Chapter Two #2
Her friend followed her gaze. “Oh, uh… that’s the Duke of Darkemore. I think he’s a member of my husband’s club. From what I remember of Dante telling me about various men there, I believe he usually spends his time in Cornwall these days but has recently come back to London.”
What a lovely and interesting title. The very sound of it sent tingles along her nerve endings. “Why? Cornwall is so far removed from London.”
“I personally don’t know.” Anne continued to stare at the duke. “I’ll admit, though, he is easy on the eyes… except for the unfortunate disfigurement and the cane. I wonder what happened to him.”
After initially seeing his physical challenges, she’d dismissed them and concentrated on his chiseled lips, the sweep of the shock of hair on his brow, how his broad shoulders were accentuated by the dark tailcoat… She shook her head. “Perhaps he was in the war.”
Anne shrugged. “I’m afraid I don’t know that either.”
“But he’s truly a duke? Not an honorary one like your husband?”
“Oh, yes.” This time, Anne’s nod was emphatic. “He is a real duke. It’s pure luck that he is handsome, reclusive, wounded, and from what the rumors say, quite dark. A catch, I suppose, if one is interested in putting in the investment of such a man.”
“Meaning what?” She frowned as prickles rushed over her skin. “Does he beat women? Indulge in vices? Run with the criminal element?” Good heavens, were all men in London vile? “Is he dying of a disease? I’ve already been through hell and back, and I’m certainly not looking to chase that again.”
“I don’t blame you.” Anne scooted closer and lowered her voice. “By dark, I mean there is gossip and innuendo that he prefers toys during intercourse and at times restrains lovers with ropes or other things.”
“Oh!” Surprise circled through Evangeline’s insides. How odd yet somewhat… interesting. “Do you think those things are true?”
“I couldn’t say, for I don’t know anyone who has confirmed they’d ever been in his bed.” Again, she glanced at the duke, who was now talking with another man who had streaks of gray in his hair, and they appeared to know each other, for they were deep in conversation.
Snapping her gaze back to her friend, Evangeline asked, “What do you believe?”
“Oh…” She shrugged, which caused the tiny clear beads on her pink gown to glimmer.
“Dante has said a few times before that the men of Club Damnation are driven by demons, or that they are running from the hells they’ve had to live through.
That destroys the mind sometimes, and if they come across something that distracts them or allows them to forget if only for a moment? Who am I to judge?”
“What a lovely way of looking at it.” Over the years in the hell of her marriage, she’d used various things to help her through such as reading at the lending library for hours on end or throwing herself into various causes.
Anything to pull her away from the house and her husband.
“Does your husband indulge in those things?” she asked in a lowered voice.
“Um…” A pretty blush stained Anne’s cheeks. “That is a private matter, but suffice it to say, I am pleased with him for a number of reasons, least of which what he provides carnally.”
That struck Evangeline as funny, but it was also endearing. “I’m so happy for you.” Even as she spoke, a sharp stab of envy went through her chest.
“Thank you, my friend.” Anne’s smile was both angelic and a bit wicked. “I do know that my husband would give his life for any of those men, and that they also feel the same way, so they’re not all bad. Broken in body and spirit, perhaps, but their souls are golden, if a little tarnished.”
Evangeline nodded. “Your husband is good or bad?”
“Um…” Her friend sobered. “He isn’t bad, not truly, not in his heart, I think.
” Shadows collected in her eyes. “Does he indulge in bad or questionable things? Yes, he does. Do I worry? Again, yes. But do I love him despite his past and his decisions since?” Another blush took possession of her cheeks.
“Yes, I do, quite desperately, in fact. There is something about a man who flirts with darkness, who lives in the gray, who isn’t a white knight, so to speak.
It makes me feel oddly cherished that he chose me, and that I can keep him from drowning in that darkness as long as I keep loving him. ”
They were pretty words, of course, and quite romantic, and for whatever reason, they brought a wash of tears to Evangeline’s eyes. She nodded. “What if you can’t keep loving him? What if his darkness is too great to overcome?”
“Then I can’t, and there is no harm in that.
The men there don’t need rescue.” She flicked her gaze back to the duke.
For long moments she watched him, as did Evangeline.
“I fully believe the men of Club Damnation only need loved, to believe that someone cares for them, that someone acknowledges and sees their struggles but would choose them again and again despite that. Sometimes, it makes all the difference.”
“Yes, I suppose it does.” It would have helped her during those long years of surviving her husband’s tirades and abuse. Without Anne or a couple of her other friends who remembered to check in on her, would probably would have given up her fight. “You are a good woman, Anne.”
“I don’t know about that.” She smiled as she focused on Evangeline again. “But I would fight for Dante into the bowels of the earth if it meant one more day with him. There is no one like him on this earth.”
“I hope that one day I’ll feel the same about a man.” Perhaps it was time to start exactly that. After running a gloved hand down the front of her gown, she shook out her skirting just as the set ended and the couples left the dance floor. “If you will excuse me?”
Surprise flickered over Anne’s face. “Where are you going?”
“To find out if that broken duke will lead me out for a set.”
“Oh!” A gasp escaped her friend. “That’s not how such things work. You need introduced to him.”
The absurdity of that prompted a soft laugh from Evangeline. “Dearest friend, I am well past the first and second blooms of youth, and I’m a widow besides. Those rules don’t apply to me. I have a bit of freedom in society.”
“The rules will certainly apply if you fall into scandal.”
“Perhaps the trick of it is to not be caught, so we shall see.”
Anne laid a hand on her arm, staying her intent. “Please be careful and if you do find common ground with the duke, go into it with your eyes wide open. You could easily land into a quagmire if you’re not careful, in ways you never were with the marquess.”
“As much as I appreciate you and your concern, I promise that I will be careful and take every precaution, but after ten years of hell and a year of mourning a man I hated, I believe I’m entitled to a modicum of fun just for me.” With a wink, she set out in search of Darkemore.
After all, nothing would change if she wasn’t daring.