Page 21 of The Duke’s Hellion (Duke Dare #3)

“N ame my seconds? What on earth are you talking about?” Rudolph, the weasel, looked befuddled.

“You can’t have her,” Sam countered, essentially ignoring his cousin’s question.

“Why not?”

“You can’t possibly love her. You don’t even know her.”

“ I don’t know her? How can you say that? You don’t even know her.” Rudolph’s arms were frantically gesticulating to random spaces in the room, including the area in which Mimi remained standing as still as one of his garden statues that his dog liked to pee on.

Sam was too furious to notice her stillness, and far too beyond rational to see the analogy for what it fully meant.

He was well aware of one thing though. He recognized how little he knew Mimi, but he knew her enough to know she was his and no one was going to take her away from him.

Up until this point in time, Rudolph had been a wily weasel, secretive about his effort to take Sam out to try and inherit the dukedom.

But of course, just like other men in his family, his cousin was an expressive, impulsive idiot when it came to women.

He thought he could take one look at Mimi and claim her? He had another thing coming.

This was beyond the pale. A man couldn’t come outright and claim another man’s wife.

“I know enough,” Sam finally ground out. “And she’s mine.”

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but whatever reason you think she’s yours, you’re insane. I cannot, in any conscience, duel a madman.”

Sam growled before lunging at Rudolph. The two toppled over, with Sam pinning Rudolph to the ground. He grabbed his cousin’s lapels and was shaking the man.

Mimi was now at his side, “Sam, please stop. We’ll figure this out.”

“This idiot thinks he can make attempts on my life and get away with it. Fine.” He throttled Rudolph for good measure. He wanted to make sure his words were sinking in. “But if he thinks for one second he can come in here and take my wife from me—”

“Your wife?” Rudolph shouted.

“Yes, my wife.” Sam turned his full attention to his cousin. “If you think you can take her—”

A laugh belted out of Rudolph as he dropped his head to the ground. The laughter rumbled through his body, causing unwelcome vibrations to course through Sam’s body.

“What the bloody hell is so funny, you idiot?”

But Rudolph was laughing too hard to answer him. It took a moment for the shaking to cease, and only after Rudolph wiped the teary laughter from his eyes did he finally reply.

“I’m not interested in your wife,” he said with a solemn face.

“You said you loved her.”

“I do—”

“In my books love screams of interest—”

“I do love her.” Rudolph’s words were cut off by Sam’s growl. “Well, not her .” He canted his head in Mimi’s direction. “I love a woman, who shall remain unnamed for now.”

“For God’s sake man, why didn’t you say that to begin with?” Sam loosened his hold on his cousin, feeling a tidal wave of relief surge over him.

“I thought I did,” Rudolph said while rubbing his throat. “At the very least, I never said I loved her . I don’t even know her.”

“My point precisely,” Sam grumbled as he stood up. “Get up.”

The two men straightened themselves and their attire, and as Sam turned to face Mimi, Rudolph mirrored his actions.

“This is my wife, Mimi.”

“Lovely to meet you.” Rudolph bowed as if he always acted the perfect gentleman. “And though it pains me to confirm it, I must confess, I do not love you.” The man smirked at his feeble attempt at a joke.

“Don’t be an arse,” Sam grunted at his cousin, pulling his wife into his side.

“Alas, I must admit I am in love. I believe this is a most singular experience in my life.” His eyes turned dreamy, and Sam realized that this was the first time he had ever seen his cousin in this way.

It was hard to put it into words, but there was no malice in his eyes.

No bitterness. Something was missing and had been replaced by love.

So the man claimed. Sam was not entirely convinced.

“I’m happy for you and your unnamed woman.”

“Thank you.” Rudolph shone a large smile at him. “I wanted to share the good news with you before I go and start my new life.”

Sam merely acknowledged the man with a nod.

“I shall be off shortly. I have already packed my bags.”

And good riddance.

“But…one more thing. What’s this about me making attempts on your life?”

Sam shook his head, forgetting that he had disclosed his knowledge of Rudolph’s subterfuge.

“Let’s forget it, shall we?”

“I would if I could. But I can’t…so I won’t. You think I’ve made attempts on your life? Whatever for?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Rudolph? Must I really spell it out?”

“I rather think you must.”

“You want the dukedom. I understand—”

For the second time in a span of twenty minutes, Rudolph’s laughter cut him off. The man was beyond irritating.

“I do not want to take over the dukedom, Sam.”

Something about how simple the sentence was and how serious Rudolph sounded made Sam pause. Had he been all wrong about his cousin? Surely not. But…did he actually have proof against Rudolph?

“You don’t?”

“No.”

“Then why do you show up here?”

“You’re my cousin.” Rudolph smirked. “And there’s this woman nearby, you see…”

“Let me rephrase that. Why do you always show up looking like, acting like, you want to murder me?”

Rudolph stuffed his hands in his pockets. “That is a very good question. I suppose there are a few contributing factors to that, but primarily I always felt as though you didn’t want me here.” He wasn’t wrong about that.

“Are you telling me that this was one giant misunderstanding?”

Mimi interrupted for the first time. “Two giant misunderstandings.” She held up her fingers to give more voice to the statement.

“Yes, two misunderstandings.”

Rudolph nodded. “It seems that way. But it’s a good thing we cleared it up because it looks as though I’ll be seeing you much more frequently.”

“Why is that?” Sam was afraid to ask.

Mimi nudged him with a smile. “His unnamed woman, I imagine?”

“Ah yes…” Sam said in agreement.

“That is correct. Now, I hate to fight and leave, but I’ll see you again soon.” Rudolph turned and walked out the door.

“Wonderful,” Sam mumbled.

Sam waited for Rudolph to be out of hearing distance and then said, “I need to take a walk.”

“You don’t think it’s going to rain soon.”

“Probably. But it’s what I need right now.” He raked his hands through his hair. “That, and I need to go see Rex.”

“Rex? Who’s that?”

“My dog.” If he had been thinking more clearly, he would have answered with more kindness in his tone, but at the moment, his brain had turned to pudding and any filters he normally used to screen his thoughts were gone. Hmmm…this must be how Mimi felt every day.

“You have a dog?” He noticed the alarm in her voice and picked up a shred of his decency.

“Yes, I do. But don’t worry about Rex. He’s been put in a safe place away from you.”

“Oh…” she said with her eyes trained on him. “Thank you. That’s…very kind of you.”

He drew near to her and took her hand in his. “You’re my wife, Mimi. I know you have a fear, and I would never subject you to that.”

“That’s so thoughtful of you, Sam. I don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing to say about it. Rex and I will continue our relationship on the side.” He winked at her, feeling the need to add some levity to the moment.

“As long as he’s your only side thing, I’m all right with it.” Her smile made it all worth it. It was no hardship to confine Rex to a large space on the estate and ensure their paths never crossed. It was a small compromise considering the many sacrifices couples had to make.

“I shall go for a walk as well.” Her smile warmed his heart.

“That’s not necessary, I can take a treat to Rex without you.”

“You don’t want me to go?”

“I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to do. I would never ask you to—”

“You’re not asking.”

He smiled at her. “That’s true.”

“And you’ll be with me the whole time?”

“I will.”

“Then let’s go. You can introduce me to Rex.” She wrapped her hand around his arm. “I might just wave from a distance, but I’ll still say hello. Probably.”

“Let’s go then.”

It was a bit of a walk to find Rex. He was lazing around in a field. Rolling over in the dirt, following butterflies with eyes. Moving about as fast as he normally did, which was the average pace of a turtle. He was an old soul and wasn’t the kind to express himself too vividly.

When they reached the fenced off area, Sam placed his hands on the top wrung and looked out at Rex. The dog noticed him but didn’t immediately come bounding over, more or less, he looked over his shoulder at Sam and nodded at him. As much as a dog could nod his greeting.

Sam felt his pockets to offer a treat.

“Drat! I forgot his treat. We’ll have to go back and get it.”

“I think I’ll just wait for you.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’ll wait here by yourself? With my dog? Alone?”

She lifted her arm to point at the dog, “He hasn’t really moved since we got here. And he can’t jump the fence, can he?”

Sam laughed as he glanced over at his dog who was now cloud-gazing. “Rex is not the fence-jumping kind.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Sam took off leaving Mimi with Rex.

*

Mimi couldn’t remember the last time she had been alone with a dog. But she couldn’t get Sally’s words of advice out of her head. Marriage and all its choices. She needed to choose every day who she wanted to be and how she wanted to treat her husband.

Sam was kind enough to separate her from the dog, she could be brave enough to face her fears. Besides, this dog looked harmless. Actually, the dog was practically motionless.

A raindrop landed on the fence. A small drop, but Mimi looked up. She hoped Sam would be returning quickly. She wanted to give Rex his treat and then take shelter.

A few more drops landed, a bit heavier this time.

Rex got up. Now that he was on all fours and looking at her, her heart pounded inside of her.

Her legs almost trembled, but she scolded them.

If Rex had bounded over to them earlier, jumping, barking, and lapping at her, she would have been terrified.

There would have been no chance she would have remained alone with him, but he was a slow and quiet dog, keeping to himself.

But with the rain falling, and the clouds growing darker, she could see Rex making his way over to a doghouse. He gave her a look over his shoulder.

Mimi reciprocated the action, looking over her shoulder to see if Sam was in sight yet, but the fields were open behind her.

A loud whimper rang through the air, and she looked back at Rex’s enclosed space. She couldn’t find him, but she could hear a whimpering sound. As if the dog were hurt.

The rain was beating down now and the air was growing colder. She needed to make a decision quickly.

She could stay where she was and hope Sam would return soon. Then he could find Rex and take care of the dog. That option did not look good. Sam wasn’t in sight, and the whimpering sounded awful.

She could run back to the house and get Sam. But that didn’t seem very feasible. The rain was almost pouring now. By the time she went home and returned, Rex would be freezing. She couldn’t do that to Sam’s dog. To Sam.

So the last option she had…the last plan she ever thought she would enact…was the one she chose. She would launch herself over the fence, go find the dog, and comfort him. This dog meant a lot to Sam, and she couldn’t have him suffering.

It took all her nerve, all her concentration, and then all of her strength, but she climbed the few feet up the fence and then pushed herself over it.

She didn’t give her feet a chance to take root, knowing they would if they caught whiff of her fear.

Instead, she rushed forward, toward the whimpering sound.

“Rex?” she said in what was hopefully a more calm than frantic voice. “Rex, are you all right? I’m coming.”

Another whimper, another step. Then she looked down and saw a hidden ditch in the ground. Rex was lying there whimpering.

“I’m here, Rex.” Yes, she was here, but she had no clue what she was going to do.

That wasn’t true, she knew what she was going to do.

She just needed an extra moment to steel her resolve.

Finding her backbone, she bent over, putting one foot in the hole, with two arms, she reached around the dog and pulled him to her chest. He was heavier than she expected, but she pushed him up so that he was on level ground.

After she pulled herself out of the ditch, she started to walk toward the dog shelter.

Sam’s house was too far for her to make the walk with the dog. Rex hobbled behind her. “Come on, boy. Let’s get you safe.”

It was a slow pace, but thankfully the shelter was only a few yards away. It was huge. Large enough for her to fit inside and wait out the rain with Rex.

Rain beat against the roof while Rex rested his head in her lap. She never thought she would pet a dog again, but Rex wasn’t moving.

Gingerly, she brought her hand up to his head and slowly brought it down to pat him. Then she slid her hand down his back.

Never in her wildest fantasies had Mimi ever imagined confining herself into an enclosed area with a dog, waiting to be rescued by her husband.