Page 19 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity (Ton’s Beasts #2)
Leo submerged himself in the water, his eyes closed as he tried to concentrate. Margaret had a way about her that made him feel the kind of things he thought would be gone forever. He was the one who could orchestrate a… book club, but it was not for him to partake in it.
He thought about the look on her face as she claimed not to be frightened of him. The way her eyes had darkened at the implication that he was a beast, even though they both knew it to be true.
But mostly, he thought of the way she leaned into him when he whispered against her lips. She might have been about to take her vows, but he could not put his finger on why.
What was it that had sent her to the convent?
Not that it should matter to him. She was almost a nun, and he was one of the ton’s Beasts. He might have been the duke who could have any woman he desired, but he had decided he would not take a wife.
He would not subject any woman to that fate.
His cock had other ideas, judging from the way it responded to the memory of kissing her in his carriage. A groan escaped his lips as he thought about the slickness that had told him how badly she craved his touch. What he wouldn’t do to do that to her again—and then some.
Leo shook his head, trying to knock the thought loose. Thinking of her that way was useless because she would take her vows in a matter of days. She was not his, even as much as he was pretending that she was.
Still, she said some things that had stuck with him.
Maybe she could not see a future with him, but she did get on with the girls. Without knowing where or how she grew up, it was obvious that she understood Annie and Kitty innately.
How did she know that he did not speak to them freely?
How did she know that they craved his attention?
Leo sighed and heaved himself out of the bath, reaching for the towel beside the tub. The water was already cool, and there were other things that he needed to do to assuage his guilt over snapping at the girls.
Quickly, he dressed in his usual dark clothes. If he did not do this right now, he might not have the nerve to do it tomorrow or the next day. With Margaret here at Devishire Mansion to help him talk to Annie and Kitty, he could try to turn over a new leaf.
He ran a hand through his damp hair and glanced at his reflection in the mirror on the table. A scar peeked out from under his sleeve, and he tugged the fabric back down.
It would not do for the girls to see firsthand what a monster he was. Not when he was making a huge effort to show them that he cared.
When he went downstairs, he found Joan pacing around the hall.
“The girls are not up and ready yet, Your Grace,” she said with a frown. “I will attend to them shortly. It is just that I had to—”
“I will tend to the girls this morning,” he said confidently.
Joan eyed him with surprise, her eyes round and her cheeks bright pink. If he could manage to surprise the governess, maybe he could surprise Margaret as well.
Leo walked down the hall to the girls’ rooms, taking his time to think about what he would say to them when he arrived. When he got to the door, he realized he did not know how to start a conversation. They were still in bed, asleep.
How should he wake them up without frightening them?
Instead of entering their rooms, he stood in the doorway and cleared his throat. The first time, it did not elicit a response, so he tried again, louder. This time, the girls stirred beneath the covers.
Encouraged, he tried again, and Annie poked her head out from under the duvet. She nudged Kitty, and then he was faced with both girls. All alone with them for the first time when they were not in trouble, he had a difficult time starting a conversation.
“Our guests are going to Hyde Park with me today,” he announced.
“Margaret asked us not to hide from you today,” Kitty said sadly.
Both girls watched him as he tried to find the words that would make up for his shortness with them the night before.
“Actually, I came to tell you that you may join us if you like,” he said, embarrassed.
He pictured the flush that so often crept into Margaret’s cheeks and wondered if his looked the same.
“And Margaret will be there?” Kitty asked, her eyes brightening.
“Yes, Margaret will be there with the Duke of Blackwell and his wife. But you must promise to behave yourselves at the park.”
Annie and Kitty exchanged a look he wished he could decipher. He did not know whether they were plotting something that would cause him to raise his voice at them again or if they were merely excited to see their new friend.
“Would you like to accompany us?” he asked confidently this time.
He was unsure how to interact with the girls, but he knew that he would never improve without practice.
The girls nodded and jumped out of bed to get ready. They threw open the doors of their wardrobe and began pulling out dresses. Joan could have a leisurely morning. There was no doubt that the girls would get ready on their own, as excited as they seemed about a trip to the park.
“Very well,” Leo said, turning on his heel. “We will be in the drawing room when you are ready.”
When he stepped out, he spotted Margaret at the far end of the corridor. She must have heard the entire exchange.
He flushed at the fact that he had had an audience for his first attempt at connecting with Annie and Kitty. But she merely nodded at him with a small smile.
It made his heart soar that he had managed to do this one thing right. The only benefit was that Margaret had noticed his effort and seemed to think that he had done something right.
She turned around and walked away, allowing him to bask in his small victory.
When Margaret arrived at Hyde Park, she realized anew just how wonderful the ton could be when she was not afraid of running into her grandfather. Something about being with Leo gave her the confidence to venture out into the city and make the most of her last few days of freedom.
The girls were in high spirits as they tumbled from the carriage and out into the park. Joan walked slowly after them as she tried to corral them into acting like the young ladies they were.
“Annie, watch where you are going,” she chided as the girls almost ran into a man enjoying a walk through the park. She nodded to the man and mumbled an apology on Annie’s behalf.
“The girls are excited to be here,” Margaret said to Leo with a smile. “It was good of you to invite them along.”
“I hope they will remember to be ladies.”
Margaret could see the lines etched on his brow, a telltale sign that he was regretting his decision to bring the girls along on such an outing.
“The ton will excuse their folly,” Theresa said gently. “They are a duke’s nieces, after all.”
“They are a duke’s nieces, so they should act like it. Their father would never have allowed them to run wild as they do,” Leo said sternly.
Margaret wished to reach out and smooth the lines on his face. She wanted to press her fingers to his lips and tell him to be silent, to stop worrying about what others would think of the girls.
But it would be improper for her to touch him that way. Instead, she placed her hand on his arm so that she could step down from the carriage. He kept his arm bent so that she could take it as they walked into the park.
“Look at them,” she said quietly, nodding her head toward the girls and their governess. “When is the last time you saw them so happy?”
“When they are being mischievous. When they are hiding. When they are doing everything they can to avoid a beast like me,” Leo answered.
“You do not give them enough credit. Think of everything they have lost, and the adjustment it must be to live without their parents.”
The thought of the girls losing their parents reminded her of her mother and father, two people whom she might never see again.
“I know they have suffered loss, but it has not been easy for me either. I had not spent much time with them before I went to war. Not until I came to the mansion to care for them.” Leo sighed deeply.
Annie and Kitty were chasing after the ducklings near the water. He watched them studiously, even as Margaret watched him. He picked up the pace, trying to draw nearer to the girls. Margaret dropped her hand from his arm to free his movement.
Joan called after the girls, but they did not turn around. She made her way slowly among the puddles, trying to get closer to them. If it were not for Leo being there, Margaret thought that Joan would never be able to keep up with them.
Perhaps it was time to hire a new governess. Someone who could locate them when they hid, or perhaps someone who would not let them out of her sight long enough to hide.
She smiled as the girls raced around the park. Annie circled back toward the four adults with a beatific smile on her face. If this were all that they did today, Margaret would be happy knowing that she had persuaded Leo to give the girls a chance.
“Margaret, have you seen the ducklings?” Annie called to her as she pointed toward the fluffy birds waddling toward the pond.
Margaret did not get a chance to answer because Kitty came running behind her sister. Kitty looked over her shoulder to see whether Joan was following her, taking her eyes off the puddles she ran through. When her feet hit the water, she slipped and landed on her bum.
Her little eyes went wide as they darted to Leo. Margaret looked at him as well, noticing how his jaw clenched. He opened his mouth, presumably to chastise the girls for their behavior and for the accident, but Margaret beat him to it.
She ran to Kitty, who rose to her feet, her dress dripping with muddy water. Kitty had tears in her eyes that were about to fall when Margaret laughed gently.
“Dear Kitty, did you forget to look where you were going?”
“I did not mean to slip in the water,” Kitty said, looking down. Her tears abated as she rubbed her eyes with a damp hand, smearing more dirt on her cheek. “It was an accident—”