Page 35 of A Virgin for the Ton’s Wolf (Ton’s Wolves #4)
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
S carlett woke up to a delicious ache all over her body, but mostly between her legs. Heat crept up her cheeks when she recalled what transpired last night, how she begged Hudson to stay.
And how he did as she asked and more.
I am his wife now . In name and truth.
She rolled onto her side and found the space beside her empty and cold. Her eyebrows knitted together as she felt the distinct desolation of his absence.
Just one night and you cannot wake up without him .
She shook her head. “Mama will think me the neediest wife in all of existence and probably reproach me for it.”
For most of her childhood, she had heeded—or thought to heed—her mother’s instruction on the relations between men and women. It was only when she started having her monthly courses and saw the dynamics between her parents that she realized she wanted none of that—that she wanted it all or nothing.
She would not settle for the sham Society insisted was a ‘good and suitable match.’
She rang for her maid and was surprised yet again when a parade of servants came in bearing pitchers of hot water for her bath.
“His Grace’s instructions? Again?”
The maid nodded, although she seemed less enthusiastic this time. Scarlett paid her no heed, however, and sank into the bath with a soft sigh. The hot water proved wonderful in easing her aches and the soreness between her legs. She should thank Hudson later for his consideration.
I married a better husband than my father , she thought to herself happily.
Her fears had been unfounded, after all. She would not become like her mother—a spirited woman cowed by her husband.
Because Hudson was different.
Or so she thought.
By midday, she had yet to see neither hide nor hair of the man she had been smiling about the entire morning.
Scarlett applied herself most diligently to her tasks as the Lady of Wolverton Estate, but when she had to sit for tea with only Snowdrop at her feet, she was beginning to feel… forlorn .
She set her cup on the saucer with an irritated clink . “His Grace?” she asked the maid by her side.
The maid bowed and kept her head down. “He went into his study as soon as he arrived, Your Grace.”
Scarlett’s frown was as dark as the clouds roiling in her heart.
Oh, did he, now?
“Then I suppose I should just see him in his study,” she decided coolly.
The maid turned three shades paler. “His Grace said that he did not want to be disturbed.”
“Well, I am his Duchess—one he chose himself. He can afford the disruption in his well-ordered existence.”
Scarlett strode into the study, pausing only for a perfunctory knock before she pushed the door open and let herself inside.
“I thought I said that—” Hudson stopped mid-sentence when he saw her. “Scarlett.”
She hoped her saccharine smile was enough to convey her utmost displeasure at being left to her devices the whole day. When his expression remained aloof and neutral, the irritation she had been struggling to keep at bay the whole day erupted.
“You may be able to continue on with your life without needing the company of other human beings, but I am different,” she told him.
“I have never mistaken you for an average woman,” he admitted with a slight hint of a smile—one that almost shattered her resolve.
Scarlett stiffened as she looked him squarely in the eye. “I will be going out with a friend tomorrow.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Which friend, my dear?”
“Would it truly matter to you?” She smiled scathingly.
“Of course, it does.”
“You have given me a fine impression today of how much I matter to you,” she said sarcastically. “Far be it from me to impose myself upon you and your busy schedule, husband .”
The gloves were off now. She could not stand being treated so. Besides, she found it extremely worthwhile to see the slight surprise on his face, the slight tick in his jaw when she reminded him of who he was to her.
“You may keep to your business and other such demands on your time,” she informed him with a defiant tilt of her chin. “And I shall be enjoying the company of other people.”
And then she turned on her heel before he could say anything else.
For this round, she would claim victory.
The next day, she managed to convince Alice to spare some time away from her son to enjoy the fresh air at the Park. With Evie still in the early stages of pregnancy and Phoebe hard at work on her next book, she was fortunate enough to have the company of her dearest friend.
“You have that glow that tells me married life suits you better than what you feared, dearest.” Alice smiled at her knowingly.
“Oh.” Scarlett blushed. “On that accord, it is not that bad,” she muttered in frustration. “But he is the most baffling creature I have ever encountered. And they say that we women cannot make up our minds!”
Alice smothered her laughter behind a gloved hand. “I see. So, even the Wolf himself cannot escape the pitfalls of the first weeks of marriage.”
“I had thought that the honeymoon period would be the best days of a marriage.” Scarlett pouted. “If this is how it is, then it does not bode well for the rest of our time together, I’m afraid.”
“Oh, it will get better, I assure you.” Alice’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “Perhaps Wolverton just needs to… settle into his role a little bit better.”
Oh, he had settled in—and quite nicely at that. Scarlett could not help the heat pooling low in her belly whenever she thought of the one night they had been together. However, the day that followed stole the joy of it more keenly than she would have liked.
“Oh, wise Alice! Teach me your ways!” she begged her friend.
“You wretch! You must not act so childishly this time. We are married women now, and we must maintain our dignity.”
“What dignity are you ladies talking about on such a fine day?”
Scarlett whirled around to find her brother strolling towards her with a tight smile. Beside him, Lord Colton strode at a more sedate pace, but there was a slight furrow in his brow as well.
“None of your business,” she told her brother a little too waspishly.
She was still annoyed with him for the stunt he had pulled on the night of the opera.
“Well, I do have some business with you. Important business,” he told her solemnly. “I meant to catch you at Wolverton Estate, but you were not there when we arrived.”
“We?” She raised an eyebrow. “You mean you and Lord Colton?”
Her brother let out a huff of frustration. “Scarlett, be reasonable for once!” His jaw tightened. “I should never have allowed you to marry that man!”
“Allowed?” Scarlett laughed harshly. “That man? In case you have not noticed, dear brother, that man is the Duke of Wolverton.”
“And he is not the man you think he is!” Alexander burst out. “There are rumors, Scarlett?—”
She looked at him in disbelief. “You would harm his reputation based on rumors ?”
“We have proof that they are real.”
She had known Alexander since they were children. He meant well most of the time, but he was swayed so easily by his companions that he was forever getting into scrapes during his boyhood. She would have thought that he had grown out of his childhood naivete, but here he was now, accusing her husband based on some wild rumor that heaven only knew where he picked up.
“What is going on?” she demanded. “What rumor do you speak of?”
Her brother swallowed and looked at Lord Colton, who only nodded, his expression grave. He took a deep breath and looked her right in the eye.
“We have cause to believe that your husband has taken a life,” he told her.
So, they knew about those rumors, too. So be it. She would not let them speak ill of her husband.
She rolled her eyes at them both. “Well, of course, he did!”
Alexander’s eyes widened in surprise. “You knew about it?”
“Hudson was a soldier in the war , Alex. Of course, he would have killed someone. As morbid as it sounds, that is precisely what happens on the battlefield, or are you discrediting the valiant sacrifice our troops have made?”
Her brother paled. “I did not mean it like that!” he protested.
Scarlett suspected as much. But she was not about to reveal to them what her husband had entrusted her with. It was a fleeting moment, and he had spared her the details, but he had not hidden his truth from her.
“What your brother means to say is that your husband murdered someone outside of the battlefield,” the Marquess clarified. “A member of his family. That, my dear, is an entirely different thing than being a soldier in His Majesty’s service.”
A member of his family?
“Do not call me your dear,” Scarlett snapped.
“Scarlett, please,” her brother pleaded with her. “You cannot possibly go back to him. He is a violent man. He has killed someone merely because they crossed him.”
“Listen to your brother, Your Grace,” Lord Colton spoke softly. “We cannot let you risk your life with him. You can leave with Alexander, and he can file for an annulment.”
“An annulment?” Scarlett choked out. “Do you even realize what you are saying, Lord Colton?”
The Marquess straightened up. “Yes, I do. We know that you have yet to consummate your marriage—the maids talk about it. The whole of London knows about it.”
“Well, it is a great comfort to hear that the entire city is so invested in my marriage!”
“You can still return to London,” Lord Colton told her, his voice becoming infinitely gentle as if he was placating a child. “Given your… circumstances, I am sure the King will allow an annulment. We can get married, just as it was always meant to be.”
“Oh my God, I cannot believe I am hearing this,” Alice muttered, shaking her head in disgust.
Scarlett narrowed her eyes at the Marquess. “So, these are your true intentions. You go around in circles with your words, but it all comes down to this.” She laughed harshly at him. “You really should learn to take rejection more graciously, My Lord.”
He stiffened, his expression hardening at her words. “You?—”
She held up her hand to silence him. “I am the Duchess of Wolverton, wife to Hudson Barrow, sixth Duke of Wolverton, and I am not leaving my husband.”
She turned on her heel when she felt a hand clamp tightly around her wrist. She looked at the Marquess angrily.
“Unhand me at once, Lord Colton!”
“Not until I make you see reason?—”
The rest of his sentence was cut off when he was suddenly yanked away from her.
Rubbing her wrist, Scarlett looked up to find Hudson looking absolutely murderous. In his hand, he held Lord Colton’s wrist.
“I believe that my wife just told you to keep your hands away from her!” he snarled.
Hudson had never felt such rage in his entire life.
He had been walking in the Park with Colin to meet with their Duchesses. He had been intending to surprise Scarlett. Maybe apologize to her.
Instead, he came upon an altercation between his wife, her brother, and her brother’s best friend. When the man grabbed her wrist, Colin had to hold him back from killing the man on the spot.
For a man with barely the strength to truss a chicken, the Marquess only looked afraid for a brief moment, before he smiled slightly.
“Once she knows the truth about you, Your Grace, she will hate you, too, and then she will leave you.”
“Whether she leaves or not is my business and hers,” Hudson snarled. “And if you are so confident in your knowledge of what I am capable of, then maybe you should be more careful of how you speak to me and my wife.”
Lord Colton, the slimy bastard, narrowed his eyes at him. “Is that a threat, Your Grace?”
Hudson bared his teeth in a feral smile, finding great pleasure in the fear he saw in the Marquess’s cold gaze. “Only if you plan on doing something foolish.”
“Scarlett!” he heard his brother-in-law call out, his eyes wide in horror.
“Scarlett is right here, and she is done with this conversation,” Scarlett snapped irritably. She turned towards Hudson, her gaze soft. Gently, she tapped his arm to get his attention. “Let us go home, husband.”
That tender look, along with her soothing touch, was enough to make him relinquish his hold on the scoundrel who dared to lay his hands on her.
“Yes, my dear. We should go back home.”
Just one look and he would follow her to the ends of the world if she so commanded him.
If there was anyone that his simpleton of a brother-in-law and his best friend should fear, it should be Scarlett.
Hudson might be the feared Wolf, but she was the one who held his leash.