Page 5

The duke was silent for a moment, then he took a single, menacing step closer.

“And what would you know about ‘doing the right thing’? A single glance at you and I can already tell that you are utterly spoiled by whoever has the misfortune of caring for you. You look like you have never had to make sacrifices or put in actual effort to get what you want. Because you have people who will jump into the fire for you. Do not presume to know what my struggles are or deem my actions needless. You do not have the right to dictate what it is that I do. It is not the wisest course of action in a man’s house.”

Anna opened her mouth to retort, but stopped as his last words echoed in her mind.

It is not the wisest course of action in a man’s house.

She was in the house of a strange man. She was in the house of a strange man, late at night.

She had been so taken aback by the whole situation, then angry at his blatant disrespect towards her friend, that she'd forgotten her own dire predicament.

“You... you kidnapped me. I was headed home, and you had me taken and brought to your home at this late hour! You horrible, awful man!” she cried.

He approached her slowly, not stopping until he was right in front of her, bending forward slightly as he leaned closer towards her. Anna gasped at the lack of space between them, momentarily distracted because she was getting a good look at his face for the first time since they had begun their interaction.

As much as it annoyed her to admit it, she could not doubt that he looked quite handsome. His dark hair was tousled in a way that made him seem as elegant as his title, and his dark eyes kept her pinned to her chair as he regarded her with a withering stare that made her shiver. There was a minuscule twitch at the base of his jaw as he opened his mouth to address her, and she couldn’t help but follow the path of bare skin that led down to his slightly opened chest.

“You know nothing about me,” he spat, clearly irritated. “My only goal is to protect my brother, and I do not care if you deem my methods acceptable or not. You are in no place to make any sort of judgement; neither do you have the right to do so.”

Anna shook her head quickly in an effort to rid her mind of the effects of the blush that had settled upon her cheeks, pointing out incredulously,

“You are incredibly pretentious, in addition to the multitude of flaws in your character, Your Grace. Because if you really cared about your reputation, you would have kept them from planning to elope by accepting their love. You and I both know that if they go through with it, the end will result in a scandal.”

“I do know that,” he retorted gruffly. “That was my goal in the first place.”

“You cannot stop them now. All you can do at this point is accept their decision and respect them. At the end of the day, you have pushed your brother to the extreme because of an air of propriety – which cannot mean as much as you claim it does to you, seeing as you kidnapped me so late at night and brought me here! If I am seen leaving your premises, I will be utterly ruined! Do you even realize what you have done?” she questioned, her voice shaking at the thought of going through yet another scandal.

The last one had been so hard to deal with, and she had promised to do whatever it took not to cause any more trouble to her siblings – no matter how much they told her it was not her fault. The scars that time left might just never fade, and Anna did not mind if it kept her from repeating past mistakes.

Finally, the duke pulled away, taking a few steps back before he spoke without emotion.

“My apologies. I’ll have my coachman use my carriage take you back to your home.”

Irked and out of patience, Anna rose to her feet, pointing a finger at him,

“Taking your carriage is equally as dangerous because it would be noticed almost immediately. By tomorrow morning, more than half the ton will be wondering why your carriage took me home.”

The duke opened his mouth to likely retort, then seemed to rethink his choice of words before letting out a slow breath.

“Fine. At least allow him to drop you somewhere close to your home. It is not safe for a woman to be wandering on her own so late at night,” he amended.

“Clearly,” she mumbled sarcastically as she folded her arms. “Seeing as you thought nothing of having your men snatch me off the street earlier.”

A moment later, she sighed. “That will be helpful, though. If you’ll excuse me, I'd like to leave at once.”

He nodded stiffly and walked to the fireplace to pull on the cord of the household bell. Then he led her to the door, outside which stood a man.

“James, have the coachman take this young woman home. Not to her house, though. Perhaps the end of the street is fine.”

James, who Anna surmised was the butler, nodded.

“Certainly, sir. Please come with me, Miss.”

Anna nodded and began to walk out of the room, hesitating for a moment before she turned to address the duke.

“Regardless of your personal feelings about the situation we discussed, I think it would be best if you thought through the plans and actions you wish to carry out. Do it before someone gets hurt.”

Without another word, she left.