Page 37 of Rescued By the Icy Duke

“Once,” Ester admitted.

“Did you love him?”

She thought about this question. “No,” she murmured. “It was an arranged marriage. With my consent, but arranged by my parents nonetheless. LordKenneth Lowe.”

Julian remained silent for a moment. “I take it the match has been dissolved?”

“Lord Lowe took the side of your mutual friend and called off the engagement. He was very adamant that I was a fallen woman.”

She felt the tension rise in Julian’s body. Those muscles were like steel cords beneath his smooth skin. Such power they held. She had no doubt that he could be a terrifying force once roused. She had felt his strength, power fuelled by lust and barely held in check. There were bruises on her hips, buttocks, and breasts where his hands had gripped too hard. She had not stopped him nor cried out in anything but encouragement. Now the bruises were badges of honor. The pain was a reminder of the glorious time they had enjoyed.

“I was fond of Kenneth. He was, I thought, a good man and a gentleman in deed as well as word. He even encouraged me to seek ambitions beyond that of a wife and mother.”

“He sounds like a man I would get along with. Shame he displayed such a lack of good sense at the end.”

“Would you have taken my side against your old school friend?” Ester asked.

“I would. Ihave.”

There was no hesitation or equivocation. He sounded definite. Resolved. It gave Ester a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach.

“My mother was bitterly disappointed. She does not say as much but I think she blames me. In the darkest corner of her heart anyway,” Ester breathed, sadly.

It was something she had not confessed to anyone before. But in this moment of physical vulnerability, it seemed the right time to bear her soul as well as her body.

“And your father?” Julian asked.

“His health was failing him before this happened. He took my side and challenged Kingsley. I have never seen him so angry.”

“The fool,” Julian murmured. “I am sorry, but Kingsley is an excellent marksman with a pistol and an even better swordsman. Your father would have been killed.”

“I forced him to withdraw the challenge…” Ester said, haltingly.

“How did you persuade him?”

“I… I told him that it was a lie. That I hadn’t been assaulted. That I had given myself to him and then panicked.”

There was a long moment of silence. Ester felt tears sting at her eyes at the memories of the humiliating confession.

“It was not true, but I did not know how else to stop him from going through with the duel.”

“A father would take such a confession hard,” Julian commented.

“He did,” Ester wept silently, closing her eyes. “He suffered a brain fever that night. It took weeks to recover and he is still bed-ridden. That is my fault. All of it is my fault.”

Julian shifted beneath her, turning and stroking her face with his pale fingers.

“That is not true, and I will not hear it from you. What you did took courage. To destroy yourself in his eyes and preserve his life? That is immensely brave.”

“But it broke him!” Ester wailed.

“His health was already failing him. That was not your doing,” Julian replied. “Without your intervention, he would be dead, I assure you of that.”

“We came here to escape the scandal and discovered the shadow of it had followed us. Now, Kingsley wants money in exchange for his silence. If my father finds out, it will kill him.”

“Then he will not,” Julian declared with conviction. “Kingsley will be paid and then he will honor his part of the bargain. I will see to it.”

Ester wiped her eyes on the heel of her hand and shook her head firmly.