Page 14 of My Blind Duke (The Twisted Dukes #5)

“ A nd the reconstruction of the barn?”

“It is progressing nicely, Your Grace. It should be completed in about a day or two,” Robert informed, flipping through the pages of his notebook.

“Excellent. I would like to purchase some horses. The finest breeds you can find. I want there to be many options for Melanie in case she ever wants to learn to ride sometime,” William said.

“An excellent idea, Your Grace. I shall make some inquiries and inform you do my findings,” Robert nodded.

“Good,” William paused, hesitating for a moment before he asked, “Have you heard anything from the inspector?”

“Nothing concrete as of now, Your Grace. He claims to be searching for staff members previously employed in the estate but eventually quit after the late duke’s death. He feels one of them might be the key to the testimony we need. But he did discover that the courtship’s duration between the late duke and his duchess was short. They had barely courted for two weeks before they decided to get married.”

That was nothing too noteworthy unless perhaps there were special circumstances as to why their wedding had to have happened in haste. But such a reason did not exist, and if Prudence’s reactions were much to go on, it had never been conceived.

It certainly caused things to lean in the direction of the duchess being a potential gold digger, but that did not seem to be the case either. If she were such, she would have demanded he pay her a large sum or split the inheritance from the first day he had asked her to leave the estate.

William sighed, feeling a headache coming on.

He was sick and tired of the ever-present thoughts of Prudence. He was always thinking about her, always craving her warmth, catching whiffs of her perfume in the corridors. She haunted his dreams and made him ache for her taste in ways he had never imagined.

They had not talked much after what had transpired between them. In fact, their paths hardly crossed at all. William was purposefully avoiding her in a bid to lose all urges to claim her, but it seemed as though she had the same idea as well.

“That will be all, Robert.” He dismissed the steward.

“Yes, Your Grace.” The man bowed and took his leave.

It was getting far too complicated for his liking. He had thought that by now, he would have had a clear view of his and Melanie’s future. Even when he arrived to find that the duchess was a spirited woman, he still believed the matter of her presence would be resolved easily.

Now, there were too many factors to consider, and she was still here. Still taunting him with her attitude and well-meaning intentions.

He needed a solution, and he needed it fast.

“Your Grace? Lord Montclair is here to see you.”

William barely managed to hold back a groan of annoyance.

Of all the days for this man to visit–

“Bring him here, to me.”

“Right away, Your Grace,” the butler bowed and made a quick exit.

Moments later, someone knocked at the door, and William called out for them to “enter.”

He heard the door open and noted the blurry shape move into a position he assumed was a bow.

“Your Grace. Pardon my intrusion.”

“I do not believe I will. The first time we met, you apologized for dropping in unannounced. I see you are a creature of habit, Lord Montclair,” William grumbled, feeling irritated.

Was he irritated because his peace was disturbed or because he knew the marquess had come once again to talk to him about Prudence?

“That is not true, Your Grace. I would have sent word ahead or asked for an audience, but I felt it was rather important for me to come as soon as I could,” Hugo explained, sounding only slightly apologetic.

William’s curiosity got the better of him, so he waved the issue aside.

“What was so important this time?”

Hugo took a seat in front of the duke’s desk and inhaled sharply.

“I… I could not help but notice that the duchess is still within the walls of your home,” he said, tone careful.

It was immensely ridiculous.

“She is. She does live here as a resident.”

“B-But why? I was hoping you were going to consider my warning, Your Grace,” Hugo protested.

“I did. I have. But there is no evidence as of now that she is the criminal others believe her to be. And I meant what I said about looking into it. I have someone investigating the issue, and that is all I will say for now.”

“Your Grace, pardon me, but are you not being a little too ignorant? Your daughter lives in this home, does she not? Is it wise to let her dwell within the same–”

“Are you calling me foolish?” William raised an eyebrow.

“No. no, I would never, Your Grace.” Hugo shook his head.

William tried to be understanding. He knew it must not have been easy for the other man to depend on him like this, but he would do so anyway to ensure his dear friend got the justice he was owed. And William did not wish to stand in the way of that. But he was not sure he was ready to toss Prudence out of his life.

“I assure you, if she is guilty, I will do all I can to ensure that she is punished to the full extent of the law. And even if she is innocent, I do have plans for her eventual relocation. She is only here until I can think of a viable solution. Though I fail to see how any of this should be your concern,” William said, ignoring the strange twinge in his chest at his words.

Hugo hummed, and then he nodded. “I understand, Your Grace. I apologize for overstepping.”

“I am glad that you do. I wish to do this properly because there is nothing worse than an innocent being condemned to a sin or crime they did not commit,” William told him.

It was a feeling he understood quite well because, after the passing of his wife, many people pointed fingers at him and blamed him for her death. They even said his blindness was a result of God’s judgment upon him for taking the life of his wife.

He would not wish that treatment on anyone, much less on a woman as seemingly harmless as Prudence.

“Leave it to me,” he said with an air of finality to Lord Montclair. “If she is truly who you say she is, she will not be able to hide it for much longer. I might be a lot of things, but helpless, I am not.”

Unbeknownst to William, his daughter, Melanie, had been working up the courage outside his study to ask her papa to have tea with her and had noticed he had a guest. Just as she had been about to leave, she heard the guest mention the duchess.

As curious as a little kitten, she lingered outside the door to hear the rest of the conversation, shocked and upset to hear her papa say that he had no intention of letting Prudence stay with them indefinitely.

“No! He cannot send her away,” she whispered to herself, horrified by the very idea.

She had grown fond of Prudence, who always spoke to her warmly and kindly, who treated her as if she had borne Melanie herself. In fact, Melanie had grown to love the duchess, wanting to stay with her forever, if possible.

“Perhaps… if Papa came to like her as I do, he will no longer think of sending her away!” Melanie considered, heading back the way she came.

She needed her papa to see just how special and lovely Prudence was. And then maybe, he would want her as his duchess. And Melanie would have a new mama!

The girl began scheming immediately, thinking of a way to bring her father, who did not like to interact with people very much, and Prudence, who seemed to be wary around her papa these days, together.

It took Melanie a little while, but she came up with an idea by the end of the day.

First, she went to the duchess.

“Me?” Prudence had asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Melanie blinked, putting on the innocent expression she knew often got her out of trouble. “He said he wanted your opinion on what to do with the orangery.”

“B-But I hardly even go near the place. He can do as he wishes with it. I really do not mind–”

“Could it be because he wants you to stay? So, he wants to know what you might want to do with it in the future?” Melanie tried again.

She did not wish to lie to Prudence but rather gave her some hope that things would go in the way they prayed they would.

“A-All right,” she agreed reluctantly.

When it came to her papa, Melanie decided to approach his steward instead.

“She wants me to… what?”

“To meet her in the orangery, Your Grace. She said she had something urgent to tell you,” Robert told William.

“Then why did she not come to my study to do so?” William frowned.

“I heard that she said it was a rather private matter, so she wished for it to be discussed discreetly.”

“Did she tell you this?”

Robert cleared his throat. “She sent word through her maid, Your Grace.”

The situation was absolutely ridiculous to William. Not only was Prudence summoning him, but she had done so by asking other people to request his presence.

The nerve of that woman.

“Shall I inform Her Grace that you will not be attending?”

“Why would you do that? Did I say I was not going to meet her?”

Robert blinked in confusion, then he realized he was likely in danger.

“No! Apologies, Your Grace. I overstepped. Please forgive me,” he said quickly.

William huffed and rose to his feet. Unsure of what to do, the steward stepped forward.

“Do you–”

“I know where the damned orangery is. I can get there myself.”

“Of course, Your Grace.”

William walked off, muttering curses on his way.

Prudence quietly admired the plants growing around the orangery, a little surprised by how peaceful the space was. She could not believe that she had hardly spent a lot more time here.

The air was fresh and laced with something sweet and the only thing she could hear were the sounds of birds and insects.

It was a truly nice place to be, perhaps too private for a conversation with a man she had worked hard to avoid.

Suddenly, Prudence was left wondering how she had gotten into that situation. How had she agreed so easily to a meeting here where they would be alone?

What had she been thinking? She could not do this, not when her body still remembered the heat of his hands and the demanding nature of his kiss.

I cannot trust myself around him. I need to go back.

But it was too late.

“You have a lot of nerve, Duchess, summoning me to meet you all the way out here. I do not take kindly to being called about like a pet,” the duke stated in thinly veiled annoyance.

Prudence frowned at his words. “Summoning you? You were the one who asked me to meet you here! Did you not want to discuss the plans you had for the orangery? Though I confess, I was not aware you valued my opinion so highly.”

William frowned.

“No… what I was told was that you wished to see me to discuss something private. My steward said that the matters you wished to talk about were extremely private, so we needed a discreet place–”

“I never said such a thing!” Prudence squeaked.

“Then why are you here? I thought for sure that you would go on avoiding me for a few more days. Yet here you are, waiting to meet me in a secluded part of the gardens. What is it you want, vixen?” William asked, stepping closer.

Prudence briefly considered telling him how she had been tricked into coming to the orangery, but she knew mentioning Melanie would likely put the little girl in trouble. Prudence knew the girl meant no harm, and had likely sensed the tension between them and wished to help them resolve it.

She took a step away from him, watching as an emotion she could not recognize crossed his face. Prudence wanted to say something, but she was not sure what would aggravate him further. So, she opted for something safe.

“The orangery is rather nice to relax in. It does need a little bit of tidying but if that is sorted out, it would make a perfect place for a picnic.”

“I see,” the duke said, sounding as though he could not care less.

“Yes,” Prudence mumbled, looking down.

The air felt tense and she did not understand why he did not choose to leave.

With a deep sigh, she spoke up again, “What happened between us that day… I think it would be best to simply forget about it. We need to pretend nothing has transpired. It was wrong. There is no reason to dwell on the mistakes of the past.”

The duke was silent for a moment, then he nodded.

“I agree. It is a waste of time, dwelling on pointless things.”

Although she had been the one to say it first, Prudence felt a little hurt by how easily he dismissed what had transpired between them.

Do not be silly , she scolded herself. This is for the best.

But still, the ache remained.

“Do you like it?”

Prudence blinked, taken aback. “I beg your pardon?”

“The orangery. I actually had not given much thought to what to do with it. Melanie spends a lot of time outdoors already, and I wish she would spend that time doing more productive things. She does not need more reasons to play with dirt, so I had not exactly planned to renovate it. Do you like it?”

Prudence did not understand why her opinion would matter, just as she had not when Melanie had used that excuse to lure her there.

“I suppose. I have not spent much time here. I simply stay in the gardens or the sunroom if I wish for a quiet and warm place. But today… I will admit that I am surprised by how lovely it is here. And all the little plants make me feel a little curious about what they could be,” she replied, smiling down at the leaves and petals around them.

“Do you like to garden?” the duke asked.

“Not particularly. My mother does. She tried to instill her love for it in my sister and me, but – I have never had much patience for tiresome activities. I was rather wild and rebellious in my youth if you can believe it,” she laughed a little.

“I can.”

Prudence stopped. “What?”

William shrugged and spoke, poking a flower pot with a cane that Prudence had never seen him use before.

“You. Being wild and rebellious in your youth. I can believe it. Because it is who you still are. I do not think you should ever change that about yourself. It is a quality I rather admire about you.”