The Duke's Revenge (27 page)

When she thought she was going to suffocate
and fainted, he released her. Or rather he was being pulled away
from her. She looked up through her teary eyes and saw her husband
gave the man a hard blow to the face.

Sherington fell to the ground, his lips
bleeding.

Max reached down, caught Sherington’s
collar, and lifted him up. “Don’t you ever touch my wife again,” he
said through gritted teeth. He threw the man down as though he was
a bag of rubbish.

Sherington fell on the ground on his
backside. He looked at Max and sneered. “You’ll pay, you bastard,
I’ll make sure of that. One day, I’ll get my inheritance back. I’ll
make sure of that. You murdered my father, you bastard, I’ll make
you pay.”

“
Don’t blame other people
for your own folly, Sherington, blame yourself for being
incompetent,” Max snapped. “Now, get out of my sight.”

Sherington glared at him as he stood up.
“Next time,” he said and rushed away.

Max turned to his wife. He came to her and
wrapped his arms around her.

Ivy leaned against him. He was so warm, so
solid, and she just wanted to close her eyes and sleep.

He touched her chin and tilted her face up
toward the lantern light. As he looked down at her pale face, his
thumb gently rubbed against her sore lips.

He moved his head down and whispered, “Best
if we leave here.”

She blinked. Tears rolled down her cheeks to
her lips. He wiped them away with his thumb.

“
Come along, wife,” he
said, guiding her toward the entrance.

Their carriage was brought around to the
courtyard, and they left Carlton House. During their ride back, she
was securely tucked in his arms and her head was rested against his
chest as a pillow. Once they had arrived at Edington Mansion, Lisa
escorted Ivy to her room. There she bathed and then went straight
to bed.

She slept restlessly,
dreaming of her husband making love to her mother, and
she
being raped by
Sherington. Her mother and Sherington were laughing at
her.

The next morning she woke she knew that she
must leave London. She knew London was no place for her. She could
not handle the endless parties and balls, meeting new people,
eating, drinking, and gossiping behind each other’s back. The
country was where she belonged. There she would be able to breathe
more easily and relax. Everything was too much for her to bear
here.

She summoned Lisa and told the maid of her
intension which the maid undoubtedly agreed for she had seen her
lady’s unhappiness despite of her surrounding friends and gay
atmosphere, and more importantly, her health had been declining.
She had notice that her lady had not eaten much during her meal and
that she was usually sick in the morning. Aye, she was worried and
she, too, thought that the country air would do her lady good.

After her breakfast of one piece of dry
toast and half a cup of tea, Ivy left to find her husband. He was
in his study. Standing before the door, she found it odd that she
had the courage to knock when these past few weeks she had been
afraid of him and avoiding him when and where ever possible.

“
Enter!” he called from
the other side.

She took a deep breath and turned the door
handle. She saw that he was sitting behind his desk with the
account books scattered before him.

“
Ivy,” he said in
surprised, “are you feeling better?”

“
I am better, your grace,”
she said and sat down on the chair opposite him.

“
Have you breakfasted?” he
asked as he watched her pale face.

She clutched her hands together and looked
up at him. “Yes I have, your grace.”

“
Do you need
something?”

“
Yes,” she said, “there
are two things that I wanted to tell you.”

“
Go on.”

She took a deep breath and said, “I know
that you and my mother were lovers.”

He narrowed his eyes dangerously at her.

“
I know that you must hate
me very much, seeing me every day. It was she you wanted to marry,
isn’t it?”

He continued to watch her and did not
reply.

“
I feel that it only fair
I leave you in peace and this come to the second thing I wanted to
tell you. Your grace, I...I want to return to Westwood
Castle.”

“
Why?”

She hesitated, and gripping her hands even
tighter, she said, “Like I said, it is only fair that I leave you
in peace, and I also feel that I am tired of...London. It does not
suit me. I would rather be at Westwood Castle where the country air
is better for me and...”

“
Suit yourself,” he said,
“I will arrange a carriage for you and your maid.” He stood up and
walked to the sideboard. “When do you want to leave?” he asked,
picking up the decanter and poured himself a glass of
brandy.

“
Tomorrow.”

He halted the glass near his lips. “As you
please,” he said and took a sip of the liquid.

“
Thank you, your grace.”
She stood up. She wanted to go and thank him for being such a
gentleman to her, but she decided against it. She turned and walked
out the room, closing the door behind her.

Max stood there, staring into space, with
the glass of brandy in his hand. He rubbed his thumb against the
shiny crystal as he continued to stare at nothing. Suddenly, he
gritted his teeth, his eyes flared a bright blue color, and he
hurled the glass against the wall. It shattered into a thousand
pieces, scattering to the floor.

CHAPTER 23

“
You have to ruin
everything, don’t you?” Grace sneered at the mirror. “Just like
before. He was mine since the beginning. He was never yours,” she
shouted at her won reflection. “Do you remember the night of our
seventh birthday? When dear, loving Papa threw us a ball? That
night I sneaked out and guess what I did.” She laughed. “Aye,
Grace, I went to him, that
boy
. Aye, he took me. He was my
lover, Grace, he was never yours; you took everything away from me,
and I have to take everything away from you, too. You took my earl
from me, do you know that? You were such a weakling. I sometime
wondered why Papa loved you more than I. Honestly, you know, I
laughed behind his back because he was so stupid? He couldn’t even
tell us apart.”

She held her head to one side and her eyes
were large and bright as she stared at her own image. “I will have
to kill your daughter, Grace, like I killed you when you took Liam
away from me,” she scoffed.

“
M’ lady?”

“
What?” Grace
snapped.

Gale jumped. She shivered at the way her
mistress was glaring at her. “I have news, m’ lady.”

“
News? What
news?”

“
Aye, m’ lady,” the maid
said, “about her.”

“
Ivy?” Grace eyes
widened.

“
Aye, m’ lady,” Gale said.
“She has gone back to Westwood Castle.”

“
And he?”

“
Still here,” the maid
said.

“
He kicked her back to the
country, did he?”

“
Aye, just like the earl
did Grace.”

“
Shut your mouth!” Grace
scolded. “Had I not warn you not to mention her? That bitch, I hate
her.” She glared at the maid and then turned to look at the mirror.
“Now, I have plans to make.” She stroked her blond hair as she
stared at her own reflection. “I shall pay my son-in-law a visit,”
she said with a smiled.

It was dark when Grace summoned the carriage
for her intended visitation. By the time she had reached the duke’s
townhouse, it was almost midnight. The streets, if not for the
newly invented gaslight set along both side of the streets at
intervals, would have been pitched dark.

“
I am here to see the
duke,” she stated coldly to Evergreen.

“
He is not receiving
visitor, my lady,” the butler replied.

“
Not receiving visitor?”
Grace snapped. “I am Lady Westwood, I am his mother-in-law. I want
to see him now.”

“
But--”

“
Move out of the way,” she
barked and shoved pass the confused butler. “Where is
he?”

“
He is in his study, my
lady,” Evergreen replied.

She glared at him for a moment, stalked to a
room she thought would be the study, and jerked the door open.

It must be her lucky day, she thought, for
there sitting behind a huge mahogany desk was the duke.

He looked up and said in a clam voice, “Lady
Grace Westwood.”

“
Good evening tide to you
too, your grace,” she said, softening her voice a
little.

“
What are you doing here?
In this late hour?” he asked, too damn tired to hide his
irritation.

“
Could not a mother-in-law
visit her son-in-law?” she asked innocently.

“
At this time of night,
wouldn’t that be scandalous, my lady?”

“
Ah, none the least.” She
laughed merrily. She turned and saw the sideboard. “May
I?”

He nodded and said, “May I ask why you are
here?”

She picked up the decanter and poured
herself some brandy. With the wineglass in her hand, she turned to
him and said, “Why did you kick my daughter back to the
country?”

“
I believe it is none of
your business.”

“
Ah, you are wrong there,
Dominic, I am, after all, Ivy’s mother.” She smiled as she walked
to him. She leaned to his ear and whispered, “Have Ivy done
something to displease you so?”

He turned to look at her, his lips turned
upward sardonically. “Why would you care?”

“
Ivy is very innocent,
Dominic, she is young and does not know you like I do.” She put the
wineglass down on the desk and moved her face toward
his.

“
Ah, Lady Westwood, I
believe that is where you are wrong. Ivy, you see, is very clever
indeed, very much like you.” He moved his face closer to hers and
said, “You both are money hungry sluts.”

She gasped and glared at him with anger.
“How dare you say that, Dominic, I am nothing like that.”

“
Oh? Prove me wrong,
Grace.”

“
I love you, Dominic,
since the first time we made love.” She brought her hand to touch
the side of his face. “I love you so much it hurt inside. Don’t you
understand?”

“
Then why the hell did you
marry the earl?”

She dropped to her knees beside him and
lowered her eyes. “It was Papa, he was sick and in debt, and ‘tis
my duty to marry the earl. If I married him, he would pay Papa’s
debt. If you hadn’t notice, Dominic, Papa died only a few months
after I married the earl. You don’t know how hard it was for me. I
didn’t love him. It was a marriage of convenience.” She looked up
at him and there were tears in her eyes. “I love you and I still
do.”

They both were quiet. She was sobbing, and
he was glaring into space.

“
Why did you marry Ivy?”
she asked.

He didn’t reply and turned to look at her.
She bent her head and rested it against his thigh. “Why did you
marry Ivy? You are a powerful man. You could do anything. You
shouldn’t have to marry Ivy at all. Do you love me, Dominic?”

“
Yes,” he said, staring
down at her.

Her heart skipped a beat. She was winning
him over. She smiled as she stood up and brought her face closer to
his, intending to kiss him.

“
Yes, I did once.” He
caught the hair at the back of her head and said, “You disgust me,
Grace. What kind of a woman are you? Your kinds don’t fool me.” He
shoved her from him. “Leave now, before my patience runs
out.”

“
You stupid man! Here I
am, giving myself to you and you--you throw out?” she barked,
shaking her head in disbelief.

“
Aye, I’m throwing you
out. Now get out!”

“
You are a blind man,
Dominic, very blind. You obviously don’t know me well enough. I’ll
get you back in this, Dominic, you’ll see. You think I really want
to be a duchess that bad?” she sneered, her eyes blazing a fierily
green.

“
Was I wrong then, my
lady?” he said sarcastically.

She gasped.

“
Why did you marry Ivy?”
she asked again.

“
I believe it is none of
your business, now out!” His nerve was just about reaching its
breaking point.

“
You love her, don’t you?”
She shook her head in disbelief.

“
What are you talking
about?”

“
You love her, I hate you.
How could you love her? She looks almost like me, and yet, you love
her and not me. How could that be possible? I hate you, Dominic!”
she shouted and then rushed out the room.

Max frowned after the mad woman. He turned
back to look at the account books on his desk and decided to leave
them for tomorrow. He left the study and climbed the stairs to his
bedroom.

He couldn’t sleep, however, and laid there
staring at the ceiling in the darkness. Every time he closed his
eyes, he saw her face, and he wanted to see her smile at him again.
It was as simple as that. And why the hell would he want that?

‘
You love her!’ Grace’s
voice kept echoing in his head.

‘
Revenge!’ the voice at
the back of his head kept shouting back. He must avenge Dominic’s
death.