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‘Yes.’
‘Well, that explains nothing.’
‘A maid did not knock...when I was unclothed. The bath was not a private matter any longer.’
‘Did you pay her to open the door? In all my years a maid has never interrupted my bath. Possibly because a decent woman knows to bathe at night.’
‘So do all decent men.’
The duchess raised her hand and reached for the bell. ‘Do not move. I will send for your clothes to be packed. You will not believe how fast the servants can have the carriage readied when I am on a tear. You can dress or not for the carriage ride. It hardly matters.’ The duchess’s hand stopped. She struggled for words. ‘And there could be a little...’ She blinked. ‘Have you and Rhys been bathing together...regularly?’
‘I would not speak of such things with his mana.’
‘Nonsense. I am his mother. It is not as if I did not instruct his father how to handle that little indiscretion Rhys had with one of the servants.’ Her eyes narrowed and, this time, she used one finger to jab her own chest. ‘And I was wed to his father and that shackle had to be kept clamped on his leg.’
‘The duke and I have agreed not to marry.’
Rhys walked swiftly through the doorway, the door knocking back against the wood. His cravat was looped in the most unsettling knot Bellona had ever seen. His hair had somewhat returned to its place and his waistcoat was buttoned. He had her clothing draped over his arm.
‘Mother, Bellona and I are betrothed. We must go immediately for the special licence.’ He looked at Bellona’s covering, took in a full breath and held out the dress. ‘And she forgot what she was to wear—in her excitement over the marriage.’
‘Rhys,’ his mother said, voice high. ‘We have more rooms on the upper floors than can be counted. You could have been in one of those where you wouldn’t be seen. I cannot believe this of you. I cannot believe it of her.’
‘However, it is done. Bellona and I are to be married. I have sent the maid to instruct the carriage to be prepared. Mother, please start writing notes to all your friends telling them how I could not wait a moment longer to make her my wife.’
‘Never. I don’t need grandchildren after all. In fact, I’ve decided I don’t like babies at all. They’re never well mannered. Cast up their accounts. Spit on silk. Then they grow up and—it—gets worse.’
Bellona took the chance to turn to the door, but Rhys was between her and the exit.
He spoke softly. ‘We must wed.’
‘I have never heard of so many proposals in one day.’ She spoke more words, in Greek, and from the tightening of his eyes, he had certainly learned those from his tutor.
‘Bellona. Consider...what we have done.’ His words were soft and his eyes gentle, but she had heard the harsh tone from him when the maid had opened the door. The one that came from his heart. That one she agreed with.
‘I am not thinking of the past,’ he said. ‘I am thinking of the future.’
‘Mine is in Scotland,’ Bellona announced.
‘Sometimes travelling is very good for you,’ his mother grumbled. ‘It is a pity it just did not start soon enough.’ She held her hands up. ‘And none of this would have happened if not for my fall.’
‘I must go.’ Bellona struggled to reach out her hand while keeping her breasts covered. ‘I need...the dress...’
He moved forward and she extended her hand, taking care not to hold it out too far. He placed the garment near her and she fumbled to hold everything together. He frowned, waiting while she managed.
‘I would have liked to have wed you, Your Grace,’ she said. ‘But—you will spend your days looking at me as if I am less than you. As if I trapped you.’ She shook her head. ‘I knew every moment we were together you did not plan to marry me. Only because of the maid outside the door did you finally consider it.’
‘Rhys. Did you not learn anything from that past indiscretion with the servant?’ his mother asked. ‘Did your father not explain the word mistress means to pay and go away? One does not soil one’s own home.’
He frowned at her. ‘It is not like that, Mother.’
‘You took advantage of Bellona.’ The duchess swept forward as if she’d suddenly gained strength from all the disappointed mothers of the world, the silver knot of her hair shaking as she walked to him. ‘You took advantage of...a woman practically alone in the world and her supposedly under my guidance and care. I can forgive her more easily than I can you.’ She stared. ‘You were not raised to behave like this.’ With each word her voice strengthened. ‘You know better. I cannot believe you did this.’
