Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T heodore led Margaret sharply towards the dance floor. His heart was thudding hard in his chest, as though it would crack a rib from the sheer number of beats.

As he passed the Viscount, he couldn’t help glaring at the man’s back, though Lord Edlerglen didn’t seem to notice. He was now too busy talking to Evelina and Gabriel with animation, no doubt complaining to them of his new son-in-law’s rudeness.

Like I care. He deserved worse.

Theodore knew what cruelty from a parent was like. He had experienced it often enough as a child to recognize it, but to see Margaret suffer such a personal insult in a place so public was crushing.

How could he treat her in such a way?

Maggie seemed to be trying to get his attention, though Theodore barely took notice as he led her toward the other dancers. The music ended and some left the floor, allowing Theodore and others to walk into the middle of the floor.

It was another waltz, which made him sigh in relief. He was not familiar with many of the quadrille or cotillion’s complicated choreography. He bowed to Maggie as the music began. Her eyes never left his face as she curtsied, then he moved toward her, taking her in his arms.

It felt right, having her there in his grasp. Her soft hand took his own as her other rested delicately on his shoulder. His hand was rather possessive on her back, drawing her near. To his relief, she didn’t pull away, nor did she seem to mind how he grasped onto her.

“The money I gave you,” Theodore muttered, choosing to look somewhere over her head as he asked this question. “Please tell me that you didn’t give it all to him.”

She hung her head between them.

“Maggie!”

“He’s my father,” she said simply, raising her head to look him in the eye.

He barely moved them around the room, for he was not so consumed by this conversation. He rocked them from side to side, well aware that other couples circled them madly.

“What else am I supposed to do when he is so desperate for money?”

“His desperation is for his own doing.”

“I know that, but I can’t fix him. If I could flick my fingers and make his problem go away, I would, but I cannot. I can only try to give him money to stop the situation from getting any worse.”

“Maggie, it will just get worse. Especially if we fund his addition.”

She chewed her lip, staring somewhere into the middle of his chest.

“I am doing it for my sisters,” she whispered. “I want to help them.”

“Then don’t give the money next time to him. Buy them things, take them places.”

“I could.” She nodded hastily. “I made a list with them recently of all the places they wanted to go. I could take them there with the money.”

“Yes, do that. Give them the life experiences they crave.” Theodore began to turn her slowly around the room. “We’re not funding his habit anymore.”

“But…”

“What do you mean, but?” Theodore must have said it sharply, for she flinched in his arms.

She never flinches with me. Ever.

Protectively, his hand slid further across her back, pulling her softly into him. She didn’t tug away. If anything, she seemed to sink into his arms a little, her body brushing against his own.

This is too much…

A heat rose up his neck, a need to have her close overwhelming.

“But…” She inhaled sharply. “He’s still my father. I still want to protect him. Despite all his faults, despite how much I hate who he has become, is it not my responsibility to try and save him from himself?”

“You cannot save a parent from their worst demons. Trust me, I know.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Theodore turned her quicker around the room to avoid looking Maggie in the eye. He couldn’t tell her about his past. He kept a door firmly locked on that part of his life. To speak of it, would mean letting that darkness sully all that was good between him and Maggie.

“I meant that your father is using you all. He sees all his children as a means to more money, does he not?” Theodore determinedly kept the conversation about her family and far from his own. “Gabriel has talked enough about how your father pesters him from money. Clearly, we shall be no different.”

“He’s desperate –”

“He just insulted you, because he was so busy thinking of money, he didn’t once think of you as a human being with emotions, Maggie. Does that not hurt you?”

“Of course it does.”

“Then stand up for yourself!” he hissed.

“I beg your pardon?” She jerked her head further back from him. Theodore wondered if he’d gone too far now. Would she end their dance at once and push his hands off her?

“You are always full of spark with me,” he said, lowering his voice to a deep tone. She hadn’t pulled away yet and he was determined to take advantage of her being so near for a few minutes longer. “You have fire. You have a strong spine. Why do you lose it with your father?”

She blinked, her lips pressed firmly together.

“There are things you don’t see, Theo,” she whispered, her gaze flitting up to meet his. “I do stand up for myself, I do have a strong spine, despite what you think, but there are times when it’s hard. I can argue with my father until I’m blue in the face, but do you not think I have tried? Do you not think I have seen that it makes no difference?”

The wind left him. Theodore slowed their dance, moving so he and Margaret were just rocking side to side again. Her hand had slipped a little off his shoulder, so that it was resting on the top part of his chest.

Do not pull your hand away now.

It was just a small intimacy, but it meant everything.

“Then I am sorry it makes no difference,” he said in a husky tone, “but we cannot fund him. That will only make things worse.”

“What do you suggest?”

“I suggest that any money I give you, we figure out together how it goes to your sisters, and only t o your sisters. Your father only has so much money he can gamble,” he reminded her. “Invite your sisters to stay.”

“To stay? Here?” She lifted her head sharply. “Do you mean it?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “All the leaves will be gone from the trees soon. Before you know it, December will be here, and it will be Christmas.”

“It will be a nice time to have them here,” Maggie whispered, clearly deep in thought as a smile tugged at her lips.

“Exactly. Invite them here. Give them a taste of what life is like outside of a house that is so dominated by your father’s debilitating way of life,” he whispered. “Yes?”

“Yes.” Her smile grew fuller. “You would do this for me? You would have my sisters in this house for a few days?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you like your space,” she pointed out with wide eyes. “There will be laughter, card games, and we’ll go for long walks in your beloved garden. You won’t be able to escape us that much, you know,” she whispered with mischief.

“I know.” Theodore found himself smiling, too. “I’m ready for that.”

“Curious.” She narrowed her eyes a little.

“What is?”

“When I first met you, I was convinced all you ever wanted to be was alone and in your own space. The more I know you… the more I wonder if you actually like company much more than you pretend to.”

“Ha! You don’t know me as well as you think you do, Maggie,” he said softly, though he drew her even closer still. Had they not been married, their position now would have been completely scandalous for her body was practically pressed against his own.

“Don’t I?” She was still smiling. “You eat dinner as well as breakfast with me now.” She looked down at his chest, her cheeks blushing a deeper shade of red. “I like this version of you.”

Theodore sighed.

This version of me? Or is it just… me?

He’d got used to being alone in this house for so long, the staff his only friends, that it was strange now to think of having a family within these walls.

Unsure what else to say to Maggie, he just turned her in his arms, practically embracing her. His lips came near her forehead, and he so nearly gave into the temptation to kiss the exposed skin there. It was a temptation that thrummed through him. He thought he heard her inhale.

Is she hoping for that kiss, too?

Then it was over. The music came to an end and Theodore was forced to release her and step back, the two of them bowing and curtseying to each other.

Something had changed once again between them in those few minutes. Though they had argued, there was a softness, a presence of something he had not expected to find.

He offered his hand to her, and she took it, without hesitation. He led her toward the end of the floor, as out of the corner of his eye, he saw the business acquaintance arrive that he had been hoping for so long to work with.

“He’s here,” Theodore whispered.

“Who?”

“Mr. Harold Bates. He has big connections in the spice trades in the east.”

“He is the man you have been hoping to do business with?”

“Yes.”

“Then come. Let’s meet him.” Maggie’s determination made him smile.

This is what I wanted. A wife who would not be afraid to help me in this endeavor.

“Mr. Bates?” Theodore called as he drew near to the gentleman.

“Ah, Your Grace.” Mr. Bates turned to face him. The balding man had a rather soft face. His eyes shifted quickly between Theodore and Maggie.

Theodore saw at once what he had suspected the multiple times he had asked for a meeting before. Mr. Bates was a man known for his ethical business practices and as part of that, he never worked with anyone he couldn’t trust. The kindly face had calculating and judging eyes.

“I was surprised to have received your invitation,” Mr. Bates said softly, offering a bow to the two of them.

“You are most welcome here this evening.” Theodore gestured to Maggie. “May I introduce my wife, the Duchess of Thornfield.”

“It is lovely to meet you, sir,” Margaret said, curtseying hurriedly. “I have heard much about you from my husband. I believe he aspires to be quite like you in business.”

“Oh, really?” The compliment did its work for Mr. Bates pinkened a little. “That is most kind. I must admit that I am startled by such a thing. The rumors, Your Grace… well, it would be rude of me to mention them. No, no, forgive me, I should not have spoken thus.”

“Please, do not apologize.” Theodore shook his head. “You would not be the first, nor will you be the last, to fear that my business investments are not entirely reputable. It is not the case, however.” He looked at Margaret, praying that having her at her side would help. “I pray such opinions are about to change.”

“They will.” Maggie spoke with confidence and looped her hand through the crook of his arm.

Mr. Bates smiled as he looked between them.

“Your Grace,” he addressed Margaret. “I believe you are the daughter of Viscount Edlerglen. Such an old family indeed.”

“Yes, I come from a long line, sir.”

Theodore could have sighed at how this apparently made a difference, especially when he was a duke.

Clearly, not many in this room know of her father’s fall from financial grace. He has somehow maintained his reputation.

“You are most welcome tonight,” Maggie said with a smile. “I hope we’ll be able to welcome you again for a dinner soon. Do you have a wife sir? Pray, bring her, too.”

“I’d love to.” Mr. Bates smiled fully. “Ah, here comes a friend of yours, I believe, Your Grace.” He nodded at someone moving toward them through the crowds. “I have engaged in business with his father in the past, too.”

Cedric.

Theodore smiled as his friend moved toward them. Cedric was as charismatic as ever as he turned to Mr. Bates with a full bow.

“Mr. Bates! It has been too long. How are you, my good sir?” He took Mr. Bates’ hand and shook it as if they were old friends indeed.

“Very well indeed.” Mr. Bates smiled, clearly quite delighted with this fresh company.

Theodore felt a twinge in his gut which he tried his best not to identify.

“Now, at last!” Cedric clapped his hands together and turned to face Theodore and Maggie. “You have kept your wife to yourself for too long, my good friend.” He slapped Theodore on the back good-naturedly. “I could hardly blame you for wanting to keep this beauty to yourself, but come, now you must introduce me.”

“Maggie, this is my cousin and a very good friend of mine. Cedric Pembroke, the Earl of St Vincent.”

Cedric flamboyantly bowed, then as he stood straight, smoothly took hold of Margaret’s hand. It was all in one swift movement, as he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the back.

Theodore’s stomach twitched much more violently now. Why was it that Cedric could kiss his wife’s hand with such ease, but Theodore pulled back, afraid how she would take such a kiss?

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Maggie said quietly.

“Oh, no, the pleasure is all mine indeed.” Cedric had still not released her hand. “No wonder you have been keeping her hidden here, Theodore, but surely it is time to share now? Your Grace, would you care to dance?” Cedric was already pulling on Maggie’s hand, drawing her away.

Say no. Please.

“I would be delighted. If you don’t mind?” Maggie turned to Theodore, checking with him.

I cannot refuse, can I?

“Of course. Enjoy.” Theodore forced a wooden smile. As Maggie was drawn away toward the dance floor with Cedric, Mr. Bates moved back to his side.

“You are clearly not quite the man I thought you to be, Your Grace.” Mr. Bates’ voice was filled with a kind of awe. “To welcome us all into your house as this, to have such friends and the love of a wife like that… makes a man think. Perhaps I have become the man I never wanted to be. Perhaps I have been duped by scandal sheets.”

This is what I always wanted, wasn’t it? So be excited, Theodore!

“I cannot tell you the relief that brings me, sir.” Theodore forced that smile to stay in place. “Perhaps we could have a meeting some time to discuss business matters?”

“I’d like that, very much, though I wager your mind is not on business at this moment, is it?” Mr. Bates laughed, nodding toward where Cedric and Maggie were now dancing.

Theodore’s gut twisted unpleasantly again.

What is this feeling?

He wasn’t quite sure, but all he knew at that moment was that he wished he had not invited Cedric to this ball.