Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

T heodore alighted the coach and walked up to the front door that was being held open by the butler.

"Thank you," he said.

The butler did well to hide his surprise at being thanked in such a friendly manner. The Duke had always treated him well, but he had never audibly thanked him for holding the door open, nor had he smiled when speaking with him.

"My pleasure, Your Grace," the butler said.

Theodore felt something he had not felt in a long time, perhaps something he had been searching for since shortly after he had first become a rake. He had felt it between himself and Christine the previous night. As he had devoured her semi-naked body, he felt the feeling he had felt when he was first with a woman after his father passed.

The women he had been with before were all potential wives. The women he had been with after his father's death were only for pleasure. The first time he had slept with one of the women, he had felt an excitement like never before. A similar excitement had come with the second, but it waned and waned like the seasons of the moon throughout the month.

Pleasuring Christine had been fresh and exciting, and it had taken him the entire day to come to the conclusion that it was more palpitating than his previous conquests.

"Where is the Duchess?" Theodore asked.

"In the sitting room, Your Grace," the butler replied.

"Thank you," the Duke said again.

This time, the whisper of a smile formed on the butler's lips. He quickly gained control of himself.

Theodore stood with his arms out, so his valet could take his coat and hang it by the door. Then, he stretched his arms up and walked off toward the sitting room.

The closer he got, the more of a champagne-like feeling he got in his stomach. With most women, he had not gone back to them the very next day, either not seeing them again at all or not seeing them for a long time after. This experience was new to him.

I need to keep control of myself. I want to let myself loose on her, but I can't let myself loose.

He strode into the sitting room, and his mouth widened into a smile on seeing his wife. She stood quickly from the chair to face him, her face slightly pale and her eyes wide. She opened her mouth a little but did not say a word.

The Duke licked his lips, ready to kiss her and then take her to his room for another round of pleasure. She was his wife, after all, so why should he not take advantage of it? He would not take advantage of her, only of the situation.

"Have you eaten yet?" Theodore suddenly found himself famished at the sight of her.

"No, not yet," Christine replied. "We can eat soon." She looked around the room as if seeing it for the very first time. "I should get you a drink, and then I need to speak to you."

"Fine," Theodore said.

He watched Christine as she glided over to the drinks cart and poured him a brandy. Theodore worried that he knew what she wanted to talk about. She had obviously fallen for him the previous night, and she wanted more. Perhaps she wanted to start a family. He would put to bed the foolish notion, and then he would take her to bed and make her forget all about what she wanted and give her what she needed.

"Your Grace," Christine said when she handed him the glass.

The way she addressed him gave him cause for concern. She had taken to calling him Theodore, and if she had reverted back to calling him Your Grace, then she needed to create some distance between them before she spoke to him. He knew that the news would be troublesome.

Theodore downed the drink. "Talk to me," he ordered. He would rather get it over and done with.

"Yes, of course." Christine touched his arm.

If it had not been for the preamble and the offer of a drink, he might have enjoyed the touch, but it felt like a tactic designed to put him at ease when he should not be at ease. He had entered the room wanting to have some fun with his wife, but his mind told him to get out of there as soon as possible before he heard something he did not like.

"You should sit down," Christine suggested. She had a tight smile plastered to her lips.

"I would rather stand," the Duke said.

"All right." Christine tried to smile wider, but the tightness in her mouth would not let her. "I want you to know that I am by your side no matter what."

A deep unease stirred in the Duke's stomach. "What happened?" he demanded. "Is it mother? Has something happened to Adeline?"

"You don't need to worry; everything is fine. I mean, there is something you should know, but no one is hurt."

"That is exactly what someone would say if nothing was fine," the Duke said. "I demand that you tell me right now what is going on. What has happened."

"Adeline has, um, been seeing a man… in secret."

Theodore's nostrils flared as he digested the news. "Who?" he demanded.

Christine shook her head. "I don't know. She will not tell me."

Theodore turned to leave, but Christine grabbed his arm. He would have been annoyed by the action if he did not expect there was worse to come. He could see it in her eyes.

"Speak!" he demanded.

"She is in love with him," Christine said.

"Is that so?

"And he loves her," Christine continued.

"I could not care less. He is taking advantage of her naivety, and he has not come to me first. She will be done with this man this evening. She does not know what love is."

"You have to trust your sister," Christine said.

"Trust her? Trust her!" Theodore paced a small circle in the room. "Adeline!" he shouted. "Adeline! Get in here this instant. Trust! She has been going behind my back, and I assume he wanted to keep this a secret because he is some rake, or he knows I will not allow the union."

"You might have to," Christine said.

Theodore stopped pacing and faced his wife. "I might have to what?"

"Allow the union."

"And why would I do that? This relationship is over, and that is what I think on the matter. And when I find the man behind this, I shall give him a piece of my mind, too. Adeline!"

"You might have to allow the union because of…" Christine continued.

"Because of what? Because of what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why do you think?" Christine asked sternly. "Why do you think they would have to marry?"

Theodore did not want to think it, but the thought invaded his mind like a mouse sneaking into a stable for warmth, nestling in the warmest part of his brain. He gritted his teeth and balled his fists, waiting for Christine to reveal something else to him that explained everything without it being what they both knew it to be.

When she stood before him and said nothing, he could stay in the room no longer.

"Adeline!" Theodore stormed out of the room, calling her name, following the words as he spat them down the hallways. He knew now that she was hiding in her room, waiting for Christine to smooth over the matter that could never be smoothed over.

He would always stand by his sister, but he could not be calm about the situation. There was nothing right about it. She was unmarried, she was only eighteen, and there were a dozen other reasons that he could yet think of.

"Adeline!" he called as he stormed up the stairs.

Footsteps followed him up the stairs, but he didn't look back. He knew Christine was going with him to protect Adeline from the tirade. He stormed down the hallway like a dark cloud, and he didn't knock when he got to her room. If she did not know by now that he was coming, then there really was no hope for her in life.

Theodore burst through the door, and Adeline jumped. She was by the window, and she spun to face him, pushing herself back to press against the wall.

Adeline held her hands up to ward him. "Please," she begged.

"Please tell me it is not true," the Duke begged in return. "Please tell me this is some big joke, and I can be angry at that for a moment."

Adeline's eyes were red, and she could not make eye contact with him. She looked behind the Duke, her eyes pleading, and Theodore thrust an arm up behind to tell Christine not to get involved.

"I want to hear it from you, Adeline," Theodore demanded. "Are you with child?"

"I didn't mean it to happen," Adeline claimed.

The Duke growled. "Are you with child?"

"I don't know," Adeline spluttered. "I have not bled when I was supposed to bleed, but I have not seen a doctor yet."

Theodore took a deep breath. "Then it might not be true. There is still a chance."

"Theodore," Christine said from behind, "a woman knows. It has not been confirmed, but Adeline knows. She knows her body, and she knows she is with child."

"We will call the doctor first thing in the morning," Theodore decided. "Now, give me a name."

"What will you do to him?" Adeline asked.

"I will talk to him, and he will never talk to you again."

"No!" Adeline screamed. "I love him, Theo! He is in love with me, and as soon as he has the money, he will come and ask for my hand, and I know you will like him. He is a good man."

"No, he is not. I have heard all of this before. He lied to you to get you into his bed, and he never meant to get you pregnant. He only wanted… Give me his name, and all of this will be over."

"You can't keep us apart!" Adeline screamed. "You won't keep us apart!"

"Give me his name!" the Duke boomed.

"I will never!" Adeline screamed.

"Then you will never leave this house again!" the Duke commanded. "The quicker you give me his name, the less mad I will be, and that will be far better for this man in the long run. I shall make this right if it is the last thing I do!"

"Then I shall never give you his name, and I shall run away from here and marry him the first chance I get!" Adeline's screams were shrill, and she broke down in tears when she had finished shouting.

Theodore felt his arm being tugged. "Leave her," Christine said.

The Duke whirled around to face his wife. "You think you can tell me what to do?"

"I am telling you what to do," she maintained. "This will get us nowhere. When everyone has calmed down, we will talk again, but you will only hurt each other."

"I want a name," the Duke demanded.

"And you shall get one," Christine soothed. "Now, leave Adeline. She is punishing herself enough without you doing so."

"This is not done," the Duke said.

"No, it is not, but it is done for tonight."

The Duke swung his leg at a wooden chair, and it crashed against the wall and broke. He trampled over the pieces and left the room.