”
An irritation took over Matthew’s face as he stood only a few feet away from her.
“My lady,” he began, “I think you’re an eligible woman looking to ensnare an eligible bachelor in your family’s grips. Let me guess, there’s been a divot in your wealth. There’s a need in your family for a new source of income, a large title that can save your name from falling into ruin. Is that right?”
“You know nothing of my family.”
“Really?” he snapped. “It’s always the same, my lady. Can you truly tell me I’m wrong?”
The girl faltered. “You are wrong,” she muttered, green eyes glossy with tears as she stood just below him, her face angled upwards. “I would do nothing to ensnare someone unwillingly. I will do whatever I need to do for my family. Can you say the same, Your Grace?”
The argument grew to a tumultuous head within moments.
Her voice echoed in his head.Can you say the same, Your Grace?
Matthew rolled his shoulders, the anger resting there. When he looked back down at her, she seemed almost afraid, as if she had been caught in something.
“Anything, my lady?” he sneered through gritted teeth. “Even sell yourself?”
Her face dropped, mouth slack open and eyes widening. A redness grew across her nose and cheeks, not something bashful but rather like a fire brewed beneath her skin. And as her nostrils flared, Matthew saw her hand raise out the corner of his eye, lifting above her head to strike down upon his cheek.
Matthew snatched her hand out of the air, gripping her by the wrist. He pulled her hand closer to him, practically lifting her towards him.
The girl stared up at him with bunched together eyebrows, her green eyes incredibly wide. He could feel her haggard breathing against his chin as he leaned, a snarl forming on his lips.
A gasp filled the silence.
Matthew dropped the girl’s hand, and glanced over his shoulder to see a small group of the ton huddling by the opened door, their mouths wide open and gawking. They were horrified as they took in the scene before them. Matthew stood there, frozen, staring back at them. For the first time in a long time, he was too stunned to know what to do next.
