Page 84 of Love, the Duke
“It is over now. All of it. I asked the magistrate to work out with the bishop how the church wants to deal with Gagingcliffe, but there must be punishment.”
“I’m sure there will be well-deserved punishment, including his banishment from Society.”
Hurst smiled. “I think I can see that’s done if it will make you happy.”
“Very happy,” she whispered.
Hurst nodded. “So no more talk of that tonight, Ophelia.” He put his hands on her upper arms and lightly caressed her. His warmth soothed her instantly.
“I feel we must. You have kept your part of our arrangement, but I haven’t fulfilled mine. I expected you to come to my room so that I might continue my effort to give you a son.”
His gaze swept sweetly up and down her face. “I was waiting for you to come to me.”
That surprised her. “I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t you want to come to me?” he asked quietly.
“Desperately,” she whispered earnestly. “I thought you didn’t want to be with me.”
“I wanted to be with you desperately too, but I needed to think about some things first.”
Ophelia tensed as worry crept over her again. “May I know what things?”
“I’ve been trying to decide if I should tell you or keep them locked away as I have these many years.”
“I would like for you to share whatever it is with me. I want to be a part of all of your life: past, present, and future.”
His low laugh eased some of her anxiety. He walked over and picked up his drink from a table. “Would you like to join me?”
She shook her head.
He took a swallow from his glass and placed it back on the table before facing her. “My father was a wretched man for most of my life until he died of lung fever in debtors’ prison.”
Merciful angels.She hadn’t expected he’d say anything like that. “I’m sorry that happened to him and to you.”
He shrugged. “I’ve done things I’m not proud of, Ophelia.”
“So have I. You know most of mine.”
“One of my earliest memories is when I was four orfive. My father came in with someone one night. They made a lot of noise and woke me. When it quietened, I walked out and saw him passed out on the sofa. A woman was standing over him searching the pockets in his coat. I’ll never forget the grim satisfaction on her face when she folded his coin purse into her hand. That’s when she looked up and saw me. Panic settled over her features, wondering what I was going to do. Rush her? Scream? Try to wake my father? I didn’t do anything but quietly look at her until she left. I’ve always felt I should have done more to keep her from violating him by stealing from him.”
His words had her heart hammering, but he seemed calm. Perhaps years of living with the memories had done that. Swallowing past a thick throat, she said, “You were just a little boy.”
“Young and impressionable for sure.” He shrugged. “She taught me something I needed to learn. It wasn’t long before I was pilfering his pockets to hold back enough money so I could buy bread and cheese for us to eat and pay the lease.”
Ophelia’s chest tightened. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”
“It never got easier, and my father never changed. His father was a younger son of a duke, so he was left with a bit of land, and horses, but he wasted it all on drink, gambling, and women. By the time I was older the debt collectors started coming around. More than once they searched our home, looking through and taking everything we had including some of my clothing, and my wooden soldiers and horses. I know what it’s like to be on both ends of a violation of someone’s privacy. Taking from my father and then having others take from me. Both ways felt wrong. When my father went to prison andmy aunt sent me to school, I swore I’d never do that to anyone, and I hadn’t until today.”
Sorrow swept over her. “I didn’t know that much about your past. I’m sorry you had to plunder Lord Gagingcliffe’s book room today because of me.”
Hurst closed the distance between them and caught her up to his chest. “Maybe I should have told you sooner, but there are reasons I didn’t. I’ve tried to forget it, and I don’t want your pity, Ophelia. I wanted you to know why I was always against what you were doing.”
“Thank you for trusting me with this about your past. I understand why you felt that way.” Ophelia slipped her arms around his neck.
“When my father went to debtors’ prison, I felt I had failed him. That it was my fault I hadn’t been able to hold back enough to pay his debts.”
“But it wasn’t your fault,” she whispered softly, and hugged him close. “You were just a boy. I’m sorry some of my comments to you the first night we met were so harsh.”
