Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
“ M y darling, are you alright?” Vivian asked as she handed Leah a lemonade. “You look positively distraught tonight.”
“What?” Leah, who had been staring across the ballroom at where her husband was speaking with his friend Anthony, the Duke of Cresswell, had to wrench her attention back to her friend. “Oh, yes, I am very well,” she said distractedly, taking the proffered lemonade.
Vivan’s eyes narrowed. “Are you nervous about navigating the ton’s judgment of your recent, speedy marriage?”
“Perhaps a little,” Leah said truthfully. She glanced around them, and as she did, she was sure she saw a few ladies look away very quickly, as if they had been staring and were afraid of being caught. It was a new feeling. Leah was not used to being stared at by members of the ton. Usually she was the one who got to melt into the background. It was a bit disconcerting.
“I know this is all very new for you,” Vivian said, putting a bracing hand on her shoulder. “But I won’t let anyone say anything unkind about you. This is my ball, after all, and no one can upset the hostess or her best friend. Ah, look, here is Lady Marbleton! She is always very kind.”
Lady Emily Granger, the Countess of Marbleton, came up to Vivian at that moment and greeted her warmly. Leah, who had been introduced to the Countess on one previous occasion, also curtsied to her.
“Ah , Duchess,” Lady Marbleton said, curtsying low to Leah. She gave her a slightly confused look. “You do not need to curtsy to me, Your Grace. You outrank me now!”
Leah felt herself flush. It hadn’t even occurred to her that she now outranked Lady Marbleton--and almost everyone else at this ball.
“Don’t worry,” Lady Marbleton said with a wink. “I am not the kind of lady who stands on ceremony or gossips about small mistakes in etiquette. Your secret is safe with me.”
She kissed Vivian on the cheek, then swept away. Leah and Vivian glanced at each other.
“You really think she won’t tell everyone I just made my first faux pas as a duchess?” Leah asked nervously.
“She won’t. Lady Marbleton is very kind. And was not always a countess, you know. Before the Earl took a liking to her, she was only a simple Miss.”
Leah nodded, but when she glanced around again, she saw several of the same ladies who had been watching her judgmentally whispering to one another and glancing back at her, now blatantly. She knew they had witnessed this and were ready to tell everyone they knew.
Her heart plummeted. Maybe Dorian was right, and she looked the part of a duchess, but she certainly didn’t feel or act like one. She tried hard to focus on his words of encouragement, to remind herself that she was a duchess and had nothing to be ashamed of. B ut it was hard to take the man seriously, when on the one hand, he told her she was beautiful, and on the other, he wouldn’t even kiss her--his own wife.
Dorian had to put some distance between himself and Leah. She looked so beautiful tonight that it put him in a foul mood. All he wanted to do--all he had wanted to do for days, weeks--was take her in his arms and kiss her. But that was impossible, and tonight, with her looking so ravishing, he knew that if he didn’t stay away from her, she would destroy his vow completely.
But with every passing minute, it was growing more and more difficult to keep his distance.
“What is wrong with you tonight?” Anthony asked, his eyes narrowing in concern as he watched Dorian grab a glass of champagne from a passing footman and down it in one go. “You are acting like a wildman.”
“You don’t understand,” Dorian said darkly. “You are not married. Once you are, then you will know the particular torture that a wife can cause her husband.”
“Is your wife rebuffing you already?” Anthony said, a small smile playing across his lips. “Dear me. I must say I admire her, if we have finally found a woman who can say no to you.”
“She is not rebuffing me,” Dorian said through gritted teeth. Leah was talking now with her friend Lady Bellmond, laughing at something she was saying, and with her eyes lit up like that and her cheeks flushed, she had never looked so beautiful or captivating.
How does she not realize how desirable she is? She should be the most confident woman in England!
The answer came in a flash: maybe the fact that her own husband doesn’t want her makes her lose her confidence.
But he did want her. Oh, how much he wanted her. It was taking every ounce of his strength to resist her.
“Well then, what else could it be?” Anthony asked. “Is she irritating? Prone to bouts of madness? Redecorating your entire house?”
“Well, yes, she is,” Dorian said, “but I’m not bothered by that.”
“Then what--”
But Dorian was no longer listening. Because at that very moment, that scoundrel, the man who left Leah to the wolves--or more specifically, to Lord Dubois--was approaching her, a fake smile plastered across his lips. It was Lord Eaton.
As Dorian watched, Lord Eaton came up to Leah and bowed low. She turned toward him, smiling genuinely, which made Dorian even more furious. How can she look that coward in the face after how he allowed himself to be bullied by Dubois into not offering for her? If she knew how he had reacted when Dubois said that she was using him…
But she didn’t know that, and when Lord Eaton gestured to the dancefloor in a clear invitation to dance, she smiled widely and took his hand.
“Your wife is being asked to dance by her former suitor.” Anthony sounded highly amused. “Does that make her seem less irritating to you now?”
“I never said she was irritating,” Dorian snapped.
“Alright, alright,” Anthony said, shaking his head. “I’ll let it go. But you are acting like a madman. Still.”
Lord Eaton was now leading Leah toward the dancefloor, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Dordian couldn’t take it any longer. He made up his mind in a flash. Abandoning Anthony without a second thought, he hurried forward. If he moved fast enough, he would be able to cut them off before they reached the dance floor. He was just a few feet from them--
“Stop right there,” he snarled, grabbing Leah’s hand and wrenching her out of Lord Eaton’s grasp. His wife whirled around to face him, her mouth agape. When she saw it was him, her eyes grew wide as well.
“Dorian!” She cried. “What are you doing?”
“It should be very clear what I am doing: I am stopping you from dancing with Lord Eaton.”
“Your Grace, I don’t see what the problem is,” Lord Eaton said, drawing himself up, a shocked expression on his face.
“You know very well what the problem is,” Dorian said, looking daggers at Lord Eaton. “This is my wife, and she will dance with no one but me tonight.”
“But--” Lord Eaton was flabbergasted. It wasn’t at all uncommon for married women to dance with men they weren’t married to; in fact, it was more unusual for husbands and wives to dance together.
“And even if she were to dance with someone else, it certainly wouldn’t be you.” His eyes bored into Lord Eaton’s. And you know why.
Lord Eaton flushed. He glanced at Leah, who still looked to be in shock, then back at Dorian.
“Have it your way, Your Grace, ” he spat, then turned on his heel and strode away. Dorian watched him go without regret. What did he care if Lord Eaton spread rumors that he was rude and possessive over his wife? Let everyone know that she is mine.
“What was that?” Leah hissed, and he turned back around to see her glaring at him. She didn’t appear to be in shock anymore. “ You are the one who said I am allowed to do what I want, to lead a separate life from you! And now I cannot even dance with a gentleman without you putting a stop to it?”
Dorian didn’t answer. Instead, he took her hand and began to lead her toward the dance floor. She followed, unresisting, and soon, they had joined the other couples who were waltzing around them.
A flicker of a smile passed by Dorian’s lips. The waltz. I taught this to her. She clearly remembered his instructions, because she danced gracefully and effortlessly in his arms, allowing him to lead confidently. Several long minutes passed, during which they said nothing to each other. But slowly, as he led her through the steps, the anger on her face dissipated, until it was replaced with wary watchfulness.
“Why are you acting like this?” she asked at last, the words soft and sweet in his ear. “You say you want us to live separate lives, but your actions tell me something else.”
Dorian didn’t know what to say. Everything sounded like a lie. “I’m just doing what any husband would do if a former suitor approached his wife,” he said at last, knowing she wouldn’t believe it for a moment.
She gave him a small, skeptical smile, but answered only , “You almost sound like a real husband.”
Dorian’s heart clenched, and he tightened his grip on her hand and waist, pulling her in closer to him--much too close. He knew he was holding her in a way that was highly improper, but he didn’t care. Her eyes widened, and her cheeks flushed.
“I am your real husband,” he muttered, so low that only she could hear it. But he knew she had heard it, because he saw the way her cheeks reddened even more and felt the way her hands began to tremble.
“But--” she began, in a tiny whisper.
“And don’t you forget it,” he interrupted. He was enjoying himself a little now, the power he clearly had over her. She was not immune to his charms. And he was clearly not immune to hers. Something wild and uncontrollable was taking over him. His will was shattering. And along with it, the part of him that could keep her at bay.
The music ended, and they stepped back from one another, bowing and curtsying tentatively. Then he offered her his arm, and she took it.
“Shall we go home?” he murmured, as he led her from the floor. “I think we have caused enough of a scandal tonight already.”
And it was true: all around them, eyes were following them. H is confrontation with Lord Eaton had not gone unnoticed.
Without a word, she nodded . He nodded as well, relieved. Every inch of him was longing to get her out of her--to get her alone.
Cloaks collected, they were just nearing the doors of the ballroom when someone stepped out in front of them, blocking their exit.
Dorian froze, his hand instinctively tightening on his wife’s arm while at the same time, he drew himself up to his full and considerable height.
It was Lord Benedict Dubois.
Leah felt as if her heart had stopped. The last time she had seen Lord Dubois, he had been threatening to marry her against her will, having barged into her family’s house. Now, he was standing right in front of her, a sickly sweet smile on his face.
Next to her, Dorian had gone completely still, and his hand, which had already been resting on her arm, tightened. At the same time, she felt him move closer to her. He loomed a little taller as his spine straightened.
If he hadn’t been beside her, Leah was afraid she might have fainted. But with Dorian there, she knew there was no reason for her to worry, even as her heart beat with fear. Despite the conflicts they had experienced since their wedding, she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Dorian would protect her from this man. That he would protect her with his life, if he had to.
“What do you want, Lord Dubois?” Her husband said, taking a step forward and angling himself between her and Dubois.
“Your Grace, you mistake me” Dubois said, bowing low to Dorian. “I do not want anything from you--except, of course, to congratulate you on your recent nuptials. When I read about it in the paper, I must admit, I was shocked--but not so shocked, when I remembered how you had defended the girl to me.”
“I am not interested in having any kind of conversation with you,” Dorian said, his voice so commanding and final that Leah was impressed, despite herself. “Nor do I want your congratulations.”
Lord Dubois’s smile widened, and his eyes flickered to Leah. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The look in the man’s eyes was so spiteful and filled with hatred--despite the smile on his lips.
“Well, perhaps the Duchess will allow me to congratulate her ,” he said, bowing to her now. “I am sure she made a very beautiful bride--as she is beautiful in everything she does.”
“That is enough,” Dorian snarled, and he shouldered Lord Dubois out of the way and pulled Leah after him. The viscount let out a grunt of surprise, but neither Dorian nor Leah stopped to see if he was alright. Leah allowed her husband to hurry her away, out into the hall, and then his hand found hers, and the two of them were walking swiftly away from Lord Dubois.
Leah tried to convince herself that she was walking away and not running.