Page 53 of The Duke’s Rejected Mate

My heart thuds in my chest, heavy, cold, detached. I look up at Charles and note the misery on his face. But then, it is the same as mine. I’m sure of it.

He dresses in silence, stopping every now and then to glance at me, but I have nothing to say either. When he’s done, he comes back over to me and slides his hand across my cheek to cup it. There are no growls now, no purrs to distract me. I feel the agony as it slices through my heart.

Rejected once again.

“I will come to you tomorrow night, and the night after, and the night after. I will visit you in secret while he has your hand in public. I will never take a wife. There will never be anyone but you.”

As he pulls my head back to kiss me, tears stream from my eyes and wet my hair. He promises. He vows. He lies.

He will find another. A duke cannot go without an heir. He will find someone and marry her. In truth, I hope he finds his happiness, just as I hope to somehow find mine with Henhaven.

Charles slips through the hidden door and disappears from sight, leaving me cold and alone. My bottom aches, but it’s nothing compared to the gaping hole in my heart. He promises to see me tomorrow, but that can never happen.

Now that I am beholden to Henhaven, I need to do my best to find something of interest, something that can bind us together. We may not have love right now, but that doesn’t mean it can't eventually come.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I slide off the bed, moving gingerly as my muscles protest each little movement. I grab a paper and quill so I can pen a letter to Teresa, begging her to let me stay with her. I cannot be here when Charles comes back. I cannot see him again. Not if I want to keep my sanity.

Chapter 25

Cynthia

Friday

Teresa looks tired and haggard as she nurses Thomas in the parlor with me. There’s a look of sympathy in her eyes as she pats her little boy on the back, soothing him as he fusses at her breasts. “I will be honest. I wasn’t expecting your note this morning.”

“Is it truly all right that I stay with you? I do not mean to be an imposition. I only want to learn how to be a proper wife and mother.”

She tosses her head back with a laugh. “And you think to learn that here? What delusions you hold.”

I smother a smirk as I shake my head. “You are the only one with a baby. I fear I have no choice.”

“No choice is correct. But in truth, I am very happy for the company. Tell me, though. Why are you really here? I appreciate the lie for my sake, but I know there is more. Come. I will have it. I have been denied idle gossip and would love to hear my fill.”

Biting down on my lower lip, I grab a tart and nibble on the crust. “There is not much to tell.”

“Lies,” she hisses, smiling to belie her tone. “One does not send an urgent missive in the night and flee the next morning. Out with it. Have the triplets become too much for you?”

“No!” I cry out. “Never. We are still true and fast friends.”

“I see. The dowager duchess then? Has she filled your head with more information than you can handle?”

“No. She has been quite gracious and judicious with her words.”

“Is it the Duke of Norhaven?” Her sharp eyes stare at me, noting and calculating everything. “It is. Tell me all.”

“I- There’s nothing… That is… I shall not be marrying him. I am constrained to marry Henhaven.”

She narrows her eyes. “Yes. We knew that. Why would there be any doubt? Has he made some grand promises to you? Has he-” She looks around to make sure we’re alone before clasping a hand over Thomas’s ear. “Has he been intimate with you?”

My lips tremble as I long to confess and tell her everything. But then, Charles and I would be forced to marry. If he is not willing to forgo propriety and just claim me or even compromise me publicly, then why would he take kindly to a marriage forced between us?

No. I cannot give him away. I cannot chain myself to an Alpha who cannot, will not, choose me.

“He did his best to find fault with Henhaven and found none. I was informed of it only yesterday.”

She leans back but refuses to stop watching me. Deep down, I’m sure she knows, but without me confirming it, there is nothing she can say or do.

“But you find fault with Henhaven?”