Page 10 of My Blind Duke (The Twisted Dukes #5)

“ D uchess?”

William’s heartbeat quickened when his call was met with no response and he tightened his hold on the woman in his arms.

“Lady Prudence? Wake up. Open your eyes now,” he ordered, trying not to panic as he turned to his daughter and asked. “Was she bitten?”

Melanie sniffed and nodded, answering with a sob. “Y-Yes. Please help her papa.”

William immediately began to move, lifting Prudence into his arms properly as he called out, “Robert!”

The steward came running, with the butler not too far behind.

“Send for a physician, immediately,” he instructed Robert, addressing the butler after his steward rushed away. “Guide me to her rooms. Quickly.”

Jefferson nodded and gestured ahead of himself. “Right this way, Your Grace.”

William moved as fast as he could, following the bumbling shape of the butler’s blurry form ahead of him, listening when the man urged him to be aware of stares and turns. Soon they were in her chambers, and the butler pulled back the covers of the duchess’ bed so William could gently place her in it.

Then he turned to his daughter and asked, “Where was she bitten? Can you show me?”

Melanie nodded, taking her father by the hand and guiding him to rest his palm on Prudence’s left leg.

“Here, Papa.”

“And where exactly is the bite mark? Can you see it?”

She took his finger this time and rested it gently over a spot, gasping when Prudence moaned in pain.

“Sorry, I am so sorry! This is all my fault!” Melanie said and began to cry again.

William quickly pulled off his cravat and wrapped it around Prudence’s leg, just below her knee, tying it up tightly.

“Do not worry, Melanie,” he said in what he hoped was a comforting tone. “The physician is on his way. The duchess will be all right.”

Melanie shook her head.

“But we were in the garden because of me! And she got bitten trying to save me! It is all my fault!” she wailed.

William’s heart hurt at the sound of his daughter in so much pain and he reached out to console her, his hand going still in the air as Robert walked into the room with the physician.

“I heard Her Grace was bitten by a snake. I have the antidote. Can you show me where she was bitten?” the physician asked as soon as he was in the room.

“On her left leg,” Melanie and William chorused.

“Right,” the doctor said, raising the hem of Prudence’s dress. “Pardon me, Your Grace. Oh, I noticed someone has already administered some emergency health care.”

“My papa did it,” Melanie announced proudly as she clung to William.

“I see. Thank you, my lady,” the physician nodded, shifting his gaze to the duke. “Well done, Your Grace. You have helped slow the spread of the venom considerably.”

“Will she be all right?” William asked, worry seeping into his voice.

“She will be just fine,” the man said as he rummaged through his bag, pulling out a syringe and a vial.

He quickly drew some of the liquid within the vial into the syringe and injected it into her thigh.

“There. I have administered the antidote. She is going to be all right. All that is left to do is clean the bite gently and wrap it up. Could I get a basin of water and a clean cloth? So, I can do that immediately.”

“Of course,” William said and waved the butler to procure what was needed.

“It is a strange coincidence though,” the physician said lowly, still examining Prudence’s leg.

“What is?” William enquired, confused.

“Well… What I say now might sound quite weird but I believe this might have been the same poison that killed the former duke.”

It was as though the world slowed to a stop.

“What? How can you tell?” William demanded to know.

“Well, I was the one who was called to see him upon his death. At first, I could not see anything wrong with him. It looked as though he had merely fallen asleep and did not wake up. But then, upon further examination, I noticed that he had some swelling around his throat and his tongue had taken on a darker color. The duchess is exhibiting similar symptoms, currently. The part of her leg where she was bitten is swollen and the skin is discolored. It will all heal soon, but it is something noteworthy, to acknowledge,” the physician said.

All of this was making William’s head hurt.

“How did this even happen?” the duke asked with a tired sigh, turning to Melanie who was still clutching his hand.

“We – I did not want to stay inside. So, I asked the duchess out on a walk and she agreed to come with me. Then we thought of making you a gift – a wreath. She said we should pick out pretty flowers to brighten up your study and I might have wandered too far from her. I did not see the snake but she did and she immediately rushed to save me. She picked me up and took me far away from the snake but I think it bit her before we were able to run away. She saved me, Papa. Please do not send her away. Please, Papa. I beg you!”

Melanie’s pleas, along with the sound of her crying cut deeply into the duke’s heart and he pulled her into his arms.

“Do not worry, Melanie. I will not send her away,” he said softly.

“Do you promise?” Melanie sniffed.

William hesitated, well aware that things were more complicated than his daughter likely thought. But he did not want her to be so upset anymore. And so, he sighed deeply and nodded.

“You have my word. And I have always said, a man’s word is–”

“His bond,” she finished quietly.

“Precisely. I will stick to my word and do as I have told you that I will.”

Melanie nodded and he pulled back, gently wiping her tears away.

“All right, Papa.”

Internally, William waved goodbye to the peace he had hoped to have in his home soon, knowing that there was no way he could get that.

Not with the vixen that was clearly there to rattle him.

“Back on your feet already?”

Prudence sighed, not bothering to look up from the book she was reading.

“Why, yes, Lady Clementina. The physician said it was truly fortunate that I was already in good health. That way, my body merely needed to absorb the antidote quickly for a speedy recovery. But why do you sound so disappointed?”

She heard the woman snort and tried not to roll her eyes.

“Why would I not be? You should have gotten what you rightly deserved. It is wrong that you still get to march around these halls as though you own this house. Especially after what you did to Anthony,” Clementina snapped.

“Which is nothing. I did nothing to him. I married him and I was looking forward to our life together. I had nothing to do with his death.” Prudence sighed tiredly.

“So you claim, but one day, your lies shall come to light. And even though that snake was not able to finish the job, there will be other opportunities in the future. Nature will reap its just rewards. Just wait and see.”

The older woman left and Prudence exhaled, wondering if perhaps she should not have second-guessed her desire to remain in bed for one more day to rest.

The physician had asked her to remain in bed for as long as possible to ensure complete recovery, but after two days, Prudence had drowned weary of staring at the wallpapers of her chambers.

Melanie, the little sweetheart, had brought her a few flowers, informing Prudence that she had been afraid to go into the garden at first, but then had wanted to get Prudence something nice and had begged Jefferson to come with her. The cowardly butler had made some excuse to avoid going and was shamed by Mrs. Fairfax for his actions and she had taken Melanie herself.

Together they had obtained the flowers Prudence and Melanie had collected and had picked some more, especially for the duchess.

“I am glad Papa listened to me and helped. Lady Clementina said I was lying and told me to leave.” The precious blossom had pouted as they had dinner together, hours after the physician had administered treatment.

Prudence could not remember anything after Melanie had gone off to find help. She did have a moment of immense warmth, despite the pain and it was when Melanie told her that the duke had carried her to her room that finally realized what it was.

The duchess had woken up and caught notes of the duke’s musky scent over her pillows and it made her blush whenever she smelled it.

She had not expected that he would help her. She really did believe he was dead set on getting rid of her.

“Perhaps not to the point where he would want me dead,” she mumbled to herself, eyes skimming through the words of the book in her lap without really seeing.

Prudence thought of the duke more often than she was willing to admit. She did not understand why, considering how they could never seem to do anything other than argue whenever they were in the same vicinity.

But then, she recalled the way he had kissed her and the pieces seemed to fall into place. She could not think, could not breathe – had not wanted to do any of those things because they would take away from the most important thing happening at that moment.

His kiss.

And that was a trade she was not willing to make.

Now it was as though he had consumed her entire being. She found herself looking out for him in hallways, subtly longing to be summoned by him. It likely was not a wise thing, to think so much about a man who had doubts about her involvement in the murder of her late husband.

But she could not seem to help herself when she was around him.

Prudence had decided to actively try to bring William and Melanie together, greatly saddened by the strained relationship. Particularly after Melanie had spoken about how attentive her father had been while Prudence was unwell, as though a miracle had transpired.

It was clear they could fix things if they were given a proper chance. But it appeared that the duke was unwilling to budge far enough for Melanie to take the first step, even if she wished to do so.

After a whole night of thinking about what she could do to help the estranged father and daughter, she came up with an idea that had her rushing off to the music room after she had walked Melanie off to her first lesson.

“All right,” she inhaled deeply as she took a seat on the piano bench and put her fingers on the keys. “Let me give it a shot.”

However, after five minutes of playing, she became well aware of why she hardly ever set foot inside this room on a general basis. Prudence had thought that this would have gone much smoother, hoping to freshen her skills, but she quickly lamented having ignored her music lessons as a young lady herself.

“Oh,” she sighed as she started again, consecutively hitting the wrong notes and making what was more like a horrible noise than beautiful music. “Oh, dear God. My mother was right. Neglecting my piano lessons has indeed come upon me at a time of need!”

It was no use. She could not do it. She was far too bad at the pianoforte, and her plans of hoping to remind the duke of the joy of music, to motivate him to teach Melanie again, continued to fall apart.

With a sigh and whispered motivation to herself, Prudence tried once more, wincing at the sounds the piano was making that sounded nothing like music. Suddenly, she heard the door creak open.

“I came looking for the dying animal I could hear all the way from my study, but, alas. It is merely the Duchess of Pemberly, playing the pianoforte.”

Prudence turned around, eyes widening at the sight of the duke casually leaning against the door.

Her gaze fell upon his arms, taking in how his muscles seemed to look bigger because he had folded his arms and remembered that he had carried her to her chambers after she had fainted.

Heat filled her cheeks and she whirled around to face the piano once more.

“I… I was just warming up.”

“Is that so?” he hummed with a playful lilt.

Prudence glared at him over her shoulders and began to play again, feeling increasingly hopeless the more she progressed.

With a sigh, she dropped her hands, startled when his warm skin came in contact with hers as the duke lifted her hands back to where they had been, but slightly adjusting their posture.

“A lot of pianoforte skills come from impeccable posture. You need to ensure that you are sitting upright and your hands are poised comfortably over the keys,” he told her, his voice lacking its usual sharp and hard edge.

Prudence nodded and tried playing, immediately finding out that he was right – she did feel much more comfortable with playing. But she was still bad because she did not know which notes were to come before others from the music sheets she had tried to memorize just that day.

“I am having a bad day,” she mumbled under her breath.

“I am sure,” William nodded solemnly, clearly trying not to smirk. “I am sure you will be better on a good day.”

The duchess inhaled sharply when he put his hand on her lower back and pressed forward gently, until she sat up straighter.

“Like this. Keep yourself poised, but your muscles free of tension… Good. Just like that.”

His behavior toward her was so odd, it put her on edge. She did not necessarily want to argue and was not in the mood for any hostility, but it still made her nervous, how… amicable he was being.

Still, she kept up her posture like he asked of her, unable to keep her mind from straying to the hand that was still resting on her back. Her skin burned beneath his touch and she could hardly breathe, knowing he could likely feel every subtle change in her body.

“I know you despise me,” she blurted out suddenly, trying not to wince at the way the words sounded. “So, I do not understand why you are doing this.”

William sighed and urged, “Keep playing.”

Reluctantly, Prudence faced the piano once more and set her fingers on the keys, carefully trying to follow the music sheet before her eyes, feeling a little less nervous when she noticed she had gotten a bit better. But then his hand seemed to increase its pressure on her back and she shivered, trying not to lean into his touch.

“I felt as though it was the least I could do – because I owe you for saving my daughter. I do not know what I would have done if she had been bitten that day. I truly appreciate that you kept her safe – even though I am not particularly thrilled that it was at your expense. But… thank you,” he said after a while, sounding as though he was not aware of the warmth pooling between her legs.

Prudence nodded. “I-It was my pleasure. I am glad I was able to protect her, honestly. And… I can tell that you truly love her.”

“Of course, I do. She is my daughter.”

The duchess felt her left eye twitch in annoyance at his response and she had to fight to keep herself from asking him why he acted as though he did not care about her most of the time. Instead, she stopped playing and asked carefully.

“Why do you not teach her music anymore?”

William visibly bristled.

“It is none of your concern,” he stated, losing what little warmth he had carried in his demeanor.

Prudence shrugged, finally working up the nerve to slip away from his touch. “Fine. You are not wrong, but Melanie deserves an explanation. Avoiding the situation will not do either of you any good.”

William was quiet at first, then he leaned forward until his face was only a handful of inches away from Prudence’s.

“You should leave. Now. Before it is too late.”

The air was charged with danger and something Prudence could not describe but could taste at the tip of her tongue. A smart woman would have quietly left. But Prudence had never been fond of taking the easy way out.

“If I run now, Your Grace, will you catch me?” she heard herself ask, unable to keep her gaze from dropping down to his lips.

He smirked down at her. “Are you sure that is what you want?”

“Are you sure you would be able to catch me at all?” Prudence teased breathlessly, unable to help herself.

William moved even closer, his gaze falling from her eyes, and settling on her lips, fixed on them as he said,

“I am a man who always gets what he wants.”