Page 68 of My Cruel Duke

“It might if you send a henchman because everyone knows you have poor aim.”

Patrick pushed himself off the couch, sending death glares at his aunt before walking out of the room and out of the house.

“Pay no mind to him. You know how your brother is.” Aunt Augusta shook her head. Penny smiled, and then she turned to her sister.

“What do you wish to do, Lydia? It seems Father will not be in attendance.”

Penny’s eyes softened as Lydia sighed regretfully.

“I have no choice. We have to set a wedding date, Philip has waited for so long…” Lydia smiled, and Penny’s heart tightened. Penny wanted to ensure Lydia had the best wedding to make up for their horrible year. Lydia found a man who loved her dearly, and they deserved a happy wedding to celebrate their love for each other.

“Are you all right, Penny dearest? You have been sighing all morning,” Aunt Augusta said, narrowing her eyes at Penny, and then her gaze dropped to Penny’s belly. “Isheall right?”

While Patrick had the feeling Penny would give birth to a girl, Aunt Augusta strongly believed Penny would give birth to a boy and had referred to the unborn child as such.

“Yes, he is.” Penny rubbed her stomach with a smile, “Perhaps it is because I feel suffocated here.”

Aunt Augusta frowned at Penny’s words.

“You spent the entire day outside this house yesterday,” Lydia added. Penny was aware of her whereabouts from the previous day, but she could not help the feeling of suffocation that overwhelmed her.

“It is not safe for you to go out, Penny. People are talking,” Aunt Augusta frowned.

“People will talk regardless,” Penny returned the frown and did not speak of leaving the house again until five days later when she had enough of strolling through the corridors. As usual, Aunt Augusta and Lydia had gone out, and Patrick was nowhere to be found. Penny suspected he was dealing with the issue of their father’s release. Penny did not plan to go far; in fact, she planned to take a short ride through the streets of London in her carriage, but when she neared Thornbury Hall, she could not help but ask to be taken there.

I will only check on the state of the house.She told herself as she entered through the heavy doors with a smile in Rufus’s direction. Since the day Penny left the dark walls of Thornbury Hall, she had not thought of returning to the house. She had no reason to return, but it was nice to be back and relive all the memories she made during her short stay.

The house looked the same at first glance: gloomy, dark, and almost dusty from lack of proper use, just like it was on the day she arrived at the mansion as a married woman, but Penny was quick to notice there were not as many staff in the house, and most of the renovations she made were reverted. The vases she bought for the windows were nowhere to be found, and the paintings she hung were taken down. Penny bit her lower lip as she took in the place. It was as though Rhysand’s goal was to erase her existence from the house, from his life.

Penny strolled through the rooms, looking through them as though searching for something, but she never found anything. She had silly imaginations; if she pulled open the door to Rhysand’s study, she would find him sitting there reading a paper, and the moment he lifted his vibrant blue eyes to look at her, he would throw the paper away and run to her, engulf her in a tight hug where she would take in a whiff of his fresh masculine scent. He would plant kisses on every inch of her face. Penny did not find Rhysand in his study or anywhere around the large mansion.

Penny was a little tired from walking around the estate, but there was one last place she had to visit before she left for good: the lake.

She was not nearly as scared of the large water body as she used to be, so getting close was like a walk in the park. The lake was the only part of Thornbury Hall that was quiet at all times, so when she heard retracting footsteps from behind her, she snapped her head to the direction of the sound, where she caught sight of a silhouette of a person in a black coat running to hide behind a thick bush about seven steps away from her.

“Hello?” Penny called out. She looked over her shoulder at the lake and returned her gaze to where she suspected the person was hiding.

“Is anyone there?” She called out again but got no response. Frightened that she was the only one around the area and the intruder in the black coat could be a criminal, Penny took a step back but garnered all the courage she could muster to check on the person.

Penny hesitated for a few seconds, contemplating if it would be better to pretend she did not see the intruder and return to the main house to seek help, but she feared the intruder would be long gone by the time she returned.

Penny shuddered and sucked in a breath before taking a step away from the lake and toward the bush, but before she could take another step, the body emerged from the bush and ran toward her with full force. It all happened in the blink of an eye; Penny stepped back in fear, slipped, and fell backward into the warm water. She had sucked in a breath, but her fall into the lake had been less than graceful, and her eyes widened at the realization that if she did not do anything to help herself, she would drown. The lake water went over her head and she feared she would go blind if she kept her eyes open, but she did not feel confident about closing her eyes.

Never try to fight the water.She heard Rhysand’s voice in her head, so she relaxed her body.

Always remember to kick hard and fast. You cannot float if you do not kick.She recalled more of his words from their first lesson. Her tiny feet kicked hard to keep her head above the water.

I can do it. Penny thought as she neared the water bank, but luck seemed not on her side. A sharp, uncomfortable pain shot up through her legs, and she screamed. Despite the pain, Penny tried to kick the water, but her legs would not move as she wanted them to. She had pulled a muscle due to the sudden rigorous exercise.

It was then the panic set in. Penny knew if she did not kick her legs, she would drown like Rhysand had told her. Then, she had slapped his chest lightly, thinking it was a light quip, but she was living in the reality of those words. She could not move.

My child!Penny thought and screamed at the top of her lungs for help, which never came.

Chapter33

“Where is she? Where is my wife?” Rhysand barged through the familiar black doors in haste.

She was here. He heard she was here.