Duncan caught the jacket and wrapped it around Sophia’s shoulders. Color began to restore itself on her pale face as the warmth surrounded her.
“You have no right to keep me here.” Barbara tried to free herself from Jacob’s grasp,but while she had been stronger than Sophia, she was no match for Jacob, who kept her from escaping with ease.
“That is quite something coming from you, given that we have just witnessed you trying to drown the Duchess,” Jacob replied.
“I am so sorry, my love.” Duncan kissed the top of Sophia’s head, never letting go of her hand. “You did not deserve any of this trouble that has come your way.”
“H-how did you know where to find me?” Sophia muttered back.
Duncan was hearing her voice for the first time in days, and it broke his heart that it had to be in these circumstances.
“We figured that you were in danger and came straight over to rescue you,” he replied.
In the background, he could hear Barbara arguing with Jacob, but it did not matter to him right now. Right now, there were more pressing matters to attend to.
“I thought I would not see you again. I was worried about you.” Sophia buried her face into his neck. “How have you been?”
It warmed Duncan’s heart that Sophia was still concerned about him, even when she had just survived an attempt on her life.
“My dear, I am absolutely fine,” he assured her.
“But that day, you were out cold. I was worried sick,” she pointed out, a small tremble going down her spine as she recalled the events. “I was worried that something awful had happened to you.”
“I will explain everything to you, but first, we must deal with the one who was behind all of this.”
Duncan got up and took Sophia along with him. She leaned on his shoulder, and his arm wrapped tightly along her torso, holding her firmly in place.
“What do you reckon we should do with her?” Jacob asked once he saw his brother. He was still holding onto Lady Barbara, despite her frequent protests.
Barbara looked at them both in disgust.
“Your Grace, you should not be touching her,” she said, a hint of madness in her voice. It was possible that her scheming had finally made her go completely insane. “Her curse will transfer over to you, killing you just as it did her entire family.”
The softness that was present in the Duke’s voice just a moment ago evaporated instantly.
“You will have to pay for what you have just done. You are aware that you are dealing with the Duchess of Blackmoore, and no one should even dare to touch her,” he snarled at her. “What you did just was an attempt at my wife’s life, and I will make sure that it receives the adequate punishment by law.”
“Your wife?” Barbara repeated. “How easy it was for you to confer that title over to her, a cursed nobody, when you knew that it rightfully belonged to me.”
“Your delusion knows no bounds.”
“It is not a delusion.” Barbara was not going to let go of what she assumed to be her right so easily. “It was agreed upon, between your late father and mine. Have you so easily forgotten? My father loaned money to the late duke when he was in need in exchange of a promise that one day his son would repay his debt by marrying me.”
“You are stuck in the past. I paid off the debt to your father long ago, and I do not owe him a penny, let alone a marriage,” the Duke shot back.
“The agreed upon terms were not monetary; it was always supposed to be a marriage.” Her tone reeked of desperation now that she knew that she was on losing ground. “Your Grace, you are a man of your word, are you not? Everyone in the vicinity knows you as someone who remains true to his promises. Then why did you break this one?”
If the Duke was not filled with so much anger towards Barbara, he would have even felt sorry for her. She looked like a woman scorned, beaten down by the crushing feeling of not having her dreams fulfilled.
“It does not take a lot to figure out that the person who made the promise was my father, and not I,” the Duke replied, keeping his tone composed. “I was under no obligation to fulfil that promise.”
Barbara’s eyes darted between Sophia and then back at the Duke. Her lower lip quivered, and she looked to be on the verge of tears.
“What can she give you that I cannot?” she questioned. “I could prove to be a better wife than her. Please, Your Grace, you are making a mistake.”
“Was it your jealousy that led you to do this?” the Duke questioned. “You could not bear to see Sophia get the love thatshe deserved and decided to sabotage our marriage by throwing her out of the picture entirely?”
Everything was falling into place now. He was sure that it was Barbara who was behind the poisoning and who had sent the package. He just needed for her to admit it so that it could be used against her in court.
