Page 24 of Her Wolf of a Duke (Dukes & Beasts #1)
CHAPTER 24
W hen the three of them arrived at Balfour Manor, Emma was completely beside herself with anticipation.
She wanted to see her sister, and at last find out what she wanted to discuss, but also she could see her friends, as they would be in attendance too. She found Sarah in an instant. However, she did not like what she saw, and she approached quickly. She was speaking with the Viscount, fury in her eyes. The Viscount, meanwhile, was in utter shock, and Emma raced to find out who it was about.
“My answer is no, my lord,” Sarah said bluntly, turning from the Viscount.
“But I do not answer to you. I answer to your father, and he insists. You would be wise to follow suit and listen to him.”
“I will keep that in mind, I assure you, but for now my answer is unchanged.”
He seemed to accept that, thundering away from her. Emma reached her and took her arm, taking her away.
“What was that?” she asked, and Sarah sighed.
“He seems to think that I want to dance with him, even though I have not given even the faintest suggestion that I ever would. Father’s doing, I imagine. Thank goodness you came, so I have some protection.”
“Indeed. Did Father not mention anything about it?”
“No, he didn’t say a word. I did not even know that the Viscount remained interested after what happened. I thought that I was free from it, and that I could continue my courtship with Lord Rosendale without issue.”
“You will, I will make sure of that. Have you seen him thus far?”
Sarah shook her head, glancing around the room.
“I do not believe he has arrived yet, but he should be here soon. He told me that he was invited.”
“Then stay with me for a while. Nobody will accost you when you are in the presence of a duchess.”
Sarah gave her a smile, and the two of them left to find the others. This was easy to achieve, as a gentleman had made the fatal error of asking Cecilia to dance with him. Emm knew this, even though she had not witnessed him asking, as Cecilia was speaking to him with her chin lifted and eyes flashing, he was positively scarlet, and Dorothy and Beatrice were trying not to laugh.
“At last,” Sarah whispered, “some real entertainment!”
They made their way to them just as Cecilia had truly begun to take control. Emma almost pitied the young man. Had no one warned him about Cecelia?
“Am I dressed like a prize pig?” Cecilia asked. “Am I wearing a large sign that says ‘tell me to dance with you, for asking is too kind’? If I wanted to spend time with a demanding gentleman, I would have decided to work for one. At least then, I may find some financial gain in it. I shall not gain much from dancing with you, will I? After all, you are not particularly skilled in conversation, or dancing from what I know, and you cannot tell me a single reason why I should go with you beyond the fact that you are a man and you have told me to. Frankly, you will have to find a better reason than that.”
The gentleman was clearly frustrated with the exchange, his face contorted into a scowl and his hands balled into fists, and he stormed away without another word. Cecilia rolled her eyes at him, at last noticing Emma and Sarah and smiling, waving them over.
“Can you believe it?” she asked, incredulously. “I was simply standing with Dorothy and Beatrice, and then this gentleman appeared from nowhere and insisted that I dance with him. He did not even ask me, he instructed me to join him.”
“A terrible mistake on his part,” Emma grinned. “And not one he will soon repeat.”
“I do hope not, for the sake of the other poor ladies he may come across.”
Emma wondered if he was simply too young to know any better. He had, after all, seemed very young to her, hardly a man at all. She would have told her friend as much, and that perhaps next time it might be better for her to lead with kindness, but it would not have gotten her anywhere. Besides, she thought, it was a rude awakening for the young man, but it might prove effective in time, which was better than him believing that he could do anything he wanted.
“Where is the Duke?” Dorothy asked. “He did accompany you here tonight, did he not?”
‘He did, indeed. We are here with his mother, and so I assume that he is with her.”
“Oh! I did not know that his mother was still alive.”
“Nor did I,” Beatrice nodded carefully. “I wondered if she had passed away, but it would have been made known to the ton if that were the case.”
“In any case,” Cecilia said, “it is nice that he is trying. We all know that she was not the best mother, and he did not have to show her any kindness in response.”
Emma nodded, not wanting to think about what Levi had been through when he was a boy. Suddenly, she saw him nearby, his mother nowhere to be found. What was around him, however, was a group of young ladies that had flocked to him like birds. Emma’s brow furrowed as she looked at them all, wondering why Levi did not simply tell them to leave him be rather than letting it continue, smiling at them as though he were enjoying it.
He likely was, she thought, which only made it worse.
“Emma?” Sarah asked. “What is it?”
“It is nothing, Sister. I simply need to speak with my husband for a moment. I shall not be long.”
As she took a step away, however, Sarah took her arm. Emma turned to look at her, and saw that she was pleading with her.
Looking behind Sarah, she saw the Viscount approaching, as though he had been waiting for her to be left alone so that he could approach her again. Emma steeled her gaze, but he continued coming toward them.
“At last,” he said brightly, “I have found someone capable of using sense. Your Grace, I would like to dance with your sister.”
“Very well, you may ask my sister.”
“But she–”
“Does not want to dance with you. Is that what you were going to say?”
“She hasn’t said that to me, no.”
“Liar,” Sarah hissed, but Emma nudged her gently.
“Then you may ask her now. I do not speak for her.”
“Then where is your father?”
“He prefers not to attend events such as this one. I am my sister’s chaperone for this evening, and so you must either ask for my permission or that of my sister. The choice is yours.”
“Then I shall ask for yours, Your Grace. Given how your marriage came to be, you understand far better than your sister what it means to do what is necessary.”
She raised an eyebrow, knowing that an easy escape had been found.
“Are you making suggestions that my marriage is illegitimate?” she asked, enjoying the look of panic on his face.
“No, of course not. I am only saying that you know that marriage can help your reputation when needed.”
“And whose reputation requires aid? It certainly would not be that of Miss Kendall, whose sister is a duchess,” she answered, meeting his eyes evenly to prove her point. “Not only that, but given that she already has a suitor that is showing interest in her—one that is of similar age to her at that—I do not believe there is any need for you to dance with her for her sake. Your help is therefore not necessary, my lord, but I thank you for your efforts.”
“But, Your Grace–’
“Must I have my husband come here and tell you all of this himself, or will you take a woman’s word?”
He was quiet for a moment, clearly trying not to show his anger. Emma kept her gaze cold and unbending, refusing to let the man think that he could treat herself and her sister however he pleased. She hoped, however, that he would at last accept her refusal and leave, for if she had to bring Levi she would have to confront him for being so close to so many women, and she did not want to do that then and there.
Thankfully, he nodded to her and walked away, bowing to Sarah as he went. Sarah, meanwhile, beamed.
“Sometimes,” she said brightly, “I wish that you were my father instead of my sister. I might have better fortunes if you were.”
“You are fortunate as it is. You have Lord Rosendale, after all, even if he is not yet here.”
But Emma saw the look of uncertainty in her sister’s face, as though she knew something was amiss.
“He said that he would be here,” she said quietly.
Emma tried to comfort her sister, but she too noted the strange absence of the Baron. He had come to see Sarah even in the midst of scandal, so he clearly did not care much as to what was happening in that respect. It was odd that he was not present, but there could have been any number of perfectly reasonable explanations. He could have been unwell, perhaps, or had an emergency to tend to on his estate. He would not have changed his mind and not attended the ball to see Sarah, Emma knew that much.
As she explained all of this, however, they both paused as they noticed a gentleman approaching Dorothy. He was a rather plain looking man, but she seemed pleased enough when he asked her to dance with him. He led her away to the dancefloor, and the others looked on in amazement.
“Well,” Emm laughed, “at least one of us is interested in dancing tonight!”
“I would dance too, if I was asked,” Beatrice protested. “You must not consider me a spinster yet!”
They all laughed, but then Emma saw Levi again, surrounded by a new group of ladies. They were practically crawling all over him, and she hated it. It was not jealousy, she told herself, for she did not love Levi, but she certainly felt territorial. He was her husband, a known rake, yet after a mere week of their marriage he was openly flirting with other ladies. It made her look like a fool for marrying him, and it made her feel unwell. Eventually, her friends noticed too, and Emma saw Cecilia’s hands clench into fists.
“Shall I say something?” Cecilia offered. “I refuse to let him disrespect you like this.”
“There is no need,” Emma replied gently. “Besides, he is already making a mockery of my marriage. If you start, you shall not stop, and then it will eventually make a mockery of me, too. He is a duke, and so ladies will flock to him. It is to be expected.”
Cecilia did not seem convinced, but she did not press the matter. They returned to watching Dorothy, who did not seem to be instantly in love with the man but she seemed to enjoy the dance well enough. Emma wished that she had been able to enjoy her time out in society, not that she regretted caring for her sister’s debut the way she had. Besides, she reminded herself, she had been afforded the life of a duchess, and all of the security that brought. She had to be grateful for that, rather than missing what she did not have.
That did not mean, however, that she would accept her husband’s behavior.
After the ball, they returned to their carriages. Sarah had survived the evening unscathed, her toes not stepped on from having to dance with a man that could not, and Dorothy was pleased with herself for being asked to dance. Levi’s mother also appeared to be in high spirits, smiling brightly in the carriage as if she had been swept off her feet herself.
“That was marvelous,” she breathed. “I had not realized how much I had missed attending societal events until I stepped into one. There were so many people, and gossip to listen to, and stories to hear. I have… I have missed so much.”
Even Levi looked at her with pity when she said that.
“Then you may join us more often,” Emma promised. “We would love for you to.”
Levi did not seem so convinced, but she did not care in that moment what he thought was a good idea, not when she had seen what he had deemed appropriate behavior.
She did not say a word to him, of course, until his mother was out of sight and in her room.
“Might you be discreet in future?” she asked, and he looked at her with a puzzled expression.
“I can be very discreet, if that is what you would like, but this is our home.”
“You know what I mean!” she hissed. “If you insist on not truly being my husband, and you wish to continue your rakish activities, then at least do me the decency of being discreet, rather than parading your little friends around right in front of me.”
He smiled kindly at her, which only angered her further.
“Are you jealous?” he asked.
“Of course not, but I have no desire to have any further whispers about our match. I have heard quite enough of those.”
“I quite like that we are the topic of the ton’s conversation. It shows that we are interesting. Why else do you think so many ladies come to me? They believe they may havea chance with me. I find it rather entertaining, as they do not seem to notice what fools they are making of themselves.”
“They are also making a fool of me, and you are happily allowing them to do so.”
“Emma, if you do not want me to see other ladies as companions and friends, you need only tell me. I can understand jealousy. I am your husband, after all.”
“It is not jealousy, why can you not understand that? This is about the small scrap of good that is left in my reputation and me wanting to protect it, rather than openly being mocked. I am not going to stop you from cavorting around with other ladies, I only ask that you do not force me to watch it.”
“And that is all you want to ask of me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain of that? Because as my wife you are more than welcome to expect more from me. It would help protect that dignity that you care so much for, too.”
“I simply do not want to see it. That is all.”
“Very well,” he nodded with a sly grin, “it is done.”
Emma was quite taken aback by how easily he had accepted her request, and she wondered if she should indeed have asked for more. She reminded herself that she did not care what he did behind closed doors. She did not love him and she did not care deeply for him.
She then had to give herself that same reminder an hour later, and then again each time she awoke during the night.