Page 25 of The Duke Dare (Love’s a Game #2)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Later That Afternoon, Brooks’s Club
W hen Southbury entered the club, Lucian glanced up. Excellent. Gemma’s brother was just the man he was looking for. He’d already spent the first half of the morning making discreet inquiries as to whether anyone had actually known his wife to have cuckolded him.
Turned out, not one man had knowledge of anything of the sort. In fact, they’d all been quick to assure him the duchess had carried herself with nothing but grace and dignity since he’d been gone. She’d been entirely faithful to him, despite the fact that she’d apparently had an abundance of offers to stray.
“She’s quite beautiful, you know?” Lord Melmont said after giving Lucian an earful of similar information.
Lucian clenched his jaw. “Yes, I know,” he ground out.
Why did everyone insist on telling him how beautiful his wife was? As if he couldn’t see it with his own two eyes. He wasn’t blind. Far from it. In fact, last night when she’d been railing at him, he’d been struck half dumb by the sight of her. It had been difficult to concentrate on the mad things she’d been saying because he’d been so preoccupied by the view of her gaping bodice. And the alluring flush on her high cheekbones.
Gemma looked so unlike she had last year. It was almost as if she was a different person. Only the eyes made him realize it was her. Those same dark, compelling eyes that had been wide with apprehension after their wedding were trained on him last night with fire flashing inside them.
Yes, she was gorgeous, which was precisely why he needed to know if she had cuckolded him. It was also why he could not take her to bed until he’d been back for at least a month. Any child born to her would have to be proven to be his and his alone. Frustrating but true. Not that the woman appeared to be ready to welcome him into her bed anytime soon, but surely she would see reason after she realized he would not be granting her a divorce.
“I know at least three men who offered her an arrangement,” Melmont continued. “Pembroke has been?—”
Lucian’s hand shot up. “Do not mention Pembroke’s name in my presence, if you please.”
A delighted smile covered Melmont’s face.
Great. That bit of gossip would be making the rounds soon enough…that Lucian was so enraged by Pembroke that he refused to hear his name.
Only it was true. So be it.
Honestly, hearing Pembroke’s name made Lucian want to punch his fist through the nearest wall. Instead, he forced himself to smile and nod and thank Melmont and the other men he’d spoken to for the information they’d provided.
Lucian was convinced Gemma hadn’t been unfaithful. Now he needed to discover exactly what she had been doing that night in Southbury’s study.
And he knew precisely who to ask.
Lucian excused himself, took his drink, and made his way to the next room to find Gemma’s older brother.
“Grovemont!” Southbury exclaimed the moment he saw him. “I heard you’d returned.” His brother-in-law stood and clapped him on the back, splaying his hand toward the seat next to him. “Please sit.”
Lucian lowered himself into a leather chair while Southbury ordered a drink from one of the footmen.
“How was your travel?” Southbury said after they were both settled in.
“Long,” Lucian grumbled.
Southbury shook his head. “I don’t know how you managed it. I wouldn’t be able to stand being away from Meredith for that length of time.”
Lucian allowed his silence to speak for itself. He and Gemma clearly didn’t have a love match. But at least Southbury had introduced the topic Lucian wanted to discuss. Specifically, he wanted to know if Southbury was aware of Gemma’s ludicrous desire for a divorce. Surely, he wouldn’t approve. But Lucian had to handle the inquiry carefully on the assumption Southbury didn’t know.
Lucian scratched his chin in the most nonchalant way possible. “Have you spoken to your sister?”
Southbury nodded. “I saw Gemma not two nights ago, actually.”
Lucian lifted his brows and crossed his right boot atop his left knee. “Did she mention any plans?”
“Plans?” Southbury frowned. “No. What plans?”
Interesting. Apparently, Gemma hadn’t mentioned her desire for a divorce to her brother. No doubt he’d say so if he knew. Was she biding her time? Was she intentionally keeping her desire for a divorce from her brother? Or was the entire claim a ruse? One meant to manipulate Lucian.
Regardless, Lucian wasn’t about to share the secrets of his marriage with his brother-in-law. “She didn’t mention anything to you?” he asked vaguely, tugging at the leg of his breeches.
Southbury scrubbed his chin and leaned a bit closer. “I hate to put my nose somewhere it does not belong, but…I do think she’s been quite unhappy about your absence.”
Lucian’s brows shot up once more. “Funny. I get the impression that she enjoyed my absence.”
Southbury shrugged. “The few times I’ve asked her about it, she’s mentioned that you never wrote to her.”
Lucian expelled a long breath. He might as well admit to that mistake. “It’s true.”
Southbury’s countenance became sharp, his voice serious. “I’ll be honest with you, Grovemont. I’ve worried a time or two whether she’s happy in the marriage. Especially given the circumstances of how you two became betrothed.”
Ah, there it was, the opening he needed. Lucian lifted his glass to his lips as he considered the most effective reply. “Gemma is the one who wanted the marriage,” he finally said.
Southbury’s brows drew together into a sharp frown. “That’s not true.”
Lucian cocked his head. “Of course, it is. She and her friend planned it.”
Southbury gave him a look that clearly indicated he thought Lucian had lost his mind. “What? No. Gemma was trying to get Lady Mary Costner to leave the other girls alone that night.”
Gemma’s words from last night played through Lucian’s head. “I was trying to help my friends that night by convincing Lady Mary to leave them alone.” Then she’d gone on with something about a dare and a dance, but none of it had truly made any sense. “I know that’s what she said, but?—”
“That’s what happened .” Southbury’s voice took on a low, warning tone. “Meredith and I had both witnessed Lady Mary’s antics before. She’d threatened all the debutantes with dire consequences if they didn’t stay away from you.”
Lucian’s frown intensified. “I don’t understand. What did I have to do with it?”
Southbury blew out a breath. “Lady Mary had her sights set on wringing an offer from you. I assumed you knew.”
Lucian shook his head. “I had no idea. I barely knew who the chit was before that night.”
“She certainly knew who you were,” Southbury told him. “At our wedding ball, Gemma had managed to negotiate a truce with Lady Mary. Gemma agreed to ask you to dance. Lady Mary expected you to reject her, and once Gemma was duly humiliated, Lady Mary agreed she would leave the other girls alone for the remainder of the evening.”
Lucian sat in silence for several moments as he considered what he’d just been told. It was practically nonsensical. But he had to admit that it actually fit with what he’d heard Gemma and Mary say to each other that night. It was all becoming more clear.
Lucian wiped a hand over his face. “You’re saying Gemma knew she would be humiliated by asking me to dance, but she still did so?”
Southbury nodded. “Yes. She had no hope that you’d say yes. Lady Mary had dared her. No doubt she intended to report it to the ballroom. Apparently, you had quite a reputation for never dancing with any of the debutantes.”
Lucian’s jaw locked. The thoughts he’d had alone in the study before Gemma had entered came back to him. “The irony is that I had just decided I would begin asking young ladies to dance.”
“Gemma couldn’t have known that.” Southbury shrugged. “The problem is she’s impatient. Instead of waiting for you to return to the ballroom, she went looking for you. She shouldn’t have done that. She regretted it immensely later that night.”
Regretted it enough to…vomit? Lucian considered everything he’d just heard. He’d known Southbury since they were lads in school together. The man wasn’t a liar, even if his story would paint his own sister in a better light. More to the point, the story he’d just told was ludicrous enough to be true. If Southbury had invented it, it would be less convoluted. Which left only one conclusion. Gemma had been telling the truth when she’d told him she hadn’t wanted to marry him any more than he’d wanted to marry her.
So, she was neither a cheat nor a scheming liar.
And here he’d been treating her like a pariah the entire time they’d been married. Fuck. He shook his head. He was precisely the pompous, arrogant, holier-than-thou ass that Gemma had accused him of being. He’d hurt her. Hurt her, refused to listen to her, and pushed her away…to the point that she now wanted a divorce of all things.
Damn it all to hell. There was only one thing to do. He had to find a way to make it right.