Page 5 of The Duchess He Couldn’t Resist

“Wait!” Marigold heard herself say before she could even realize what she was doing.

The man had either not heard her or, most likely, pretended not to hear her. Perhaps the same ailment that prevented Donny from comprehending the dire situation he was in before attacking that man was contagious because Marigold, instead of going her merry way, relieved that she was safe for the moment, took one step and grabbed the giant by his arm.

That stopped him in his tracks and luckily so because Marigold was sure that he could drag her along the cobblestones with no trouble at all.

“Please, sir,” Marigold said, “your name.”

A long silence.

“Your name, sir,” she repeated.

“There is no need for any of that,” that rough voice echoed in the small alley.

“But, sir,” Marigold insisted, “I need to repay you for your kindness.”

The man turned and loomed over her. Her pulse jumped to her throat. Marigold was considered tall among the women of the ton, but this man made her feel small. She could not see his face in this dark alley, the only light coming from the lamp post at the other side, but as he turned his face was hidden in the darkness of the shadows.

“Repay me?” he demanded.

“Yes, sir.” Marigold would not allow fear to trample her good manners.

It was rare in her life for someone to actually save her instead of putting her down. Maybe this was the reason why she felt inexplicably indebted to this stranger. In her world, kindness did not exist, and she was determined to⁠—

A dismissive laugh interrupted her thoughts. Marigold frowned upon hearing the man laugh at her.

“I wouldn’t expect you,” he said in a gruff, deep voice, “to be so desperate in selling your body.”

Marigold was manhandled, threatened, and assaulted that night, and yet that simple comment was the greatest shock.

“I…” she stammered. “I was not… offering…”

The man straightened his back, and his full size was daunting. He straightened his overcoat as he spoke again.

“If that was not what you were indeed offering,” he said, and Marigold recognized the refinement in his tone, “I would suggest you take greater care with your propositions next time.”

That was all the man said, leaving her stunned at the edge of the alley that had been the scene of the most dangerous and bizarre experience of her life. As he turned, his face was illuminated by the lamp light, and Marigold managed to take a good look at him.

It seemed that the night was determined to pile every human emotion upon her in the most erratic way because Marigold was stupefied to see that this giant of a man had an elegant profile, a straight, regal nose leading to a pair of fleshy lips, even set as they were. Thick eyebrows that formed a straight line, tilted upwards at the ends, made him seem commanding and permanently angry. And under them, his eyes were almond-shaped and dark like still midnight waters.

This man, her reluctant savior, this walking behemoth, was a gentleman of the ton, she was sure of it.

And the most breathtaking man she had ever seen.

CHAPTER 2

OUT IN THE LIGHT

Marigold never thought that in her life she would be the one sitting at her father’s study instead of looking at him work on their family’s finances. This was absolutely not her job, but here she was, toiling over ledgers.

She looked up from her work and took one quick look around. The cold morning light seeped through the faded curtains. There was still dust settling everywhere. After all, they had no staff left since they couldn’t afford to pay them. Marigold couldn’t keep up with the housework anymore.

She sighed and took to the ledgers once more. The numbers were swimming in front of her eyes. She was still exhausted. She hadn’t truly slept since last night.

“Come on, Marigold, you can do this,” she told herself.

Once more, she committed herself to making the numbers work. Not that it was the numbers’ fault that they had no income and the little they had was scattered in the wind. And yet still, she managed to keep them afloat somehow on pure grit and some mathematical manipulation. But how long could she keep this up?

“Oh, father,” she lamented, “you really had to go on and leave ruin behind.”