Page 5 of Deviant Duchess
“Very well then,” he replied, his tone matching his expression.
Deborah let out a breath of relief.
“Thank you,” she breathed, “Now, if your driver would be kind enough to take me back to London I-”
“Oh, you will have to pay your debt to me first before I can ask my driver to make such a long journey so late,” he interrupted, then glanced down at his nails, as if inspecting them. “Fifty thousand pounds, I believe it was?”
Cold rushed in Deborah’s veins as her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.
“Can…” she stammered, and drew in a shaky breath as she licked her lips. “Can you not just go pick it up for me?”
Cedric gave her a confused look.
“Well, the money,” she went on, “That you spent, it would go to me, would it not? They still have it and you could just go back and collect it for-”
His laughter cut her off, and she hated how embarrassed it made her feel.
“You do not know how these auctions work, do you?” He asked.
Heat flooded into Deborah’s cheeks. She had made an assumption after Uncle Archibald had come home with money from Hester’s bid, but now she wondered if she had been wrong this entire time.
“Allow me to explain it for you,” Cedric offered, “You see, when a male guardian brings a woman to auction. he is eligible to take home what she earned at auction, save for ten percent. That goes to the House. However, when a woman appears at the auction alone, her payment is whatever safety or position her bidder gives her. The money raised by her sale, all of it, goes directly to the House.”
Deborah felt the color drain from her cheeks as she recalled her conversation with Nigel.Lord Stanhope sent me. Said I would not be sorry.She had unwittingly placed her bid back into the hands of the man responsible for the auction.
“I…” she said shakily, her usual gusto suddenly gone. She barely had fifty pounds to her name, let alone fiftythousand.“I do not have that sort of money, Your Grace.”
“Your Grace?” Cedric scoffed, “Over an hour we have spent in this carriage and now you choose to speak politely. Hm. Money must be quite the sensitive issue for you if it has you shifting so suddenly.”
Hurt and anger bloomed in her chest as she glared at him.
“You know it is,” she replied through gritted teeth.
“I do,” he agreed, giving her a half smile. “Pity that.”
Deborah slowly shook her head as her stomach clenched into knots.
“You are a monster,” she whispered.
Cedric’s little smile faded as his lips set into a grim line. He uncrossed his legs, spread them wide so that they took up most of the space between them, and leaned forward to drop his elbows on his knees, bringing his face a scant few inches away from hers.
She expected him to smell of sulfur and brimstone with the way he acted, but instead, as she inhaled, she caught a heady mixture of juniper, evergreen, and something just a little spicy. That he smelled so lovely made her hate him even more, and she willed herself not to breathe.
“You entered into that auction willingly, did you not?” He asked with grave seriousness.
“Yes, but-”
“And you knew the rules of the auction, did you not?” He cut her off.
“It was not supposed to be you,” she whispered, panic making her heart race, “It was not supposed to be you!”
“If you had an eye on a particular gentleman, you should have approached him for his favor in a different sort of venue.” Cedric’s hard tone cut through the tense air between them. “You chose to go to the auction. That was your mistake, not mine. Now, I won your bid outright. We both played by the rules of the institution, and by those facts alone, we should both feel as if we won.
“However, it is apparent thatyou,Miss Hunt, feel as if you have suffered a great loss.”
Each word he spoke gathered in intensity, cold and stern.
“Forcing women is not something that excites me, Miss Hunt, so I give you your choice. Marry me, take care of my ward, and be free of London’s rumor mill. The mantle of Duchess will do quite a surprising bit to protect you in many different ways.
