Page 33 of The Beast’s Unwanted Duchess (Icy Dukes #1)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

" W e can always return home. I believe I could elevate the evening's enjoyment beyond your wildest imagination, even surpassing the allure of the finest musicians," Victor whispered mischievously to his wife as they stood in a queue, awaiting the butler's introduction at the prestigious Parkington ball.

To other guests, they were the picture of shining nobility, but appearances were deceiving since a certain duke was whispering filthy innuendos in his wife's ears.

"Do behave yourself, Your Grace. Let us remember we are at a public ball," she said, fighting to keep up her gracious smile and pretending that her charming husband was not trying to seduce her with his words at the entrance of a bustling ballroom.

"At this rate, we might dispel one rumor for another one of the salacious kind," she warned.

"What will they say?" Victor said, lifting his head away from her ear.

"That the Duke of Ravenmoor looked fit to devour his wife in the middle of a ball, but that would be the truth, wouldn't it?

I am not averse to returning to our carriage to bring what we had commenced there to its natural conclusion. "

Alice could feel her cheeks warming with a blush as she remembered just what they had been doing in the carriage before they halted in front of the Parkington castle.

In the last three months since her near-death experience, which had forced her husband to profess the full weight of his feelings for her, It was like the wall that surrounded his heart not only collapsed but its pieces were ground to dust and scattered in the wind.

He showed every day how much he adored and loved her both emotionally.

"The Duke and Duchess of Ravenmoor," the butler finally announced them, his voice booming across the room. Victor took her arm leading her into the ballroom.

Walking into society on the arm of the handsome duke that was her husband, she lifted her chin, confident that while they might have coveted her title, they had never stood a chance of acquiring it. The man beside her was devoted to her in a way that silenced even her deepest insecurities.

As they walked, the guests moved away, clearing a path. A single male emerged from the crowd.

"Your Grace," he greeted with a deep bow, raising one of her hands to his lips to press a kiss to it.

"Victor did not do your beauty justice the times we spoke," he added, an easy smile gracing his lips.

By the way, he addressed Victor, she could only guess that he was a close acquaintance of his, and the only one she could think of was Andrew Haskett, the Duke of Hargrave. She was proven right when Victor made the introductions.

"Andrew as you may have assumed, this is my wife the Duchess of Ravenmoor and please do let go of her hand," he said, pulling Alice's hand out of his friend's grasp, eliciting a chuckle from the other man.

"My love," Victor continued, turning to face Alice. "This scoundrel here happens to be my friend Andrew, the Duke of Hargrave."

"Good evening, Your Grace," Alice greeted, lowering herself into a curtesy.

"No need to stand on ceremony on my account, Your Grace. I must commend your courage. Any woman who braved the den of the gloomy Duke of Ravenmoor and emerged unscathed should be celebrated.

"You are doing a great service to humanity keeping him agreeable.

My poor ribs have gotten some time to heal since your beloved duke has not come to pummel me in the guise of sparing.

He is a barbarian, I tell you. Feel free to come complain to me when he becomes a bear again, I promise to curse his guts with you," he said, a charming grin on his face.

Victor released a low growl of disapproval that ought to scare lesser men away, but it spoke of their relationship that he showed no outward reaction to the subtle warning.

"It was my honor to make your acquaintance, Your Grace," he said, pressing a kiss to her gloved hands. He winked at her, eliciting a surprised laugh from her.

Victor growled even louder, and this time, Andrew bowed to her and left. That one was a charmer. A total opposite to the brooding personality of his friend.

"Your friend is interesting," she said to Victor, looking at Andrew's retreating back.

"Pay him no mind. He is a considerable rake, stay away from him."

"Afraid that he would charm me away from you?" she said with a teasing smile.

"Of course not. You belong to me, Alice, and no man living can take you away from me," he said with a quiet confidence filled with solid conviction.

His faith in her loyalty brought tears to her eyes, and if they hadn't been standing in the middle of a crowded ballroom, she would have kissed him.

"Alice," a feminine voice called behind her, drawing her out of her emotional moment. She hurriedly cleaned her eyes with a handkerchief. She pasted on a wide smile and turned to greet the newcomer. Her fake smile transformed into a wide, genuine one when she saw who it was.

"Cathy," she said, excitedly drawing her into a hug. When she broke the hug, she turned to Cathy's husband, who was smiling indulgently at them.

"Pardon my manners my lord. How do you do?"

"I am very well, Your Grace," he answered with an easy smile.

Just then, Victor stepped up behind her and exchanged greetings with the Earl and Cathy. Soon, the Earl drew him into conversation about a bill that was about to be passed in the House of Lords.

Alice took that opportunity to draw Catherine away to catch up on her life and all she had missed in the last two years.

"You look well dear Cathy. You have an incandescent glow around you. It seems your husband is taking very good care of you."

"Yes, he is," she said with a wide smile. "Since he got the news that I was with child, he has insisted that I do nothing. He drives me to distraction sometimes, but I do realize he is doing this to protect me," she said with a sigh.

"Congratulations, Cathy," Alice said in an excited whisper.

"I didn't know about it. Father and Mother had decided to keep me in the dark about everything and everyone.

I would have been ecstatic to hear such great news.

I will be an aunt soon." she squealed, rocking lightly on her heels in a small celebratory dance.

"I think I now understand the source of your other worldly beauty this evening. You have always been beautiful, perfect in a way that I could never hope to attain."

"Perfect?" Cathy said in surprise. "I am anything but perfect. I am riddled with flaws. In fact, I envied you and wished I could be like you."

"Envy me? Why? What quality could I possibly possess that you think is so attractive?"

"Your ability to retain the authenticity of your person.

To stand for what you want and believe in.

Growing up, I felt I needed to dress, eat, and talk a certain way.

I practiced everything down to the way I smiled in order to attract their validation.

They chose my hobbies, friends, and, ultimately, my husband.

I felt like a doll with no thought of my own, forever controlled by the strings in their hands.

Until last year, I did not know who I was or what I liked or did not like.

What I was passionate about and what irritated me.

I was lucky enough to be married to the most considerate man in the universe, who was willing to take my hand and be patient with me throughout this journey of self-discovery.

While I will never be happy about how they trained us, I would not change a thing that happened.

It happened so that I could meet my wonderful husband.

He is the best thing that ever happened to me," she said, looking over to her husband with Victor, a look of adoration in her eyes.

"You might not be Mama and Papa's favorite," she said, turning back to lock eyes with Alice, "but you were always aware of who you are and your place in the universe, and that is so rare it is beautiful.

You are bold and beautiful, and I am sure that was the woman the Duke fell in love with," she added with a knowing smile.

"How are you so sure that he is in love with me?" Alice asked, feeling her cheeks heat up in a blush. "My marriage was not a love match, you know that."

"It might not have started as one, but it had developed into a beautiful love affair.

How could no one guess it, when the man looks at you like the sun rises and sets in your face?

He looked fit to devour you right there in the middle of the ballroom.

He might have even gone ahead had I not interrupted when I did. "

"Surely he would not do that," Alice said, chuckling.

"What do you think?" Catherine asked with a raised eyebrow.

Alice couldn't answer because her husband, while he was conservative in a way, was unpredictable at times. She could never know what he might do next, and that quality—she must confess—kept things interesting.

"That was what I thought," Catherine said with satisfaction, following Alice's continuous silence.

"My husband and I were planning to relocate to one of his smaller estates in Scotland.

I am to take my confinement there. We would have been on our way there now were it not because of your husband's letter. "

"What letter?" Alice interrupted, her curiosity getting the better part of her.

"Your husband wrote a letter to my husband explaining that you were lonely and wanted to see me. He even sent a ducal carriage along to carry us to ensure that we did not use a lack of good transportation as an excuse."

"I mentioned it to him in passing one time, just one time. I never knew that he would go through all this trouble." Alice felt tears gathering in her eyes.

Her gruff and grumbling husband was very tender-hearted, and she felt humbled that she belonged to such a man.

"You are lucky to have him. I would advise you to hold on tightly to him. I intend to hold on to mine," she said, accepting a hug from her husband when he returned to where they stood at the fringes of the ballroom.

"Might I interest you in a dance, my love?" the Earl asked, his dark head bent over his wife's face.

"I believe a certain person had prohibited me from engaging in activities that he deemed as stressful. Am I to infer that you do not think a dance fits into the category of stressful activities?" Cathy asked, sarcasm coloring her tone.

"I hear it is a waltz, Cathy. I will be holding you and guiding the dance, you do not have to do much," he said in a cajoling tone, drawing her up to stand. He bowed to Alice before whisking her away towards the dance floor.

Alice stared at their retreating backs, a permanent smile on her face. Cathy turned at the last minute to wink at her and she couldn't control the laughter that escaped her at the gesture.

The Cathy she knew growing up was guarded. She always seemed to be on edge, with perfectionism ingrained in her at an early age. But the Cathy who walked into the ballroom today seemed happier, more carefree, and more optimistic, and because of that, she held a deep respect for her brother-in-law.

"Dare I ask what is so funny?" Victor's voice came behind her, causing her to look up at his face. He bent at the waist to press a kiss on her forehead.

"It's Cathy, she has the Earl wrapped around her little finger and he does not seem to care."

"Just so you know, I would be happy if I get to wrap my body around yours in any way," he said in that infernal whisper that did terrible things to her equilibrium.

She swallowed thickly, blinking rapidly to bring her mind back into focus.

"I want to hold you in my arms," he continued in that seductive whisper. With each syllable that fell from his lips, she felt herself shiver.

"We are in public, Victor," she warned weakly.

"Well if we cannot, I know of another way to get what I want," he said, stretching to his full height while she watched him with a question in her eyes.

"Can I interest you in a dance, Your Grace?" Victor requested, a naughty smirk on his face.

"Yes, I would love to," she replied, taking his outstretched arm and watching as a smile of victory claimed his lips as he led her to the dance floor.

As the musicians struck up the strings to a waltz, she understood why he thought this dance could substitute for a hug.

The waltz was the most intimate of all English dances, and that was one reason it was shunned by the matrons when it first appeared in English high society. Her husband aimed to take advantage of its scandalous nature.

Sure enough, when they faced each other for the dance, he pulled her into his body more than was considered proper.

"Victor, everyone is watching," she hissed in warning.

"What did I do wrong this time? I am just dancing with my beautiful wife. If they are offended, they should dance with their own spouses," he said with a wolfish smile.

"I never knew you had it in you to be so... naughty."

"I am many things, wife," he said, his grin widening. "You will find out with time."

"Thank you." she blurted out, locking eyes with him to convey her gratitude.

"For what, pet?" he asked, genuine confusion on his face.

"For everything, for bringing my sister here and for loving me despite my flaws."

"You are welcome, my darling, but on the last count, I disagree. You saved me with your love and determination. I should be the one thanking you," he said, his voice hoarse with emotion.

"I love you Alice, my duchess."

"I love you too," she replied, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

He took her arm and led her away from the dance floor, bringing to her notice that the dance had ended.

"While I am all for having you to myself, I think you might want to rescue your friend from the big bad wolf." Victor said beside her, restrained laughter bleeding into his voice.

Alice looked up to see Lavinia in what appeared to be a heated conversation with Andrew.

It definitely looked odd because Lavinia had always favored the seats close to the wall.

She had, too, two years ago before she had married the duke.

This was the first time she was seeing her with a titled young man, especially one that was clearly a rake.

Lavinia might be a wallflower and a bluestocking, but her mild appearance and friendly nature hid a spine of steel. She was sure she could hold her ground even in an argument with the prince regent himself.

"I do not think she needs my help. I think your friend might be the one who needs to be rescued," she replied, smiling up at her husband.

"I don't even know why I was bothered. She is, after all, your friend. Every bit as bold and fearless as you are," he said, looking at her in adoration.