Page 7 of Taming a Beastly Duke
By the time they reached the drawing room, Marcus felt as though he could barely stand. And when he saw his grandmother standing outside the door, he groaned. All he wanted was to sit and try to collect himself to keep from collapsing. But Augusta pushed him out of earshot of everyone inside the room, giving him a firm look.
“I know that you are not happy about having guests,” she whispered. “But you must remember that you have a responsibility to your duchy and to your family to engage with others in society and to begin thinking about your future. You will need friends, a wife, heirs, and you will not get any of those things by remaining sullen and obtuse.”
Marcus snorted, using a considerable amount of strength to step around his grandmother.
“Firstly, I cannot understand how a discussion about house guests turned into one related to marriage and heirs,” he said as he put a foot inside the room. “But I can assure you that I have no intention of marrying…” he trailed off as he saw the women. The younger woman, in particular. The room fell into tense silence as he entered, but he was paying it little mind. His eyes were fixed on the young lady he presumed to be Miss Barrett.
Her golden hair caught the light from the burning fireplace and her blue-green eyes held his gaze with startling directness. His frame, which had been rendered pale and cold from the affliction and the dampness that frequently beset him, was suddenly suffused with warmth, as though he had submerged himself, particularly from the waist down, in a hot bath on a frigid winter’s day.
Something in him stirred, reacting to the young lady with a raw hunger which surprised him. His sickness was temporarily forgotten as he studied her curves beneath her pale-yellow dress. And when she parted her lips as if to speak, the heat beneath his waist intensified, causing him to stir in an unfamiliar, yet welcomed, way. What a curious reaction, he thought as he straightened his posture and took a seat.
Chapter Four
When Adelaide realized that their host was gazing intently at her, her breath caught. His dark brown eyes were not cold, as the gloom of the mansion suggested it would be, as he stared at her. Rather, they burned hot, as though searching to scorch her. The heat in them was unfamiliar and unexpected to her, but not as much so as the warmth it stirred within her. The room felt too warm for a moment, and she forced herself to breathe.
There was a sudden awareness in the air, and it felt as though it was just meant for His Grace and her alone. Coupled with the duke’s height and broad shoulders, the room felt smaller and more intimate, despite their respective family members being present.
“Good evening, honoured guests,” said another gentleman from the doorway of the drawing room.
Adelaide and Helena turned to see a handsome man just a little younger than the host. There was a slight resemblance, as though there might have been some distant relation.
“Edwin, darling,” the dowager crooned, rising with her hands outstretched to receive the man’s face in them as she kissed his cheek. “How wonderful that you and Beatrice could join us.”
As the three exchanged greetings, Adelaide observed the younger man’s illuminating disposition. It was a drastic contrast to that of the duke, despite the similarities, as different as nighttime was from daylight.
“Miss Barrett, Helena,” the dowager said, ushering the newly arrived pair into the heart of the drawing room. “I would like you to meet my youngest grandson, Edwin Lockhart, and his lovely mother, Beatrice.”
Adelaide glanced toward the Duke, noting how his expression never changed, despite the warm greetings of Lord Edwin and Lady Beatrice. They hardly seemed fazed, however, as Lord Edwin clapped him on the back.
“How are you feeling, Cousin?” he asked, surveying the duke with sincere appearing eyes.
The Duke mumbled something, gesturing toward the empty seats.
Lady Beatrice kissed the duke on the cheek, giving him a maternal smile.
“It is wonderful to see you, Marcus, dear,” she said.
The duke looked at her, offering the first forced smile Adelaide had seen. Despite its disingenuous nature, Adelaide could not help noticing that he looked even more handsome, albeit only for a brief second. When he noticed her watching him, however, the scowl returned to his face, and he averted his gaze.
***
After a span of what felt like an eternity to Adelaide, they retired to the dining room for dinner. As he picked up his fork, Adelaide noticed for the first time that he had hardly touched his food. She thought about how his cousin had asked about his well-being, as if knowing of a reason to be concerned. She dared to glance at her host’s face again. His eyes were still away from her, but she realized he had grown two shades paler just since she and her aunt had taken their seats. Was he ill? Did he suffer from some medical condition which had not been disclosed to them? Or was he simply tired and strained due to the arrival of his clearly unwanted guests?
She looked away, disliking how difficult it was for her to pull her gaze away from the duke’s features. The candlelight cast shadows across his aristocratic features, highlighting the pallor of his skin, the strain around his eyes and the tight set of his jaw. None of those blemishes ruined his inherent attractiveness. However, it renewed Adelaide’s curiosity about the state of his health. She wondered how no one else seemed to notice the sweat forming on the duke’s forehead. Did he have some condition which no one felt comfortable to discuss? Or was it possible that no one else knew he was ill?
When he met her gaze once more, his eyes were as hard as the stone of his mansion. Yet once more, she noticed a hungry heat within them that made her shiver, despite the warmth in her that she realized then had not cooled since it began. She did not understand what was happening or anything about her new temporary home. She only knew that she was ready to retreat to her chambers and away from the curiously enticing glances of the hardened duke.
***
Marcus tried to keep his glances at Adelaide Barrett secret as he held his cup impossibly tightly in his hands. Even the women dubbed by society as diamonds during their debutante’s seasons had failed to draw any interest from Marcus. He had danced with many as part of his ducal obligations. However, none had ever been worthy of his attention outside of social interactions. Miss Barrett, however, stirred a primal instinct in him.
Something about her blue-green eyes and honey-colored hair kept drawing his gaze, even as he battled the ceaseless dizziness that washed over him. There was an intellect in her uniquely tinted eyes, a wisdom and warinessthat was intriguing to Marcus. There was also an innocence about her that made certain appetites within him suddenly ravenous.
When the butler entered and announced dinner, Edwin’s charming smile directed itself toward Miss Barrett once more.
“It would be an honour to escort you to the dining room, Miss Barrett,” he said.
The young lady gave Edwin a tentative smile that made Marcus’s stomach flutter. He looked away, but not before witnessing her take the arm his cousin offered.
