Page 47 of Her Duke By Accident
“I did not ask for you either!” Alicia said, breathlessly. “I did not ask for Garvey!”
“Well,” he said with a sneer, “it’s what you caught.”
“You will have me forever be a stranger in these halls,” she said, “as a punishment?”
“Take it as you would.”
“I am a good person, and a good wife, who deserves better.”
Matthew crossed his arms, looking down at her with a hateful intensity. “So that’s what this is about?”
“What?”
“You followed me out to the gardens,” he explained, “to convince me that you’re a good wife who deserves better?”
Alicia shook her head. “Do not twist my intentions, Your Grace. I am here because someone needs to stand up for your sister.”
“Stop speaking of things that will never concern you,” he said. “Lucy will never concern you.”
“How can she not be of concern to me?” She asked, taken aback. “Is it not my responsibility to see her off to a successful debut as the lady of this house?”
He scoffed. “Miss Ayles is doing just fine.”
“That governess,” she breathed through clenched teeth, “is doing more harm than good.”
“What could you possibly know? You’ve barely been here!”
“You’re right,” she said. “I’ve barely been here, and yet I have seen more than you. I have seen Lucy struggle between freedom and duty. I watch her want to fly, but be kept only on land. That governess does not teach her anything about life, about where she will go from here. She does not teach her of propriety. She drones of Latin, gives her more and more books to read. What will become of Lucy in three years' time, when it is her chance to break free of the chains you have wrapped around her wrists?”
Matthew stared at her. “What chains have I put upon her?”
“You punish her,” she whispered.
The duke remained silent, looking away.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” she breathed. “You punish her by not loving her. You punishyourselfby not loving her. But you can’t help it, can you? She is beautiful, she is kind, she is lovely. Your Grace,” she paused, inching toward him, “you are teaching her that love is withdrawn. You are showing her that holding in your happiness, your true feelings, is more important that being content.”
“You know nothing,” he spat quietly.
Alicia tried to reach for him, but stopped herself. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“It is not your place,” he said.
“I am the duchess,” she said in a demanding voice. “I am your wife!”
Matthew surged up to her, their faces only inches apart. “You are astranger! You know nothing! You seek something that is not yours; you come here and demand a place in my life, burrowing yourself in my thoughts like you belong there!” He waved a hand at the manor. “Like you belong here. You do not and you willnever.No matter how easy you seek to make this arrangement out to be.”
They stood only a hair’s breadth apart now, both breathing heavily and angrily.
The duke exhaled, and pulled himself away from her. “As your husband, and as your duke,” he began, his voice cold and steady, “you will listen to me. You will stay out of things you will never understand.” He pointed a finger at her. “Do you understand?”
Alicia let her gaze drift to his lips. “Tell me,” she said, breathlessly, “do you think about me when I’m not there?”
Matthew inhaled sharply, lips parted. “What?”
“Is this truly just an arrangement to you?”
The duke began to shake his head. Whether it was from confusion or an answer to her question, Alicia could not tell. His gaze flickered down to her lips, watching as her breath came out in little bursts. He tilted his head, lowering himself closer to her raised face for just a moment, just a split second, before he snapped his stare back to her own.
