Page 1 of Bound to the Heartless Duke (Regency Beasts #4)
“ H ow could you, Nathan?” Lily cried, her voice shaking with both rage and fear.
The debt collectors did not seem bothered about the tension in the room and just went about doing their work, taking paintings off the wall and moving both small and big sculptures.
“You told me you would take care of it. You promised me! You said we would be fine.”
Nathan, her brother and the Earl of Medlin, looked around the room, trying to avoid her accusatory gaze. “I did everything I could, really. I tried. I swear it,” he said.
“This is everything you could have done?” she scoffed. “Because it seems to me that you have only made things worse. We are slowly losing everything we have! What are we to do?”
“I will fix it, I promise.”
“Fix it? You had your chance to fix this, but what have you done with it? Why are these people in our house, taking away everything valuable we own?”
She noticed one of the debt collectors glance across the hall, but took no heed of him.
She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling dizzy, while Nathan’s voice droned on in the background. When she opened them, she fixed them on the strangers emptying the main hall. She could feel her legs turning to jelly at the mere sight.
What have we done to deserve this?
But she could not find an answer to that question.
She had done everything she could to save money, but to no avail. She had dismissed every servant, except one, and even had to do some of the chores just to keep the manor clean and presentable, and the gardening just to keep them all fed.
But what had Nathan done ever since he became the Earl of Medlin?
Nothing but flaunting his title around and squandering the family fortune on gambling and alcohol, drowning them in more debt with his recklessness.
A shaky breath escaped Lily’s lips, and she clenched her fists in an attempt to keep her composure. Just thinking about what he had done made her want to break something.
She glanced at her brother, who seemed to be quite fidgety. But she didn’t ask. Whatever he had to say would only make the situation worse.
That was all he had done ever since he returned home from his Grand Tour and assumed his duties.
“Do you even know how hard I have worked to prevent this from happening, Nathan?” Lily hissed.
Her brother gulped.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Her face contorted into a scowl. “You’re sorry?
Did you just say you’re sorry?” She bit her lip for a second.
“Do you know what I have done just to hide from the world the fact that we are in debt? Do you even know everything I have done for this family while you prance around town, flaunting your title? I did not marry just to watch over you—because I knew this would happen!”
Nathan’s lips quivered. “I will fix it. It might take some time, but I-I will find a way and fix it. I swear.”
Oh, not this nonsense again.
She turned away from him and sighed heavily.
The debt collectors finally stepped out of the manor, leaving the main hall bare and desolate. The clatter of wheels announced their departure, and she couldn’t be more grateful for it.
The only paintings left on the walls were those of her family. Every other painting her parents had acquired in their lifetime was now gone. They took most of the furniture too, and all the easily movable sculptures.
Lily sighed once again and looked down at her hands, clasping one in the other to rub the chill from it.
Earlier, she had rushed out in a frenzy when Summer came to inform her that there were strangers in the main hall, and had found Nathan at the bottom of the staircase, shaking like a leaf, trying to talk to her.
She had sensed something was wrong then. But now, looking back on what had happened, she should have overreacted a little more, given the mess they were in. She had been much too calm.
If they could lose that many items in just one day, what more would the debt collectors remove until they paid off the debt? And how long would they keep this up?
“Lady Lily?” a soft voice called, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She turned to see Summer walking towards her, probably from the kitchen.
She cleared her throat. “What is it?”
Summer gave Nathan a look as she drew closer, before cupping a hand over her mouth and leaning into Lily’s ear. “Something doesn’t add up in the household accounts. Your Ladyship might need to take a look at it.”
Lily swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded. “Alright, I shall see to it right away,” she said and turned to leave.
“Lily,” Nathan called, as though suspecting what Summer had just told her. “There is something I have to tell you. I-I think you should know. You have to.”
His voice was shaking, so Lily could tell immediately that it was serious.
Her heart thudded heavily as she wondered what more trouble he had gotten them in.
She turned back to look at him, a frown creasing her face.
“What is it about?” she asked coolly.
His eyes darted around. “You should sit down first.”
He stepped closer to take her hand, but she pulled it out of his reach.
“Nathan, whatever it is you have to say, do it quickly so I may return to my chores.” Her patience was already wearing thin.
“You might… You might need to sit down to hear it. Please.”
She let him guide her to the only sofa left in the main hall and sat down calmly, telling herself that things could not possibly get much worse than they already were.
Oh my, what has he done now?
“Now, what is it you have to say?”
He sat beside her gingerly and laced his fingers in his lap, presumably to steady himself, just as he had always done when he was nervous.
“Uh… Well, last night I received a missive from the debt collectors, and I found out that Father had left behind a substantial debt after he died. And… it is now my responsibility to repay it, or else the debt collectors would confiscate more valuables. And charge more interest!”
Ah, so that’s how it is.
“So what did you do?”
He ignored her question and continued, “Well, Father owed a lot of money to quite a number of people, and… I… I mean, we have to pay it back, or we could lose everything we have.”
“What did you do, Nathan?” Now, the last shred of her patience had snapped.
“The debt came with the title, so whoever became the Earl after him would have to pay it back. And that’s me. I became the Earl, so now it’s my debt, but I found out about it only yesternight. They were going to come this morning. There was nothing else I could have done, I swear.”
“What. Did. You. Do?” Lily asked again, trying hard to keep her voice even.
“I tried… I tried to get the money last night.” He took a deep, shaky breath, but she was already trying to decipher the hidden message in his words.
“You tried to get the money last night?” she echoed.
He nodded quickly. “I did. I decided to gamble with the money I had on me, hoping to double it several times. I thought I would be able to make enough money to keep the debt collectors away for today, at least, but…” He drew in another breath. “I lost everything on me.”
Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes and walk away, because that was not the first time Nathan had lost money to gambling.
“And what happened?”
He glanced at her. “I panicked and… I bet the house.”
She frowned, refusing to believe what she’d just heard. “You did what?”
“Bet the house. We could bet other things if we were out of money, so I bet the house. It was the only thing I could think of at that moment. They were going all in, and I had to use the chance. So I mentioned the house.”
Lily swallowed thickly and blinked twice in disbelief. “What house, Nathan? This house?”
Nathan lowered his head and nodded..
Instantly, her heart sank into her stomach, and she sat frozen for a moment. She blinked again, her eyebrows rising almost to her hairline.
“You were saying? You did what?”
It was hard not to descend into panic right then and there, as all she could think of was the possibility of them losing the manor. Their shelter.
“I bet the houseand lost it. I thought if I won, I would be able to pay most of the debt, if not all, and…” He shook his head. “But I lost it. We all did, actually, except one gentleman.”
Lily had stopped listening as his words sank in.
She bolted from the sofa, the abrupt move surprising her brother, and began to pace the hall.
So, he lost the house. Good gracious!
At least he didn’t bet Medlin Estate in the country just to lose it, just like he lost the manor.
Besides, it was not like the estate was worth much anyway; it was almost in ruins.
The last two Earls of Medlin, before her father, had all but neglected their duties and had barely used it.
But her reckless brother had easily lost their home in a stupid bet.
He had never been good at gambling, and he had never been smart enough to know how bad he was at it, but he was reckless enough to take big, uncalculated risks while doing it. And now, because of him, they had just lost their townhouse.
Who knew what would happen if they were unable to repay the debt?
What if the debt collectors realized they were incapable of paying off the debt and returned to collect interest?
Lily heaved a sigh, feeling the beginnings of a headache.
Maybe she could strike a deal with whoever Nathan lost the manor to and at least try to save it—and their dignity.
Or, if the person was reasonable, she could try to explain Nathan’s carelessness and get the house back.
“Who?” she asked, turning back to look at her brother.
“What?” he sputtered, looking perplexed.
“To whom did you lose the house, Nathan?” she inquired. “Answer me.”
“Well, uh… it’s the Duke.”
A duke? It should not be that bad.
“Which duke?”
“I swear, I did not know it was him at first. I swear it. I didn’t even know he gambled. I would not have gone along with it if I had known it was him.”
“Which duke, Nathan?” she asked in a shockingly calm voice.