Page 45 of The Duke's Unclaimed Bride
“I said, get down!” Laurence shouted at Tilly, who flinched.
As he strode toward her, she scrambled off the books and chair, and raced toward the dining room.
“There was no need for that!” Edith snapped.
“What?” Laurence sputtered, turning to face her. He had not expected to be the target of her rebuke.
“She was just being a child,” Edith argued.
“Do you know how rare and valuable those books are?”
“Does it really matter? They are just books. You shouldn’t have scolded her so.”
Laurence pursed his lips and stared at his wife.
Edith broke eye contact, turning to where Tilly had fled. “Tilly! Wait!” she cried out and ran after the girl.
Blast it.
Laurence grunted and picked up the books. These hadn’t been worth losing his temper over. He had never read them, and they were at the townhouse because, frankly, nobody did.
Dusting them off, he walked upstairs and shelved them in his library. They sat neatly between two volumes he had never read and likely never would. They were possessions that servedno other purpose than to signify status and wealth, but were otherwise utterly useless.
And for this, I screamed at Tilly?
She didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of his ire. She had already endured too much of it from the people who’d passed through her short life. It wasn’t her fault that he was upset. The frustration of being unable to deal with his feelings for Edith, James’s taunting, and the news of the large donations had rattled him.
He hung his head in remorse.
These are not the actions of a duke. I am behaving like my father, not a respectable gentleman.
Laurence did not know how to undo the damage he had caused. In theory, it was as easy as saying sorry. However, Tilly was a child. She would expect comfort, but he did not know how to give her that.
His fists balled at his sides, and he walked out of the room. Reaching his chambers, he slammed the door shut behind him. The windows rattled, but he was too frustrated to care if they shattered.
I should know better. Be better. I can’t let my darkness affect the child.
Those thoughts stayed with him until the following day. Although he excelled at solving the duchy’s problems, his private life was frequently in tatters.
He reached the study door, opened it, and froze. Instead of an empty study, he was greeted with an unexpected sight.
Tilly.
She had shrunk in on herself as he entered. A small piece of parchment was clutched in her tiny hands.
“I-I am sorry, Your Grace,” she stammered, her fingers tightening on the vellum. “I-I wanted to give this to you to say sorry.” She held it up.
Laurence was confused, but reached down slowly and accepted her peace offering. On it was a sketch of a man in the official colors of his duchy, brandishing a sword while astride a horse. In a squiggly hand at the bottom, she had written,The Duke of Albreboorn.
He looked at her over the picture, unsure how to respond.
“I-I know you want me gone,” she whispered shakily. “I know I am not fit to be here. I’m naught but a workhouse girl, and I don’t belong in a grand house like yours.” Her lip quivered. “Ionly make trouble for you, Your Grace. I try to be good, I do, but I forget my manners, and I speak when I shouldn’t?—”
“Tilly,” he interrupted softly, crouching down to her eye level. “Do you take me for a man who does things he doesn’t want to do?”
She thought for a moment and then slowly shook her head.
“Exactly. When I proposed to Her Grace, I understood that meant you would be coming with her,” he said softly. “If I really did not want you to be here, I could have insisted we send you to a boarding school.”
