Page 33 of An Accidental Bride for the Duke
“They are cruel,” he snapped. “Deceitful people. And you would do better to avoid them. In fact,…” He made sure to be looking right at her when he spoke. “You are not to visit the village again. Is that understood?”
Iris was speechless. And the look she gave the duke told as much.
Is he joking? Is this some sort of test? And most importantly, where on earth is this coming from!
Iris’ first instinct was to rise to temper and denounce the duke’s order. If this had been just a few days ago, she would not have hesitated. But with how well things had been going, she didn’t want to go back down that road. In fact, she felt that all this was, was a kneejerk reaction and that surely the duke was just overreacting.
“There’s no need for that,” she started carefully. “Surely, the villagers can’t be all that bad.”
“They are worse.”
She clicked her tongue, the frustration mounting. “And when was the last time you spoke to any of them? One-on-one? Is itpossible your opinion of them is based on a single experience that does not apply to all?—”
“This isn’t a discussion, Iris,” he snapped. “You have lived here for less than a week. I have lived here my entire life. If I tell you that the villagers are worse than they seem, I expect you to believe me. Not to argue for people who you don’t know nearly as well as you think you do.”
She was shaking as she felt the anger build. Trying so hard to control it, not wanting to turn this into a fight, as the duke continued to glare at her, Iris realized that she had two choices: to cower and give in to his demands, or to stand up for herself.
She chose the latter option.
“And if I don’t care for your opinion on the matter?” she said. “Did you think of that?”
The side of his lip twitched. “Iris, I do not wish to turn this into an argument.”
“And yet you seem determined to do just that.”
“I take it that you are not going to heed my suggestion?”
“Suggestion?” she laughed. “Is that what it was? It sounded like an order to me. One given for no reason that I can understand.” She cocked her eyebrow at him, adamant not to back down.“That is unless you are willing to give one? Something better than you simply not liking them.”
“I’m not doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Having this conversation.”
“I think you mean argument.”
Suddenly, the duke slammed his fist on the table and Iris yelped as she jumped on the spot. His eyes were closed, a deep breath taken, trying to find calmness because he looked on the verge of exploding.
For how far Iris had thought the two had come these past few days, she was reminded immediately that perhaps they had not taken nearly the strides she was led to believe. Nothing but surface level conversation and a determination not to upset the apple cart and things were bound to go this way.
Which is not my fault. He is the one who has made it clear he doesn’t want his past spoken about. I might ask why that is but clearly that isn’t an option.
“I’m done here.” Philip pushed back his chair and stood quickly.
“What?” she blinked in surprise.
“I’ve lost my appetite.” He strode around the table.
“You’re leaving?”
“Well observed.”
Iris watched him go, bewildered by what she saw. That such a small thing as visiting the local village would cause this reaction in Philip was beyond her… although perhaps it shouldn’t have been.
She bit into her lip as she watched him, her mind working over what she could do. She wanted to be kind. She didn’t want to make things worse. But perhaps worse was what they required.
“You… I did not give you permission to leave!” she called after him.
