Page 66 of My Cruel Duke

“My Angel is calm.” Penny rubbed her protruding stomach.

Unofficial wedding preparation had started. Aunt Augusta suggested it would be best if Lydia began to try on wedding dresses, but they had sidetracked and made Lydia try on other dresses for fun. Lydia claimed she would purchase a handful of the dresses she tried on, and all of the dresses she picked were the ones Penny recommended, angering an already broken-hearted Aunt Augusta.

Uncle Harold had disappeared on the day he ignored Penny, and since Rhysand was nowhere to be found, he, too, was nowhere to be found.

Aunt Augusta had said she did not care for his absence, but she was no different from Penny. The longing was evident on her face, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.

“You wish,” Aunt Augusta scoffed.

The door to the modiste shop was pushed open and two ladies entered.

Penny recognized one of the faces almost immediately. She had forgotten the face of the person who tried to drown her once. She could not forget such a face the second time.

Lady Madeline walked gracefully around the shop, just like she had with Rhysand that afternoon. She spoke and smiled like someone who knew what she was about. She had not seen Penny yet, and Penny wished it would stay that way, but it seemed she had run out of luck.

“Good day, Your Gace.” She smiled sweetly.

“Good day,” Penny returned with a sweet smile of her own.

“I must say, you look great. Pregnancy really suits you.”

Penny placed her hand on her chest, her smile widening. It was an odd compliment, but Penny took it anyway.

“Has the Duke of Huxton not returned yet?”

Penny froze. She knew the compliments were too good to be true, especially with the wicked glint in the Lady’s eyes.

“I am afraid he is not,” Penny managed to utter.

“That is a bit odd, considering I met him in Scotland just a week ago.”

All the color drained from Penny’s face. She had suspected Rhysand met up with Lady Madeline as a joke, and it became a reality. If Rhysand had met with her, did it mean they had indulged in intimacy?

Madeleine does not know what she is talking about.Rhysand had said that night, but the moment he was away from her, he ran back into the arms of his mistress. Penny bit down on her lips.

“Are you certain?” Aunt Augusta asked the Lady, and she nodded eagerly with an innocent look in her eyes as though she had not just suggested that she warmed the duke’s bed and he was in Scotland.

“It seemed he had been there all the while. He said nothing about traveling on water.”

Penny wished Madeline would stop speaking.

The ladies in the shop gasped, eyes darting from Lady Madeline to Penny.

“That cannot be right,” Penny said and laughed awkwardly.

“He said he made a promise to you, and I should thank you for saving my life. I am truly grateful. I wish you a safe delivery.”

Penny bit back her tears.

She knew that before she returned home, the streets of London would buzz about his absence, where he had gone, and if his marriage with her had ended. How could she have a safe delivery under such circumstances?

The promise Rhysand had made to Penny that saved Lady Madeline’s life had been the time when the lady tried to drown her. Penny made Rhysand promise not to hurt her, and now she wished she had not made that promise.

“Are you well?” Lydia grabbed her sister’s hands in hers. Penny scoffed.

“She clearly is not. Lydia dear, if you are done choosing dresses, put it in your line of credit so we can head back home. The day just became hotter.” Aunt Augusta fanned her face with her hands.

Lydia did as her aunt advised, and they left the shop, but just like Penny suspected, the news had spread around town before they got home.