Page 33 of His By Sunrise (Disreputable Dukes of Club Damnation #3)

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Denham House

St. James Place

Mayfair, England

Wallace Denham, 5 th Duke of St. Eggleton impatiently waited at banister for his wife. “Abigail? We must hurry else we’ll be late.” As he spoke, he tugged on his gloves.

He still couldn’t believe that Nottingham was marrying his wife for a second time this evening.

The way he’d finally won her, after that horrific scandal in the middle of the month when he and Lord Danville had fought in a garden that ended in pistol shots still managed to leave Wallace a bit speechless.

Yet here they were, insanely happy with each other even after years of hurt feelings and misunderstandings, after schemes for coin and secret shame.

It was much like a fairytale, and he was glad they were finally able to grasp their happily ever after.

And from what he understood, their daughter Olivia was thrilled that her parents were back together again.

According to Edwin, after the nuptial ceremony, the family would leave for Brighton, to take a holiday together before the Christmastide season took hold in London.

It was a lovely tale, and one that fit in so well with the others he’d had cause to witness at Club Damnation.

“Abigail! Dearest, we need to leave else we’ll interrupt the ceremony with our arrival.” When his wife still didn’t come out of their shared suite, he sighed and retreated down the corridor to stand in the doorway. “Abigail?”

She stood at the small secretary in the corner of the bedchamber with a few letters in her hands.

Though the navy taffeta gown suited her complexion and showed her décolletage to full advantage, it wasn’t her figure that arrested his attention.

It was the horror and surprise warring for dominance in her expression.

Then she glanced over at him with her eyes round and shock reflected in the blue depths. “I...”

Unease knotted in his gut. “What are you doing with those?” Well, shit. I knew I should have burned those letters. Perhaps this was his penance, his punishment for having any dealings with his mistress. Didn’t matter the reason.

“I wanted to write a note of congratulations to the happy couple, but when I couldn’t find the stationery, I rooted through the drawer.

It seemed to be jammed, so I gave it a more spirited tug.

” She glanced between the letters and him, and all color drained from her dear face.

“When the drawer opened fully, I noticed a shallow, secret compartment at the bottom. There were some papers in there. I took them out hoping the drawer would lay flat, and then I noticed your name scrawled on one of them.”

“Abigial, please don’t read them.” Was this the beginning of the end, then?

“I already have. Once I started, I couldn’t stop.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you took a mistress?”

“I, uh...” Well fuck. He was in it now. “It was years ago. I haven’t seen her since.”

“Yet you also have a child. A son.” Her voice broke on the word. “When you know you and I were not ever successful in having children of our own, you went behind my back to tell your mistress that you’d take in her child? And for the Christmastide season at that?”

The sight of her tears and her obvious distress brought him as low as he’d ever been. “Please let me explain. There is more involved than merely that.”

She looked at him with stricken eyes then crushed the letters in her fist before tossing them onto the top of the secretary.

“How could you betray our vows like that, Wallace?” His wife only used his given name when she was laboring under high emotion.

“I thought we were strong as a couple, I assumed our love together was all we needed, but I suppose not.”

Oh, God.

“Abigail, please, when you know the full story, I’m hoping you’ll understand.”

“How can I understand when you took another woman to bed while we were married? And that time resulted in a child?” Her voice rose with each question.

Heat crept up the back of his neck. “I wish it were only that one time.”

“What?” She put a hand to her throat as she stared with incredulity. “There was more than once?”

I am the world’s biggest cad.

“The first time was at the beginning of our union, but I don’t want to tell you the story now. We’re due at Nottingham’s immediately for his nuptial ceremony.”

She grabbed a small vase of flowers from the corner of the desk and then hurled it at him with a sound of frustration.

Since her aim was off, it smashed into the doorframe, shattering.

Water, glass shards, and cut blooms scattered over the carpet.

“To use some of your favorite vernacular, you can fuck off, Wallace, and you can also attend the ceremony by yourself. I no longer feel like going anywhere with you.” Then, with her head held high, she swept past him, dancing out of his reach when he would have grabbed her arm.

“Abigail, please! Let me explain!” He trailed along the corridor after her, but when she reached the duchess suite—that hadn’t been used for many years since they both preferred to sleep together—she turned and confronted him.

A mixture of disappointment and fury played out over her face.

“I would appreciate it if you gave me some time and space, for I’m feeling angry, sad, and quite betrayed.

” The delicate tendons in her neck worked with a hard swallow.

“To think that you found fault with me for a variety of reasons enough to take another woman into your bed has left me doubting... everything. Just leave me alone, Wallace. I cannot look at you right now.” So saying, she ducked into her suite, and then slammed the door in his face.

For long moments, he stood there with a hand pressed to the wooden panel, while within, the sound of her sobbing reached his ears.

With nothing else to do, and his heart that suddenly felt as if it would break into a million pieces imminently, he slowly turned and made his way along the corridor.

Every step down the stairs took him farther away from his wife, the woman he loved to distraction, yet he deserved her ire and everything she would hurl at him.

What the hell do I do now?

He certainly hoped that Nottingham’s new union was successful, for moving through the valleys and challenges within marriage required strength Wallace didn’t know if he possessed at this point in his life.