Page 36 of His Stolen Duchess (Stolen by the Duke #7)

Chapter Thirty

“ Y our Grace!” Dottie called. “Please, you must come here!”

Georgina hadn’t noticed the maid in the room when she had wandered into it in a daze. She glanced over to the corner to see Dottie with her hand on her belly, the feather duster on the floor. Dottie had a large grin on her face, and it only made Georgina feel worse.

Yet, she knew how to fake her emotions after being at public events with Lysander. She put on her best smile and hoped that the smile was sufficiently reflected in her eyes.

“What is the matter?” Georgina asked. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“Oh, it’s the most wonderful thing,” Dottie replied. “Here, give me your hand.”

Georgina did as asked. Until recently, the Duke had commanded her, but with him now avoiding her as much as possible, she was listless. When Dottie asked for her, she found herself responding at once, eager to have some direction.

Dottie took Georgina’s hand and brought it to her growing belly. Dottie held her hand over the Duchess’s. At another time, Georgina might have found it humorous that she was a duchess with her hand on a maid’s belly, but there was nothing funny, pleasant, or happy about her situation.

Then, she felt it. The child in Dottie’s belly kicked. It was a strange sensation against her hand, and she knew it was supposed to be a joyous moment, even if she was unable to experience it. She did, however, smile when Dottie smiled and held eye contact with her.

She was learning to be more like the Duke; to close her heart to everything and everyone so she wouldn’t be hurt.

“Did you feel it?” Dottie asked.

Georgina held her smile, trying to make it look as natural as possible. “It’s wonderful. I am so happy for you, Dottie. I’m so blessed to experience this with you.”

“I was worried for the longest time,” Dottie admitted.

“I know you’re not supposed to feel a child moving for the first little while, but I couldn’t help but worry that something was wrong.

I don’t know how it affects the child not to have a father around.

Do you think my baby knows its father doesn’t want it? ”

“I believe that the child will have enough love to make up for any shortcomings in its life.”

“When I first felt him kick, I cried for the rest of the day.” Dottie wiped her eyes.

“Him?” Georgina asked.

“I don’t know why, but it feels like a boy. Maybe I’m wrong, but it’s just something inside telling me that.”

Georgina hugged her maid, knowing that if she unlocked her feelings, she would be delighted for her and craving some human interaction.

If the Duke only gave her the cold shoulder, she wouldn’t mind.

She could deal with cold shoulders if she were able to be near him, to experience his presence even a little.

But it was far more than that. He lived his life as if she no longer existed.

“A mother always knows these things,” Georgina said.

“None of this would have been possible without you,” Dottie gushed. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t saved me. I don’t know where I would have gone.”

“I didn’t do anything.” Georgina sighed deeply. “It was pure luck that I was in the kitchen on the morning of my wedding and found you there, and only good fortune that I was able to do something to help you after you told me about your predicament. That’s all it was.”

Dottie looked at Georgina with a frown.

Georgina urged herself to take it back. She sounded exactly like the Duke, and she didn’t want to be like that.

She thought about taking it back and explaining why she wanted to help and how much satisfaction it brought her to help Dottie, but it would only open her other emotions, and it was best not to.

Perhaps Lysander is right. If I live like this, there is no way for me to get hurt.

“Are you sure you are fine, Your Grace?” Dottie asked.

“You don’t need to call me that,” Georgina replied. “You can call me by my name. That’s about all I deserve, really.”

I’m Georgina, not the wife of the Duke.

“Perhaps we can get some tea sometime,” Dottie suggested.

“I know you have been busy, but wouldn’t it be fun to sit in the kitchen and drink tea together just like the morning of your wedding.

I mean, I’m glad you didn’t go through with that.

You are much more suited to His Grace if you don’t mind me saying. ”

“I don’t mind you saying that.” Even if it is not true. I don’t believe I am suited to anyone anymore.

“So, shall we do that sometime?” Dottie asked, her eyes wide and eager.

“Yes, we shall,” Georgina agreed. “Yet, I don’t know when. I must leave to visit my sister for a while.”

“Oh. I shall miss you. I appreciate that you have been here so often when you have the beautiful manor to live in. The townhouse is so much brighter with you in it, Georgina.”

“I appreciate that,” Georgina replied, unable to feel it. “I’m sure I shan’t be gone for long, and when I return, I would love to have tea with you. Until then, take care of your child. He is the most important thing in the world.”

“I will, Georgina. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Georgina left the room she had entered, still in a daze, but now for a different reason.

She waited until she was in the hallway before placing a hand on her stomach and wondering if she was carrying the Duke’s child.

It was far too early to tell, but they had made love multiple times, and that would normally be enough.

Is my duty done? Have I given him a child? Will that mean the end of our arrangement? Do I wish to have a child of my own, or would I rather that it took more time so I can be in his arms?

Georgina cried as she walked. The maid was pregnant and unmarried, but she was happy. Perhaps she could be the same way.

Georgina sought out the housekeeper, a woman in her sixties who was as sour as she was tall, and instructed her to arrange for her trunk to be packed and a carriage to be brought to the front to transport her to Emily’s house.

Any of her three sisters would take her in if she went asking, but Emily would do it without hesitation.

Thereafter, Georgina went upstairs and approached the Duke’s study. She moved into the doorway and watched him as he signed some papers. After a while, he looked up from his desk and briefly met her gaze before looking back down at his work without saying a word.

His dismissive demeanor was all the impetus Georgina needed to leave the townhouse for the foreseeable future.

“Georgina, what a pleasant surprise!” Emily gushed. She looked at the trunk sitting in the entrance to her home and frowned before looking back at her sister with naked concern.

Georgina absently rubbed the fabric of her skirt between her forefinger and thumb. “Might I stay with you here for a while? Not for long, only a few days.”

Emily strode up to get her sister and took her in her arms. Georgina hugged her sister and wept.

“You can stay here for as long as you like,” Emily said. “You are always welcome in this home—you know that.” Emily pulled back and took Georgina by the shoulders. “Did he hurt you?”

Physically? No. Emotionally? Yes. Like a dagger to the heart.

“No, he would never do that. He only wants to protect me,” Georgina said. “I must tell you about the incident at the lake. Do you know that he fought off three people who were trying to burgle his friend’s townhouse?”

It didn’t seem possible for Emily to frown more, but that is exactly what she did. “What? He was fighting with three men?”

“They broke into the townhouse we were swimming at, and he had to fight them all off single-handedly. It was rather exciting, and I went with the coach driver to bring back the Bow Street Runners to have them arrested.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Emily asked.

“I am. I’m fine,” Georgina claimed. She knew that was a complete fabrication, but if she repeated it enough, she might even believe it.

“I shall have someone in the kitchen put some water on to boil for tea,” Emily said. “I have the impression that we have a lot to talk about.”

Georgina sighed through her nose. Where was she to begin, and how much did she want to tell her about the Duke?

She didn’t know yet. She wouldn’t know until she talked to Emily about her situation. Still, it felt like a weight off her shoulders. Whatever she was going through, she wouldn’t have to go through it alone. She had three wonderful sisters who would always be there for her.

Lysander looked up from the card table when the butler entered the room with Thomas in tow.

“Your Grace, the Marquess of Southfold,” the butler announced.

“Yes, thank you.” Lysander waved his hand to dismiss the butler. “No, no, wait. Have someone bring more brandy from downstairs, please.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” the butler replied with practiced grace before leaving the two men.

“A card table?” Thomas asked. “When did you get that?”

Lysander looked at Thomas as if seeing him for the first time. “Yes, come in, won’t you? You’re making me nervous lingering at the door. I had it delivered today. A fine table, don’t you think?”

Thomas walked over to the card table with a curious smile. “And how much have you had to drink so far today?”

Lysander chuckled. His loud belly laughter filled the room. “You’re asking how much I’ve had to drink as if I’m a naughty child caught in the cellar. Do you not care to join me?”

“Of course, I will join you. That’s not the issue.” He sat down opposite Lysander and ran his hand over the table’s green felt top. “I only want to know what has put you in such a mood.”

“Again, I’m being made to feel as though I’ve done something wrong!” He grabbed the bottle of brandy from the drink cart stationed beside the card table and refilled his glass, then held the bottle aloft and tilted it as he searched for Thomas’s glass.

Thomas quickly grabbed a fresh glass from the drink cart for Lysander to fill.

“ Have you done something wrong?” Thomas asked.

“I pride myself on not doing wrong,” Lysander said, beating a fist against his chest. “I’m happy, Thomas. I have good drink in me, and I wish to spend some enjoyable time with my friend. Afterwards, we might take to the town and find some women.”

“Aren’t you married?”

“Yes, but it’s only an arrangement, isn’t it?

She knows that, and so do I, and you must know that, too.

Now, where are the cards?” Lysander picked up the pile from the table.

“I thought we might play some whist, but now that I think about it, it’s a game played with four people, so perhaps we can’t. ”

“We don’t need to play whist,” Thomas said, taking the cards from his friend. He laid them on the table beside him, then leveled his gaze at his friend. “I think you should talk to me, Lysander.”

“About what?”

“About whatever is going on to put you in this state.”

Lysander laughed again, but when Thomas didn’t laugh with him, he fell quiet. It was when the quiet came that his emotions threatened to burst through. He could calm them with noise, drink, and other distractions, but not with silence.

“You have a mask of happiness on,” Thomas pointed out. “Below it, you seem more miserable than ever, and I say that with the knowledge that you have had misery in your heart for a very long time, Lysander.”

“What do you know about misery?” Lysander snapped, sending drops of spittle flying onto the green felt.

“I know nothing compared to some people, but that doesn’t mean I can’t see it,” he replied. “I can see it in your eyes, Lysander, and I refuse to sit with a man who won’t be honest about the way he feels.”

“Then go!” Lysander shouted.

“Very well.” Thomas stood up and went to the door as a footman appeared with a full bottle of brandy.

“Oh, don’t be a cretin!” Lysander shouted after his friend. “Bring that bottle back with you, won’t you?”

Thomas took the bottle from the footman and motioned for him to leave. He then turned to face Lysander, not moving from the doorway.

“The anniversary is in a few days,” Lysander announced, his voice becoming broken. The last time he had cried was at his brother’s funeral, and he was coming perilously close to breaking his two-decade streak.

“Augustus,” Thomas said.

Lysander nodded. It would soon be twenty-one years to the day since his brother had perished.

Thomas brought the bottle to the drink cart and set it down, then sat himself down at the card table.

“Where is she?” Thomas asked.

“Where is who?”

“Georgina.”

“Staying at her sister’s house. I don’t know for how long, not that it matters. She can do as she pleases.”

“Is that your doing?” Thomas asked. “Did you drive her away?”

“No,” Lysander snorted. “Well, yes, in a way. It’s what is for the best.”

“Yes, because you are doing so well, old chap?”

Lysander dug his fingers into the tabletop. “Have you come here only to mock me? I thought you were supposed to be my friend.”

“I am your friend, Lysander. That’s why I can be so truthful with you.

I saw how you were with her, and you’re a fool if you don’t admit that she’s the best thing to ever happen to you.

If you did something to drive her away permanently, I will happily wring your neck.

I’m ordering you to get her back. You have always been a good man, but she can make you a great man. ”

“This is all for the best,” Lysander insisted.

“Fear walks hand in hand with loss, but so does love,” Thomas said. “One reminds you of what you had—the other, of what is possible. Don’t suffer loss because you fear loss, Lysander. I won’t let you do this to yourself.”