Page 25 of Married to the Cruel Duke (Dukes of Power #1)

One year later

Rebecca walked through the cemetery beside William. It was a journey the pair made rather often, but it felt different this time though William wasn’t sure why.

Something in the air almost felt like the first time he had invited her to join him.

It was about a month after the dinner party though he had been thinking about it for far longer. William approached her in the parlor, apprehension gathering in his chest.

“I’m going to be leaving to visit my family’s graves soon,” he said.

“I see,” she replied, a serious expression on her face.

Then he hesitated for a moment. “I was wondering if you would like to join me.”

“Truely?” she gasped. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, though only if you want to. I would understand if you would prefer to remain here. You are under no obligation to accompany me.”

“No!” she exclaimed.

William winced. He hadn’t expected her to say yes, but he hadn’t realized she would have such a visceral reaction to the mere question. Perhaps he should back track, offer some kind of apology.

“That’s all right. I—”

She cut him off. “I mean, I would love to go with you, well not love… Obviously it isn’t a happy place to visit, but if you want me to come with you, I think I would like that. Only, I was a bit surprised that you asked at all.”

When he recovered from his surprise, he cut off her rambling. “Are you sure you want to come? As I said, I would understand if you didn’t.”

“If you want me there, then I want to go.”

He smiled. “That settles it then.”

A short time later, the pair were in the carriage, making their way to the edge of the city. It was hard to say which of them was more nervous.

“Are you quite well?” he hesitantly asked, almost afraid of the potential answer.

“Yes!” she squeaked.

“You know you can talk to me about whatever is on your mind.”

“I know.” She chewed her lip for a moment before she took a deep breath. “I’m glad you wanted me to come with you somewhere so special, it’s only—well, I’m worried I won’t be very good at it.”

William blinked in confusion. “You are worried you won’t be very good at visiting graves?”

“Yes! Exactly. It’s just that I have never done it before so I’m not, sure I will do it right.”

His frown deepened. “You’ve never done it before? But what about your mother? Surely you must mean you have never visited my family before.”

She hesitated. “No, I mean I’ve never visited a grave before at all.”

“But how?”

“As you might remember, my father blamed me for my mother’s death.” She toyed with the cuff of her glove. “Because of that, he made clear to me that I wasn’t good enough to see her grave. The closest thing I had were her gardens.”

“I didn’t know that. I am so sorry.”

She gave a sad smile. “It’s in the past now; besides, I always had her gardens. They were like a memorial just for me. No one ever went out there, so I almost always had them to myself. They were also a good way to get away from my family when I needed to.”

“Still, if you want to visit her, you deserve a chance to do it properly. Do you want to do that? It doesn’t need to be today; I just thought you might like the idea.”

“It is very sweet of you to offer, but I don’t even know where she’s buried. It could be on my father’s land for all I know.”

“You leave that part for me to worry about. All I need to know is that you want that.”

For a long moment, she was quiet, and William was about to accept that that was her answer. Then, she said, so quietly for a moment he thought that he missed it, “I think that might be nice. If I’m honest, when I still lived with my father I often found myself wondering how different things could have been if she was with me. If she would have stopped him from treating me that way.” William softened. “I’m sure she would have. I didn’t know her, but the woman who gave you life must have been a wonderful person.”

Rebecca scoffed, shaking her head. “Then you need to credit my father as well, and I don’t think either of us want you to do that.”

“Nor will I do that. You see, it is because your father is such a horrible man that I know your mother must have been an absolute saint. After all, you had to get your good nature from somewhere.”

To Rebecca’s surprise, she found herself laughing along at his joke and even relaxing after that.

It turned out, visiting a grave wasn’t as scary or intimidating as she had built it up to be in her head. There was no right or wrong way to do it, and to her surprise, she found the cemetery peaceful and tranquil much in the same way her mother’s garden had been.

A week later, William tracked down her mother’s grave for he,r and while Rebecca didn’t feel ready yet, it was nice knowing it was there waiting for her when she was.

After that, Rebecca started to visit William’s family’s grave with him on a more consistent basis. It was a trip the couple tried to make at least every other month, but this time, she seemed to almost be buzzing with energy.

“Is something on your mind?” he asked when he could take it no longer.

“Perhaps, but I will tell you in a moment.”

“But there is something?”

“There might be. Just be patient for the moment.”

William wanted to ask more, but he opted to respect his wife’s wishes.

Only when they were in front of his family’s graves did she step forward.

“I thought it would be best to give you this news as close to your family as I could.”

He frowned. “What news? Is everything all right?”

“Oh yes, I would say everything is more than all right.” She paused for a moment then she said, “I’m with child.”

William gasped. “Are you certain?”

“Yes, quite certain. I wanted to be sure before I said anything, so I waited to tell you until there could be no doubt.”

William came forward, wrapping her in his arms. “This is such wonderful news! I can’t believe it!”

“I couldn’t believe it either at first. It just happened so fast. I only hope I will be a better parent than I had.”

“You have nothing to worry about. I just know you are going to be the most wonderful mother in the world.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“What do you think we should do for the nursery? There are so many options. Did you have a room in mind yet?”

“I hadn’t gotten that far in the plan yet. We still have plenty of time to figure all of that out.”

“We’ve only got nine months at most. We should get a jump on it as soon as possible, don’t you think?”

“I suppose I can see your point, but we should take our time and really think about it. There’s no point in rushing.”

He cleared his throat. “No, I suppose you’re right. I suppose I got a bit exited.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. I’m excited, too.”

“Then why don’t we start settling on a room when we get home? That seems like a good place to start, doesn’t it?”

Rebecca beamed. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Her home was growing, and she would make it a beautiful one.

She could already see them decorating the nursery together. She couldn’t wait to start. As they walked back to the carriage, she turned to him once more.

“I was wondering something,” she said hesitantly.

“Yes, of course, what is it?”

“I was wondering if you would potentially want to name the child after your brother or father?”

He looked at her, breath catching in his throat. “You would want that?”

“Yes, of course, I would. From what you said, they sound like wonderful people. I would be honored if you would want to name our child after them.”

“Then, yes. I rather think I would, and perhaps we could name it after your mother if the child is a girl.”

“Or your mother.”

“Why not both?”

She smiled. “Indeed. Why not?”

The End