Page 29 of A Virgin for the Duke of Scars (Ton’s Beasts #1)

“ A m I not going to ride to the party with you?” Theresa asked as they stepped out of the manor and headed to the stables.

She had looked forward to her ride all day, assuming that Aaron would still accompany her.

“You saw the reaction of the ton when you arrived at the garden party on horseback. Would you rather face their criticism again?”

“As you wish, husband,” she said quietly.

She bowed her head and followed Juliette in the opposite direction toward the carriage. She bit back the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes.

She had not thought she would face so much rejection from Aaron, not when he had been so understanding and thoughtful from the moment she became his wife.

“It would not do for you to arrive on horseback,” the Dowager Duchess said. Theresa hoped the woman had not noticed her disappointment at the way her husband acted. “Perhaps when you have been here longer.”

“I know you are right,” Theresa sighed. “But there is freedom in riding on horseback that a carriage ride can never offer.”

The Dowager Duchess and Juliette were quick to share the sordid affairs of the people who would be in attendance. She knew who was looking for a wife, who would show up already foxed. Theresa did her best to tune in, to try to memorize the names of people she had met and would meet that night.

Like her husband, she could not muster enthusiasm for the people and their vices. Perhaps they were well matched after all, even if they were never to be intimate.

When they pulled up to the house party, a footman helped her out of the carriage. She looked toward the stables, where she knew Aaron was already waiting. It was so much faster to travel by horse than by carriage.

If he had gone to the party without her, what would she do?

Juliette nudged her and nodded her head to the left, where Aaron was waiting at the door for her. “My brother would not have abandoned you at this party, Theresa.”

“I did not think he would,” Theresa lied.

Juliette smiled at her and disappeared into the crowd as Theresa turned to face her husband. He offered her his arm, which she gratefully took.

This was what was expected of them.

“You look rather handsome tonight, dear husband,” she said, in an attempt to break the tension between them.

He looked her up and down, his eyes pausing on her breasts. “You look mesmerizing, as always.”

Despite the compliment, things still felt forced between them.

It did not last long, as they were soon swarmed by Aaron’s friends, all requiring his attention.

The Duke of Hiverville was there. Morgan, she reminded herself. She did not always have to refer to him as the Duke.

“You look stunning in that gown, Your Grace,” Morgan said with a glance over his shoulder at the people who milled about looking for an entry point to the conversation.

“But I see you have many admirers this evening. I hope to dance with you later tonight, Duchess,” he said with a smirk in Aaron’s direction.

“My wife will be otherwise occupied tonight, I’m afraid,” Aaron interjected curtly. “I have promised her every dance this evening.”

“I look forward to witnessing that.” Morgan let out a laugh. Theresa did not understand. He must have seen the confusion on her face because he added, “I have never known your husband to dance.”

“He is a better dancer than I,” she said with a polite smile.

Here was another thing she was told that Aaron did not do. He did not trust easily, he did not dance, and he did not take off his mask.

She had already gotten him to cave to the first two. What would it take to make the third one an inevitability?

As Morgan retreated, she noticed the Duke of Devishire and the Duke of Ireton approach. None of them addressed her, though they all looked her up and down, appraising her.

When the third duke came around and did not engage her in conversation, she decided she could take no more of this farce. She felt the urge to get lost in the crowd, somewhere that no one would know who she was.

She longed for anonymity.

“Excuse me, husband. I am feeling quite parched. I am going to visit the refreshments table.”

She hurried off before Aaron could protest. Still, she felt his eyes follow her until she got to the table.

The footman there quickly poured her a glass of punch. She had never tried the drink before, and she was pleasantly surprised by how sweet it tasted on her tongue. If she could spend all night here at the refreshments table, she would be happy.

She knew the Dowager Duchess and Lady Sophia would wish to see her engage with the crowd, though. They would want to see her dance, as was befitting of a lady of her station.

She stood near the table and observed the crowd.

Names fluttered to the front of her mind with each new face that whirled past her.

For those she was unable to name, she tried to commit their faces to memory that she might ask Juliette later.

Who would she need to curtsy to? Who would curtsy to her?

She was so lost in her thoughts about what would be appropriate in each interaction that she missed Lady Isabella’s approach. By the time she looked to her left, Lady Isabella had already pinned her with a stare and was making straight for her with a glass of punch.

“Your Grace,” Lady Isabella greeted with a brief curtsy and a smile.

Theresa noted that it was like Juliette’s curtsy. It was shallow and short, a curtsy done only halfway. Theresa longed to show her what a real curtsy to someone of a higher station should look like, now that she had mastered it with Lady Sophia and the Dowager Duchess.

Lady Isabella looked at her with a smirk on her face, a half-smile that did not touch her blue eyes.

“Lady Isabella,” she returned stiffly. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening?”

“I just came to ask for your permission this evening. I hope you would not mind if I danced with the Duke at least once tonight. I do love dancing.”

Theresa bit her tongue and tried to remember that her actions and words reflected on the Dowager Duchess. She knew Aaron could not care less about what she said and did at this house party.

“I doubt my husband would want to dance with anyone else,” she said, trying to keep her tone light.

But Lady Isabella was insistent. “Oh, but I am not just anybody. He did tell you about our betrothal, didn’t he?”

She had the sweetest smile on her face.

This was something she had never experienced in the convent. She was told to speak only in kindness or not at all. Like Lady Isabella, the people of the ton smiled at her at this party, while she felt certain they were already spreading gossip of the Duke’s bride talking with his former betrothed.

Let them talk .

“Only that your betrothal meant nothing to him,” she offered.

Lady Isabella tossed back her head. Her blonde hair fell down her back like a waterfall, and her sparkling laughter filled the air.

“Why, of course he did! He could not tell you how much I broke his heart when I broke off our engagement. I was young and simply traumatized by his appearance.” She paused and looked Theresa up and down, the disdain in her eyes plain. “I was harsh, but I was still a better match than a nun.”

“There are many things that can be learned from an almost nun,” Theresa corrected her.

She plastered a smile on her face. If this was how ladies of the ton acted, then she would do the same.

“For example, you may consider talking to God more.”

“Whatever would I need to pray for?”

“Because I may not be able to forgive you for your words, but it is possible that God might.”

Aaron stepped up to her as she said those last words. He gave her a look that she could not decipher before turning his gaze to Lady Isabella.

Theresa did not have to look hard to see the resentment in his eyes, but she was unsure whether it was directed at her or Lady Isabella.

“You will leave my wife,” he said curtly.

Lady Isabella scoffed and gave him the same sweeping look. The difference was that she did not feel inclined to stay when Aaron commanded her to leave.

Theresa hoped that one day she would be able to command this much power.

Still, she was angry with her husband for not telling her the truth about his betrothal. Lady Isabella had broken it off?

That was not the impression Theresa had gotten in the gazebo at the last garden party. She had assumed that it was a mutual decision, or that Aaron had initiated it if he had no true feelings for Lady Isabella.

How is it possible that Lady Isabella ended the betrothal, and he was now here with her ?

He had to be in love with Lady Isabella still. It was the only reasonable explanation Theresa could come up with for why he refused to be more intimate with her and tell her the truth about his engagement.

Aaron turned to her and opened his mouth to speak when Lady Sophia stepped onto the dais and called for attention.

“It is time for the treasure hunt!” She announced.

An excited murmur swept through the crowd.

Theresa had not known there would be games to play at this party. She had thought she would socialize a bit with Aaron’s friends and dance with him the rest of the time. She had been looking forward to indulging in the punch.

The guests began to pair up. Not knowing anyone else, she had no choice but to accept Aaron’s arm when he offered it.

“It would be my pleasure to partner with you,” he said.

She forced a smile on her face.

“Bitterness is not becoming,” Sister Edith’s voice whispered in her mind.

Lady Sophia shared the first clue, though Theresa barely registered it. Aaron pulled her toward the opposite side of the ballroom, and she simply followed. At another party on another night, she might have had fun with this game.

She noticed that the other guests were scattering in all directions, though. Some went out to the gardens, while others went to the back of the house.

“We will go to the library to search, dear wife,” Aaron said when she pointed out that everyone else seemed to have a different idea.

“I will take your word for it,” she replied.

When they entered the library, Aaron shut and locked the door behind them. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to face him, just as he had the night at the garden party when she refused to look him in the eye after meeting Lady Isabella.

Theresa could not help but notice the similarities between that night and this one. Lady Isabella was the reason their marriage fractured before it truly began.

“Tell me what happened,” Aaron demanded, as he so often did.

He thinks he can command me like a servant .

“I will tell you, dear husband, but you will not like what I have to say. You lied to me at the garden party when you did not admit that you were still in love with Lady Isabella.”

Aaron recoiled from her as if she had struck him.

“Why would you say something like that?”

“It was obvious to everyone except me, I believe. Though I must admit, I do not know what you see in her. You could do with someone… kinder.”

“You do not know what you are talking about.”

“No?” Theresa raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

Aaron looked at her with surprising tenderness. He reached up to brush his fingertips over her cheek, but she swatted his hand down and took a step back from him.

“Theresa, my dear,” he said, his voice dangerously low. “Do you think that what we have shared is not real? For God’s sake?—”

“Do not use the name of the Lord in vain,” Theresa said instinctively.

Aaron continued as if she had not interrupted him. “I asked you just a few nights ago if you trusted me, and you replied that you did not know me well enough. Is it possible that you do not know me well enough to know who I choose to care for?”

Theresa bit her lip, mulling over his words.

He had a valid point. If she did not know him well enough to trust him, perhaps she did not know him well enough to know when he was in love.

Juliette seemed to think that his affections lay with her. She had said as much when Theresa skipped dinner in an attempt to avoid him. But was it true, or was it only what Juliette wished to see in her brother?

Theresa wished she had someone to confide in. She wished she could speak to Margaret about what was going on, even if Margaret would not understand.

Who else would ever understand what Theresa had been through?

“I do not profess to know who you love,” she said. “I state only the facts. It seems like Lady Isabella has changed her mind about your betrothal. She asked if you would dance with her this evening.”

“I would rather dance with the devil,” Aaron scoffed.

She tilted her head up and met his gaze.

He reached for her, but as soon as he was within arm’s length, she pushed him away. She did not want to be intimate with a man who wanted to be with someone else.

“I am offering you a way out of our marriage,” Theresa said with more confidence than she felt. “Given that we are not yet married in the true sense of the word, you can annul our marriage and marry Lady Isabella.”

Her voice wavered on the last word. Tears burned at the back of her eyes, so she averted her gaze lest he see them fall. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset if he were to choose to send her away.

She would go with her pride intact.

Despite her bravado, she knew that she would miss Aaron if he took her up on her offer.

She would miss not just Aaron, but also her new life. Juliette, the Dowager Duchess, and her kitten. All of it would be gone in the blink of an eye.

“At least she knows how to curtsy, I’ll give her that,” she muttered, looking away from his intense stare.