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with the man who’d coveted the duke’s
wife. If anyone knew how evil the duke could be, it would be him.
    “My lord,
I really must be leaving. His grace will wonder what is taking me so long.” She
curtsied and left him in a rush.
    His
gaze lingered on the curves of her gown and settled around her bottom. He had
fantasized about her derriere since the night he had caught her in his arms. Images
of her bare arse sinfully occupied his thoughts more
and more. As she disappeared down the hall, another man stepped in next to him.
    “She
is quite the catch, that Lady Thompson. A spitting image of her mother, too. I
envy the duke,” the tall, stout, and balding gentleman stated. “I wonder,
though, if she’ll be enough to keep him interested. The good Lord knows, the
previous duchess carried on so many affairs, it was not any wonder that she
ended up dead. All of our sins will come to the forefront, and we pay for them
in this lifetime. Pitty she lost the child as well.”
    “What
are you talking about, and who, might I ask, are you?”
    “The
duchess was with child and not of the duke’s, if you gather my meaning. And I
was the one who pulled the dilapidated carriage out of the river. Sadly, her
body was never recovered. It was just as well. The pariah would have never had
a proper burial. His grace was quite annoyed.”
    Of
course, Avonlea had been uneasy that was never found. How else would Downsbury
have been able to obtain an annulment? It would be rather amusing if her grace
were to make a miraculous return from the dead. The duke would surely have an
apoplectic fit.
    He was
about to respond when he caught the wisp of Emily’s skirt go by. She stopped at
the terrace, glanced back to see if anyone had followed her, and slipped out
into the shadows of the moonlight. He bowed to the stranger. “Excuse me. I have
just remembered something I must do.”
    Walking
toward the terrace, Charles happened to notice the duke headed in their
direction, adjusting his cravat and walking down an empty corridor. What
the devil has he done? Closing the door behind him, Avonlea found
Emily sitting on the bench, sniffling. He crouched down before her and offered
his handkerchief. “There, there, sweeting. Tell me what happened.”
    She
bent forward into his waiting arms and sobbed. “He…he…” She trembled.
    “He
being who, love?”
    “The duke . When I departed the ballroom earlier, I went in
search of him and found him with another woman.”
    “Surely,
they were only discussing—”
    Emily
released the most unladylike growl. “What could have they been discussing, when
she was on her knees with her mouth over his…?” She pointed to his groin.
    The
fact that the duke was already beginning to show his true colors, before they
were even married, solidified that these two were ill-matched. The marriage was
doomed even before it started, and she would never be anything more than his
chattel.
    “Are
you sure it was even him you saw?”
    “I
cannot believe you are doing this to me. Stop patronizing me! Yes, it was him I
saw. And to make matters worse, he acknowledged my presence by announcing that,
in no time, I would be doing the same.”
    His
heart lodged in his throat. “Emily—”
    The
terrace door opened and slammed shut. “What do you think you are doing with my intended?
Alone, out here, where there is no one else? How dare you!” Downsbury
questioned, huffing and puffing.
    T’was
as if the duke had slapped him. “Me?”
    There
they stood behind the poplars in the darkness, silent other than the sound of
crickets chirping. The earl shielded Emily from the duke, and it took every
ounce of patience to not strike the insolent fool.
    The
door opened and closed again. “Oh my. What on earth has happened?” Lady
Thompson asked. “Emily, what have you done, you impossible girl?”
    “Yes,
what have you done, my dear?” Downsbury added with a hiss.
    Between
her mother and the idiot, Charles was not sure he could