AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A bath was prepared for her, and the maid assisted her from her clothes. Pippa carefully undressed and removed her bandage, then she stepped into the bath, issuing a sigh of delight as the heat removed the ache from her limbs. She lowered herself in the large tub, drawing her knees up to rest her chin on them.
Oh, William, I miss you already.
The tears that had pricked at her eyes spilled over, and though she felt foolish that she cried, Pippa did not try to contain them. Something about their time in the cottage had felt so perfectly wonderful, a glimpse of what her future with the marquess could be like.
Except now it was over.
CHAPTERTHIRTEEN
William strolled across the lawns with the duke at his side, and as succinctly as possible he told Hartford how he came to find Pippa and that she had been alone with him for the last couple of days.
“She does not appear the worse for wear,” Hartford said, eyeing him carefully.
William chuckled without humor. “The minx is quite fine. Her ankle is healing well.”
“You seem fond of her. Did you not just meet her?”
“We shared a connection before this mishap.” William shoved his hands in his pockets and tipped his face to the sky.
“What are you thinking to appear so grave?”
“I will procure a special license posthaste for our marriage. I would appreciate it if you and your duchess would serve as our witnesses.”
“I believe you are making a mistake,” Hartford said, casting him a considering glance. “You sound and look like a gentleman heading to the damn gallows.”
William grimaced.
“Do you love Lady Phillipa?” the duke asked.
A sensation unknown to William pulsed through his entire body, but he kept his expression inscrutable. “What does love have to do with me making Lady Phillipa an offer? She was compromised. I knew the potential outcome the instant I chose to take her back to my cottage, and I did it fully aware of the consequences.”
The duke sighed and William snapped, “Come on, man, her honor and reputation is irrefutably compromised. She has been alone with me in my cottage for three days. We return to find a house full of society ladies, a few of them at this very moment watching us with their faces pressed to the windows’ glass. Their curiosity is staggering. I assure you this will come out, and she will be shredded. Upon my honor, I cannot allow her to endure that scrutiny and disgrace.”
Hartford chuckled. “These ladies might very well surprise you. I have come to learn more about them in the time I’ve been with my duchess. They all belong to a ladies’ club my wife runs with a few of her dearest friends.”
William jolted. “At Berkeley Square?”
“Yes. All the ladies in residence at my home are members of that club. They are a fiercely loyal bunch, and they would never do anything to bring harm to each other. Trent, you have managed to avoid marriage and were adamant that you would never be forced to marry, whatever the circumstances. Hell, a duke’s daughter tried to force your hand some years ago and you walked away and developed a reputation of being a cold-blooded rogue. I know Lady Phillipa did not deliberately compromise you, but I think she will be mortified if you insist on marriage because of your accidental sojourn together. I am certain she has other hopes for her marriage than an offer made out of duty.”
William took a bracing breath. “It is more than that. She might be with child. If she is, I could not permit her to be cast off by society and my child ostracized for his birth…”
The duke stilled. “Hell!”
Precisely William’s sentiments.Bloody hell.
The duke gazed at him with an expression of reproach. “Despite what many believe, I know you are not that kind of damn libertine who seduces innocents and then casts them to the wolves.”
“Hence the reason for my imminent marriage,” he said with icy civility.
Hartford grimaced. “Could you not have resisted the damn temptation?”
A strained chuckle escaped William. “I think if my damn life depended on it, I could not have resisted Pippa. She is…” he scrubbed a hand over his face. “Lady Pippa is unlike any woman I have ever met, Hartford. She wraps me in knots I do not understand. I do know I do not damn well like it, but those knots are there nonetheless drawing tighter daily.”
When he glanced at the duke, the damn man was smiling.
“Care to share the source of amusement?”
“It shall hit you in the arse soon enough,” came the duke’s enigmatic reply. “Heed my advice, Trent, if you are only marrying her out of obligation, it makes for a cold and bitter alliance. Give it time and let your offer come from another place inside you.”
