Page 14 of A Bride for the Wicked Duke (Claimed by Regency Devils #2)

Chapter Fourteen

A urelia was in desperate need for something to distract herself with. It had been two days since her evening with the duke and needless to say there had been little on her mind but what had happened between them.

I cannot sleep. I can barely eat. And every time I am given even a moment of silence, my mind strays to thoughts of his head between my legs.

It was for this reason that when a letter arrived earlier today, sent from her sister Caroline, inviting Aurelia and Eveline to have lunch with her at her home, that she was thrilled for the excuse. The only downside was that the letter also insisted that they bring Rosalind, not ordinarily a problem as Rosalind was her best friend, but with all that had happened Aurelia feared that to take one look at her friend might see her devolve with memories of her brother. Again.

She needed to be careful. She needed to keep her mind focused. And most importantly, she needed to not do or say anything that might allude to what she had been getting up to with the duke.

Focus, Aurelia. You cannot let them know or even suspect that anything happened. As far as they know, you hate the duke. And he hates you.

“... Aurelia?” she barely heard the voice of her best friend speaking from beside her. “Aurelia? Are you even listening?”

“Huh...” Aurelia was not listening. She and Eveline and Rosalind were riding in a carriage to her sister’s home, and she was typically lost in her own thoughts – exactly the opposite of what she was meant to be.

“She has been like this for the last two days,” Eveline said with an eye roll. “Mother worries she might be getting sick.”

“Oh no.”

“I am not getting sick,” Aurelia said, pulling her attention back inside the carriage. “I am merely distracted – I mean, I have a lot on my mind.” Her sister and best friend looked at her quizzically and Aurelia’s eyes widened. “With my search for a husband, I mean,” she said a little too quickly. “That is what I meant. It is causing me stress, which is why I am so distracted. Yes, that is all it is.”

“There is no need to worry,” Rosalind said with sincerity. Taking Aurelia by the hand. “You still have plenty of time.”

“I know I do,” she sighed.

“Perhaps you will be able to ask Caroline if her husband knows of anyone,” Rosalind continued. “Surely he has friends he can introduce you to.”

“The Cruel Duke?” Eveline snorted. “Not likely.”

“Oh, that is just a nickname,” Rosalind chastised her. The moniker was one given to Caroline’s husband by the ton, since proven not to be nearly accurate as all the girls had met him several times and had since agreed that he was a lovely man not deserving of such a terrible nickname. “Clearly, there is no truth to it – your sister has said as much.”

“Perhaps he has her sworn to silence,” Eveline teased. “Threatening her to keep her mouth shut.”

“You are being silly,” Rosalind said. “Aurelia, tell you sister she ought to know better than to feed into rumors.”

Aurelia was back to not paying attention. Her mind drifted to the duke, as she had lately begun to wonder if her search for a husband might not have been as difficult a thing as she had initially thought. Is it possible that he has been right before my eyes this entire time? She did not want to think on it too much, as that would only lead to disappointment. But what if --

“Aurelia!” Eveline shook her. “Stop doing that!”

“Oh...” Aurelia found her sister and friend watching her again. Rosalind looked worried. Eveline appeared annoyed. “Sorry, were you saying something?”

There was an irony here that Aurelia could not help but notice. The duke’s ‘lesson’ had been an attempt to teach Aurelia how to control her more impetuous nature and keep her mouth shut when it ought to be. Now, since this lesson, she was so distracted that even if she wished to join in on conversation, she found herself unable. It looks like his lesson worked after all. She chuckled at the thought.

It was only a few minutes later when the girls arrived at Eggleton Estate to find Caroline waiting in the driveway for them.

“She looks good, doesn’t she,” Rosalind commented when they spotted her. “Marriage suits her.”

Eveline leaned over to get a better look. “Perhaps her husband has warned her that she needed to look her best, so that we won’t suspect --”

“Eveline!”

It had been over a month now since Aurelia had last seen Caroline, for she and her husband had been away on a trip, having only returned the previous day. She had always been close with Caroline too, the middle sister who wasn’t nearly as proper as Daniel and Violet and was nowhere near as troublesome as she and Eveline.

Again, Aurelia focused on the needed distraction. What she hoped from today was conversation about anything other than herself and what she had been up to. No mentions of the duke. No allusions to her own would-be marriage or anything that touched that subject. And most of all, she had to be present.

“There you are!” Caroline swept toward them when the carriage came to a stop, and they climbed down from inside. “I was about to send out a search party.”

“Are we late?” Aurelia made for her sister, taking her hands when they reached and pulling her into a hug.

“No,” Caroline laughed. “I was simply bored. Anthony has gone into town to visit friends, and I have found myself with nothing to do.”

“Oh no,” Eveline teased as she came in and gave Caroline a hug also. “A whole morning without your husband, how awful.”

Caroline did not take the bait. “I wish he was here, if for no other reason than to keep you in line.” She stuck her tongue out. “Perhaps I should rent him out to mother.”

Eveline snorted. “I am not scared of the duke.”

“Not yet,” Caroline winked.

The two of them laughed and then Rosalind joined in, hugging Caroline and kissing her on the cheek. Then, once greetings were made, Caroline led them inside and to the dining room where lunch was already being served. Nothing too heavy, as lunch was not a common meal and the girls did not wish to fill themselves before supper later, but some light snacks to sate their appetites as they caught up. Well overdue.

“So, what have I missed,” Caroline began. She beamed at the girls, excitement taking her expression. “Tell me everything – Rosalind, I hear that you are in the hunt for a suitor?”

Rosalind curled her nose. “Who told you that?”

“Anthony said that he heard something to the effect. You know how small the ton is. One lord or another is approached about courting a young lady and suddenly everyone knows it.”

“Urgh,” she sighed. “You can blame my brother for that.”

“Oh?”

Hearing the duke mentioned, Aurelia did her best to focus on the cucumber sandwiches that her sister had served her. She hadn’t eaten much these last few days, having even skipped breakfast this morning. She should have been starving but found herself unable to even feign an interest in the food on offer. Which itself was a rare thing.

“I love my brother, you know that I do,” Rosalind said earnestly. “But this Season especially, he has been a constant presence like I have never known before. Everything that I do, everywhere that I go, and everyone whom I speak with...” She sighed again and shook her head. “He refuses to leave me alone.”

Caroline tittered. “Welcome to the life of courtship.”

“It is worse than that,” Rosalind continued. “I understand well enough that he wishes for me to find the best possible suitor. And I know how important it is to him. Only...” She scoffed. “He treats me like a child, as if I am incapable of making my own decisions. It is beyond frustrating.”

Aurelia did her best to ignore the comment. She really did! And she as much as anyone was aware of how involved the duke had been in trying to find his sister a suitor. Once, she might have agreed with Rosalind too, very much of the same mind that her brother was an overbearing force who needed to be reined in. But she knew better now.

She saw the duke for what he was. She understood how much he cared. And most of all, she knew that he would do anything for his sister, and she felt a sudden need to remind Rosalind of this fact. Even though I know I really ought not to...

“He is only doing what he thinks is best,” Aurelia said before she could stop herself. She spoke softly, looking down at her plate, but her words were heard clearly none the less.

“Excuse me?” Rosalind asked as if she hadn’t heard her.

Aurelia grimaced. “I just don’t think it is fair to blame His Grace, is all. He cares for you, Rosalind. And all he wants is to see you happy.”

Rosalind looked confused. “Well, yes, I know that. But that does not mean he has to be so forceful. And so involved. Anyone would think that it was his marriage on the line.”

“To be fair, who you marry will reflect on his life,” Aurelia continued, again knowing better than to do so. “So in a way, it does concern him as much as it does you.”

“I...” Rosalind looked as if she could not believe what she was hearing. She was not typically argumentative, and Aurelia could not think of a single instance when the two had fought. It looked like that was about to change soon enough. “I appreciate the comments, Aurelia, but you know that my brother oversteps. You have said so yourself.”

“Maybe I was wrong.”

“Oh, this is good.” Eveline was sitting up, her eyes wide with excitement as she looked between the two, eager to see them argue.

“Wrong?” Rosalind laughed. “You know that is not the case. Just as you know my brother needs to learn to keep his nose out of my affairs.”

“Now, that is not fair.”

“It is!’ Rosalind cried, getting flustered. “I am only twenty-one years of age, but he treats me as if I am an old maid, desperate to marry. What does it matter if it takes me a few more Seasons. He is unreasonable.”

“He does it out of love.”

“He does it for himself,” Rosalind snapped back. “Anyone can see it.”

“Is he looking to marry also?” Caroline cut in between the two best friends, eager to put a stop to their bickering and change the topic. “I have not heard anything.”

Rosalind was glaring at Aurelia in warning, and Aurelia glared back. She was angrier at herself than she was at Rosalind, because it was not as if Rosalind had said anything untrue. What was more, Aurelia should not have gotten involved, only making things worse. Typical of her, really.

“He should be,” Rosalind answered Caroline eventually, giving Aurelia a final look of warning to make sure she would not say anything further. “But that is half the problem. We have spoken of it before, and he himself has admitted to me that he intends to find a bride as soon as he is able...”

Aurelia found herself perking up at the comment. She tried not to look too interested, but once again that same thought she’d been having recently reared its head. That of the duke and marriage, the very unlikely idea that perhaps the suitor she was after wasn’t so hard to find after all.

“... but this last Season he has not given any indication that he intends to marry,” Aurelia continued, curling her nose. “And I know why – he thinks I do not, but I am more than aware.”

“What do you mean?” Aurelia asked casually.

“I am what matters most,” she explained to the group. “And until I have found myself a husband, he seems to not care one bit about his own future. Which might sound like a nice thought, but it explains too why he is so insistent that I marry.” She sighed. “The whole thing is frustrating to say the least.”

Eveline snorted. “Can you imagine the bride he would take also? She would have to be the most proper of sorts. Prim and elegant and walking about as if she had a stick permanently wedged up her --”

“Eveline!” Caroline cried.

“She is right,” Rosalind giggled. “My brother would not settle for anything but the best, which might explain why he has given up. Such a lady as that does not exist. The search for perfection in an imperfect world.”

“Elegantly put,” Caroline laughed.

Aurelia did her best to appear mildly interested by the comment, but inside she felt her mood souring at the thought of this imaginary lady of perfect propriety. So not what the duke would want.

What Rosalind said just now made perfect sense, and if Aurelia was being serious with herself then she would have admitted it long ago. In the eyes of the ton, the duke was the perfect gentleman, and when he found himself a bride, she would need to be the perfect lady. For appearances sake if nothing else. But he isn’t the perfect gentleman. That’s not the real him at all.

Only Aurelia knew the real duke. And only she seemed to understand that the type of woman who most assumed he was suited for would not work with him one little bit. He wasn’t the upstanding bastion of propriety as everyone said he was. He had a dark side. A wicked side. A side that was funny and scathing, that was playful and mocking. A side that was, to be perfectly honest, exactly what Aurelia had always wanted in a man.

She felt her mood crashing and she did not care how it looked, such that when the topic found its way to her own sordid life, she hardly even noticed.

“You should have seen how furious mother was,” Eveline laughed. “When she learned that Lord Littlefield was broke. The way she was screaming had the entire household staff in hiding.”

“Oh dear,” Caroline gasped.

“I think it’s for the best,” Rosalind said, trying to cheer up the mood. “There was always something not quite right about him. And I have no doubt that when Aurelia finds her future husband, he will be perfect. Isn’t that right, Aurelia?”

“Wh -- what?” Aurelia looked up to find the table watching her. Her mood was still crashing. She wished to be anywhere but at that table. Yet she forced a smile and laughed it off. “Yes, he was... too bald for my liking.”

Eveline snorted. “And short.”

From there, the conversation devolved into a discussion of men, particularly what the girls wanted from a husband. Superficially, of course, as without the weight of expectation on their shoulders, that was all which really mattered.

As Rosalind and Eveline compiled their lists enthusiastically, Aurelia sat in silence, unable to find the enthusiasm to join in. All she could think about was the duke, still soured about how the girls had spoken of him. He wasn’t what they said or what they thought. They didn’t know him at all! Even Rosalind, his own sister, was blind to the man he truly was.

As to why she could not get past this, for it shouldn’t have bothered her nearly as much as it was doing… she preferred not to consider.

She did notice at one point her sister Caroline watching her with clear concern, such that she wondered if she should join in, if for no other reason than to disparage her sister’s worry. But again, she simply could not be bothered. My mood should be one that has me singing to the heavens! After all, with what the duke and I got up to the other night, I should have no reason to be so upset. But isn’t that the problem...

The day wore on and when it was finally time to leave, Aurelia found herself grateful. The two sisters and Rosalind said their goodbyes to Caroline by the carriage, but it was as they turned to leave that Caroline pulled her to the side.

“Aurelia, might we speak for a moment?”

“Oh...” Aurelia frowned, thinking to say no but seeing the worry on her sister’s face. “Yes, of course. Concerning?”

Caroline pulled her away from the girls and waited until they had climbed inside the carriage so there would be no risk of being overheard.

“Is something the matter?” she asked her.

“What? No...” Aurelia forced a smile. “Why would you say that?”

Caroline fixed her with a look of worry. “You have been quite all day, is why. It is just so unlike you.”

“I am perfectly fine, Caroline.” Aurelia forced her smile to grow. “I am simply tired.”

The lie did not work, which wasn’t a surprise. Caroline and Aurelia had always been close, and Caroline was a most perceptive creature. Never the center of attention, she was rather good at noticing when others were in need of a shoulder to cry on; a task that used to fall on Aurelia when Caroline was having a bad day.

“That is good to hear,” she said, taking Aurelia’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “But you know that if anything is wrong, you can always talk to me. I am here for you.”

“I know, sister,” Aurelia assured her. “But as I said, nothing is wrong. Perhaps I am just a little distracted, what with my search for a husband.”

Caroline laughed. “Oh yes, a most tiresome affair, I am sure. I cannot imagine how it must be going – how mother is behaving, is my meaning.”

Aurelia snorted. “She is fine. Or rather, she is not as bad as she could be.”

Caroline squeezed her hand again. “If there is anything else...”

Aurelia very nearly broke down then and there. It had occurred to her already that there was no one whom she could talk to about her problems, as Rosalind was certainly not one who would wish to hear about Aurelia and the duke’s most secretive activities. Caroline was a safe ear to speak with, and she would understand better than most what Aurelia was going through.

Yet, she resisted that urge, not wanting to voice it for do to so would give it life. The duke was little more than a distraction right now, and not one worth voice or pondering on or pretending that it meant anything. Best to do what she could to ignore it entirely.

“I appreciate it,” she said. “But as I said, it is nothing worth worrying over.”

“Just making sure...” Another squeeze of her hand. “And I will be seeing you in two days, yes?”

Aurelia frowned. “Two days...?”

“The duke’s dinner party, of course.” She watched Aurelia closely for a reaction. “I assume you are going.”

“Oh...” Aurelia blinked. “I... I had forgotten.” And by forgotten she meant that she hadn’t known about it. With all that had been happening, she must have missed being told. Likely in her own head when her mother or Rosalind had brought it up. “Of course...” She smiled but it was awkward. “I will see you there.”

The duke was having a dinner party. That was... more exciting than it should be.

Aurelia found herself smiling as she made her way back to the carriage, if for no other reason than in two days time she would be seeing the duke once more. Still, she refused to admit why that excited her, determined to play her confused emotions off as little more than arduous curiosity. But deep down, she knew too that this was a lie she could only keep going for so long…