Page 51 of Project Duke

“Your guest just insulted your sister in the worst manner.”

Preston shot a worried look at Calliope, and the next moment he stood by her side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively. “Sister, what is it? I’ve never seen you distraught like this. Is this true?”

William’s terrified gaze was on Calliope, pleading with her to lie for him. But she’d had enough.

“You must apologize, Huntingham,” she said coldly, staring into the man’s eyes, her voice cracked and strange. “You know what you said.”

When William tried to free himself from Nathaniel’s huge hand, Nathaniel pulled his arm back and hit the man in the face. There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and the crack of a head hitting the wall.

“Apologize,” roared Nathaniel. “Or I will tear the very tongue out of your mouth you spoke such filth with.”

“I am sorry, Duchess,” William snarled, but there was not a trace of regret in his voice. “Happy?”

“Not in the slightest. Calliope?”

She didn’t think the pathetic I’m sorry was enough to atone for the years of humiliation she’d lived under. And Spencer had already beaten him up once, and yet, here he was going at it again. But she didn’t want Nathaniel to fight in a duel. William wasn’t worth getting her husband hurt or killed.

So this had to be enough.

“You must not take a single step in my direction again, Huntingham,” she said.

“Excellent idea,” growled Nathaniel. “And thank my wife for her generosity. If it wasn’t for her word, I’d kill you with the first sun tomorrow.”

William’s dark eyes lay on her with disdain. “Thank you,” he spat.

“Get out of my house,” barked Preston. “I do not want to see you near my family again. As far as I’m concerned, you’re finished in London.”

Nathaniel shook him hard once again and then let go. William staggered to his feet and hurried out of the house.

The next moment, she was wrapped in Nathaniel’s arms like in a thick winter cloak, and she buried her face in his chest. William was gone. But would she ever be truly free from him?

19

“Come with me, Calliope,” said Nathaniel when the girls retired to their bedrooms later that night.

It was after dinner and Calliope, Nathaniel, and the girls had been sitting in the drawing room. For the first time since Calliope had arrived at Roxburgh, the feeling of being in harmony and being a family enveloped her.

The London night was dark beyond the windows, the square dimly lit with gas lamps, and only the windows in the rows of town houses glowed softly in the dark.

“Where to?” she asked.

They had returned to Roxburgh Place shortly after the terrible scene with William, after which her family hadn’t left her alone for a moment. She had refused to tell them what it was about, and Nathaniel had loyally kept the humiliating words he’d heard from William to himself. Although Calliope was still unsure how much he’d really heard.

“I thought I could cheer you up,” he said as he stood up, his tall, muscular figure looming over her, his broad shoulders mighty under his navy uniform, his golden hair in its customary tail at the back of his head. He extended his hand out to her, a soft smile on his lips. “You’ll like it, I promise.”

Calliope wanted to say she really didn’t need much, that he’d given her more than he had known when he’d stood up for her…when he hadn’t agreed with William’s foul words.

She laid her cool hand into his warm one, and his large palm closed around hers, enveloping it. She stood up on wobbly legs.

“You’re not going to lock me in a tower, are you?” she said with a chuckle.

He raised one brow, amusement glinting in his eyes. “As much as I would like knowing you’re safe somewhere in a tower, guarded by a dragon…no. Not yet, anyway.”

Calliope cocked her head. “I’m quite intrigued, Your Grace.”

Still holding her hand, he picked up a candle lamp and led her up the stairs onto the first floor. But to her surprise, he didn’t stop there, but instead led her to the second floor, which was dark and quiet, only old wood creaking under their feet. The air was musty, and it smelled like dust. Her surprise peaked when they didn’t stop there. He took her to the left wing, at the end of which was a door. When he opened it, the candle lamp illuminated circular stairs leading up.

“So it is a tower, after all,” said Calliope, both curiosity and a little thrill whirling inside her.