Page 24 of Ravished by the Beastly Duke (Regency Beasts #1)

CHAPTER 24

E veline felt numb when the carriage finally pulled up to Notley Manor. She had tried to cry in the carriage, but she had been unable to. Even now, as the carriage stopped in front of her childhood home, she was still numb.

Even though she was still confused by the events of the day, there was one thing that she knew for certain—she would never return to her husband’s home.

She had instructed her lady’s maid to pack only the important items she needed, and that was only because she would be sending her father’s servants to retrieve her remaining belongings in a few days.

Before all that, however, she needed to face her sisters and tell them what had happened.

She felt like a failure as the driver helped her out of the carriage and walked her to the front door.

One of her father’s footmen was waiting by the door, and even though his face remained impassive, he seemed to be surprised to see her.

“The Duchess of Mayfield!” he announced.

Eveline realized the irony of it all.

The footman had just announced her with a title she had acquired after she married a man who no longer wanted her.

She was met with a commotion the moment she stepped into the house.

“Eveline is here?” she heard Stella ask right before her youngest sister came barreling towards her.

If she had not been holding on to the driver, she would have fallen to the floor. Even then, she staggered and had to hold on to him with both hands.

“Did someone say Eveline?” Ava’s voice called.

Her elder sister still maintained some decorum upon seeing her. A sharp contrast to her rather excited younger sister.

Ava furrowed her brow in confusion. “You did not send a message to inform us of your visit, Eveline.”

Eveline was just about to respond to her sister when some of the footmen began to file in with her trunks.

“What are those?” Stella asked.

“Eveline, can you tell me what is happening?” The curiosity in Ava’s eyes had now given way to panic. “Is there a reason you are still holding on to the driver, Eveline? And why are your eyes red as though you have been crying your eyes out?”

Seeing the concern in her sister’s eyes almost drove Eveline to tears. She knew her sister would be heartbroken when she finally told her what had happened.

“Why don’t we discuss in the drawing room?” she suggested.

“Follow me, then,” Ava said, leading the way to the drawing room.

Eveline, on the other hand, still had to hold on to the driver as she followed her sister.

Ava had barely taken four steps when she suddenly turned around.

“Thank you for your help,” she said to the driver. “You can leave now.”

With that, the driver left, and Eveline had no choice but to shift the weight of her body to her other leg before she held on to Stella for support.

“Did you hurt your leg, Eveline?” Stella asked.

Ava’s eyes suddenly widened as though she had just made a discovery. “Did the Duke hurt you?” she asked.

“Ava!” Eveline cried, shocked.

“Did he break your leg?”

Eveline had never seen her sister so mad. She was certain if her husband was there, Ava would have launched herself at him.

“Let us enter the drawing room, and I will tell you everything,” Eveline said.

“Oh, if the Duke laid his hands on you, I shall ensure everyone in London knows what a brute he is. God help me, I will take it up on myself to get him outcast from Society. Nobody shall?—”

“He did not hit me!” Eveline cut in.

She knew her sister did not quite like William, so it was rather quite expected for her to react in such a manner.

“You show up here unexpectedly with an injured leg and your belongings. I do not believe you,” Ava scoffed.

Eveline was relieved when she was finally able to sit down and take her weight off her leg.

“Now, tell me what the Duke has done to you,” Ava pressed.

“The Duke has done nothing to me,” Eveline said, even though that was only partly true.

William might not have laid his hands on her, but he had shattered her heart into pieces.

“Then what is wrong with your leg, and why did you come here without prior notice, and why are your belongings here?” Ava asked.

“Give her a moment to catch her breath,” Stella interjected.

She looked rather sad, which was quite different from the happy girl who had launched herself at Eveline only moments ago.

Eveline could tell that her younger sister knew that something had gone terribly wrong.

She sighed. “I decided to move back here,” she said simply.

The looks on her sisters’ faces told her that they were now more confused than ever.

“I am certain you did not decide to move back because you have missed your sisters or your childhood home.” Ava raised an eyebrow.

“I moved back because I… I had a disagreement with my… with William and…” Eveline trailed off, quite unsure how to continue.

“The Duke could not have possibly thrown you out?” Stella gasped.

She looked rather disappointed, and Eveline could understand why. Stella, had, after all, held William in high regard, and Eveline knew she had secretly hoped she could secure a husband like him.

“Oh, Stella. William would never throw me out,” Eveline reassured her. “I left of my own will.”

“Eveline, if you refuse to tell me what has happened, I shall ride over to his castle so he can explain everything to me,” Ava threatened.

Eveline had learned, over the years, not to take Ava’s threats lightly. She knew that her sister could, indeed, go to her husband’s estate.

“There will be no need for that, Ava. I shall tell you everything. The Duke did not lay his hands on me or break my leg. I had injured my ankle after I fell off my horse when we went riding yesterday morning.”

Ava, unsurprisingly, did not look so convinced. “That sounds rather too convenient.”

“Eveline would never lie about something like that,” Stella said.

Eveline smiled at her in appreciation.

“Why, then, have you decided to return home if your husband had done nothing to you?”

“I am not quite certain why, but after the physician came and left, my husband disappeared.”

“Disappeared?”

“Indeed. He never checked on me, and he even slept in his study instead of our bed.”

Ava’s eyes widened. “You were already sharing a bed?” She looked positively surprised.

Eveline blushed, and she could not help but smile as she remembered all the memories they made on the bed—before it all came crashing down, of course.

“We have,” she confirmed. “We have, in fact, consummated our marriage.”

Stella gasped, and she scooted closer to her. “You must tell me everything. How was it? Was it as pleasurable as they say it is?”

Eveline felt overwhelmed by the questions, but it pleased her. After all, her sisters would never tell her they never loved her.

“Stop questioning her so. Eveline is not here to talk about her bedroom affairs,” Ava chided before turning to Eveline. “You are saying that you got hurt while riding with your husband, and he never cared to check on you?”

Eveline was not quite sure why, but she was inclined to defend William, even though he had hurt her.

“He was quite helpful, at first,” she explained.

Ava scoffed.

“Truly, he had been thrown into a state of panic, and he had even fetched the physician himself. He was certain I was dying, and it was only when the physician declared my injury a small one that he finally relaxed.”

“Then what was the matter?” Stella asked.

“It was when I went down for breakfast this morning and questioned him that he told me what he truly felt about me all this while,” Eveline explained.

“If you tell me he said awful things to you, he shall have my wrath to deal with,” Ava warned.

“He announced that he shall be moving out of our home,” Eveline said.

“Do you mean that the Duke wants both of you to move out of the estate?” Stella asked. “Does he not find the estate to be suitable enough? I would say it was more than sufficient when we first visited.”

“Stella, if you do not hold your tongue…” Ava threatened.

Stella gave her older sister a rather unkind look, but she did not protest.

“He truly wanted to move out of the estate. He wanted to leave me all alone in the estate while he went to his estate in Bath.”

“Is he simply taking a trip to Bath?” Stella asked.

Eveline shook her head. “He simply wants to move there alone.”

“What kind of marriage would that be if you lived miles apart?” Ava asked. “I truly want to believe that he gave you a good reason even though I know that is not the case.”

“The only reason he ever gave was that our marriage was one of convenience and he did not wish to make me think we are anything more than friends,” Eveline sighed.

“Friends?” Ava exclaimed.

“How could he?” Stella gasped, looking even more betrayed than Eveline had when she had first heard her husband say that.

“I was surprised when I heard him say it because truly, by all definitions, we have been more than friends.”

“Certainly you have. I do not reckon friends share a bed,” Stella said, frowning.

“And even before we shared a bed, he had opened up to me and shared with me some of his darkest experiences. Even his memories from the military. I even held him after he woke up from a nightmare.”

Eveline could feel the tears begin to well up in her eyes again. The dull ache in her chest that followed her to her father’s house was worsening.

“What kind of man would ever do such a thing?” Ava tsked. “A dishonorable man, I tell you.”

“I do not think he…” Eveline had begun to defend him again when she caught herself, wondering why she even did that.

Despite what he had done, she had been holding back, not wanting him to look so bad in front of her family. But she decided to stop caring now. It was not as though William cared about her or her feelings.

“It is only a dishonorable man who would open up to a woman and then pretend that it had meant nothing,” Ava huffed.

“He even mentioned that the fact that we had slept together had meant nothing, since there were no feelings involved.”

As Eveline recounted it, it was as though she was hearing those words for the first time.

“How could he ever say there were no feelings involved? How dare he?” Ava exclaimed.

“That was what I said to him. And when I explained that my feelings for him were real, he looked me in the eyes and told me his feelings for me were not real.”

It was now Ava’s turn to gasp, and she clapped her hand over her mouth in shock.

Eveline suddenly heard a sniff, and when she turned around, she saw her younger sister huddled up in a corner, crying.

And that made her tears spill over.

She hurried to her sister and hugged her.

“Stella, do not cry,” she soothed, even as tears streamed down her face.

“How could he be so cruel?” Stella said between sobs. “How could he?”

“It does not matter,” Eveline reassured her, patting her head with one hand and using the other to wipe the tears streaming down her own face.

“I reckon he was different,” Stella said, looking up at her as she pulled out of the hug. “How could he break your heart?”

“He did not break my heart,” Eveline lied as she shook her head. “I assure you, he did not.”

“Do you think he is hiding a mistress in his estate in Bath?” Ava suddenly asked. “That might be the reason he suddenly changed and seems to be hell-bent on going there.”

Eveline had never even given that possibility a thought before.

“A mistress?” Her heart tightened painfully in her chest, and she became hot all over.

It was common knowledge that some gentlemen frequented brothels, while some even kept some of the women as mistresses. Eveline, of course, believed such men were dishonorable, and if she could help it, she would have them cast out of the ton.

However, what she had never considered was that her husband might, one day, be one of them.

“Is that truly possible?” she asked, her eyes widening with shock. “Could William be leaving me for an easy lady?”

“I certainly would hope not, but I cannot pretend that all signs do not point at the possibility,” Ava sighed.

“If that is the case, then our marriage is over, is it not?” Eveline said, rather vehemently. “I refuse to be married to a man who would lie with another woman.”

“If you will let me, I would go to Bath just to see for myself,” Ava added.

The offer was quite tempting. However, Eveline knew she could not accept it. “If I send you to spy on him, then he would see you and know that I am still terribly hurt by what he has done.”

“I assure you, I will be careful not to let him see me,” Ava said.

“The roads are dangerous, Ava,” Eveline continued. “I could not let you go on such a journey just to spy on my husband.”

“I shall take some of the footmen with me,” Ava assured her.

“But I could not live with myself if you get attacked by scoundrels and you are badly injured.”

“I would risk that for you,” Ava declared. “I would do anything for you. Never forget that, Eveline.”

“Truly, Ava, you do not have to do that,” Eveline insisted.

However, she did not tell her sister that another reason she did not want her to go to Bath was fear—not just for her sister’s safety but also for what she might find there.

What if Ava indeed found her husband frolicking with a mistress? The mere thought was painful enough for Eveline; she was not certain she would survive if she got confirmation that her husband had, in fact, left her for a mistress.

She decided that she would rather refuse to have that knowledge.

Ava shrugged. “It does not matter anyway. If I ever catch a whiff that he has taken a mistress, I shall ensure everyone knows. I might not be able to challenge him to a duel, but there are certainly other ways to ruin a man.”

Eveline could not help but laugh as she imagined her elder sister challenging William to a duel.

“You do not have to challenge him to a duel or ruin him,” Eveline said. “I know I shall be fine as long as I am here with you two.”

It was true.

Eveline shuddered as she imagined what would have happened if she did not have her two confidantes.

Ava excused herself for a moment, and Eveline was left alone with her younger sister, who now had a rather hard look on her face.

“Do not be so sad, Stella,” she urged. “I am certain there are other bachelors who would love you and treat you with the respect you deserve.”

Stella shook her head. “I could never trust any bachelor again. In fact, I do not want anyone. I shall stay alone forever and become an old spinster.”

“You shall not, Stella,” Eveline quickly retorted.

Ava reentered the drawing room then. “What shall we do about Papa?” she asked.

“How do you mean?”

“Papa will not react well if he returns and sees you here.”

Eveline’s heart sank. Her father would be furious to see her back at the manor, and he would simply take no explanation.

“He will certainly send me back if he ever sees me here,” she said.

“You do not have to tell him the truth of the matter,” Stella assured her. “You could simply say you decided to return home because you missed us.”

“But Papa would expect me to return to my new home only in a few days,” Eveline pointed out.

“You could tell Papa that your husband took a trip overseas to check on some of his businesses. Papa would definitely believe that,” Stella suggested.

Eveline was taken aback, as she could not help but be impressed by her sister’s effortless lies.

“Where did you learn to lie so effortlessly?” she asked.

Stella simply shrugged. “Papa can be rather strict, and I sometimes have to bend the truth just a little to have my way.”

Ava shook her head.

“I suppose I could tell him that my husband has gone on a trip,” Eveline relented.

As much as she did not quite like that her younger sister lied frequently, she could not deny the fact that the lie was rather convincing.

“I am afraid that lie cannot hold for long. If you do not leave after a while, Papa might send a letter to your husband,” Ava cautioned.

She was right. Their father would get suspicious after a while, and Evelin’s lies would be exposed when he decided to send her husband a letter.

“Does this truly mean I can never stay here for long?” Eveline asked, saddened by the realization.

She never wanted to return to her husband’s estate—a place where she had experienced the biggest happiness and yet the biggest heartbreak.

Moreover, if she returned there, she would be all alone, with no husband and no family. She shuddered at the thought.

She had been incredibly lonely in the first few weeks of her marriage before she had asked William to eat dinner with her.

She knew now that if she were to return there, she would go back to being a lonely duchess. Except, now, William would not even be in the castle.

“We do not need to worry ourselves about Papa just yet,” Ava said, pulling Eveline out of her reverie. “He went on a trip, and he will not return for a while. By the time he comes back, we would have known what to do.”

That lightened Eveline’s spirits. At least, for a while, she would not have to worry about her father’s arrival.