Page 22 of My Beastly Duke

“No, I did not mean to…” Her words trailed off as she watched Aaron stalking away from her.

A slight breeze picked up, whipping the loose strands of her hair about her face.

She had come so close to seeing a glimpse of him that she had never seen before. Yet it was her pity that had made him withdraw. She could not help but wonder what else he would have told her if the game had gone on for just a bit longer.

How had he gotten those scars in battle, had he lost? Who had he intended to marry before he had come along? It suddenly made sense to her why he had accepted the arrangement. The woman he had intended to marry had rejected him.

Did he love her?

Panic suddenly surged through her body as her chest ached. There were so many questions, with no answers in sight.

Chapter 10

“Who in God’s name is causing all of this racket?” Aaron thrust his book aside on the desk in his study and stood.

Three days had passed since the game of badminton. Three days of peace and quiet that had suddenly been interrupted by an unholy row. Even Marina had been avoiding him since the game, yet now there seemed to be something else happening downstairs.

“Can a man not have some peace?” He grumbled under his breath. Trudging from the study, he made his way across the hall and down the stairs where a circus seemed to be unfolding before his eyes.

“What is going on here?” He yelled above the noise as footmen and maids scurried to catch animals of all shapes and sizes.

Several balls of fluff that were almost unidentifiable between cats and dogs, scurried in all directions, kicking up a fuss as servants tried to restrain them.

“Where did these animals come from?” he barked at a passing footman who had just managed to restrain one of the smaller balls of fluff.

Panic filled the man’s eyes as he came up straight with a small white dog in his hands. “A carriage from the Wallace residence arrived just a few moments ago, Your Grace.”

“And you thought it a good idea to bring the creatures inside!” He felt his irritation rising when he recalled all the animals he had seen in the baron’s house.

“Not me Your Grace. We were instructed to bring the animals in by a footman of the baron’s; he said it was of the utmost importance that he does not return with the animals.” The man stood to attention and attempted not to flinch when the dog began to wiggle and lick his face.

“And what of cages? Did they travel in the carriage like royalty?” He could not believe what he was seeing and hearing when a small grey dog began to chase an orange one up the stairs.

“There were no cages, Your Grace. The man simply handed them to us one at a time.” He swallowed hard now, trying to inch the dog away from his face.

“How many of these blasted creatures are there?”

“I am not sure, Your Grace, we lost count.” The footman lost the battle as he resigned himself to being licked on the cheek in repeated motions.

A very large cat that he recalled from Marina’s home flicked its tail at him in passing and hissed.

Aaron had a mind to turn around and leave if it had not been for Marina who suddenly appeared at the foot of the stairs.

“My babies! I thought they would never arrive!” She lifted the hem of her dress and rushed forward as a very small and annoying dog ran into her arms.

The fluffy grey creature licked her face, jumping in its hind legs as it yapped incessantly amidst Marina’s giggles of delight.

The ache in his head only began to grow when two footmen carrying a very large cage ambled past him.

“Where would you like us to put this, Your Grace?” The elder of the two men asked Marina, not even bothering to include Aaron in the decision.

“You may set him down in the parlor. Henry the VIII likes to be in open spaces where he can overhear plenty of conversations.” She gave the dog a final hug before pushing herself up anddusting off her dress. The number of tiny hairs that fell to the floor made Aaron’s skin crawl.

“Henry the VIII?” He asked with a small shake of his head, pinching the bridge of his nose between his finger and thumb.

Marina expressed a light giggle that caught him off guard. He had never seen her so giddy about anything at all. “Henry the VIII used to be called Blue.”

“That is quite a jump.” Aaron began to wonder why he was even entertaining the nonsense when a fluffy white cat shot across his boots.