Page 52 of The Duke Who Claimed Her

When she did, Arabella almost retched. Her stomach twisted, bile rising in her throat. She turned away, disgust on her face, visibly shaking.

“Exactly,” her father chuckled. “I have no doubt that you can turn His Grace’s fancy if you put your mind to it. And you will put your mind to it.”

“No…” She firmed herself and turned back on him. “I… I do not…” She wanted to snarl. She wanted to dismiss. She wanted to stand tall and demand that he leave at once!

Alas, she was but a girl facing off against her father, and never before had she felt so weak and pathetic.

“Why?” she managed. “Gambling? It makes no sense.”

“It does,” he said with a sigh. “When a man gambles, he makes bets that he cannot keep. When those bets are owed, he is forced to offer alternatives. And as I fully expect His Grace to lose…” He smirked as he looked around the garden. “This is a rather lovely home, you know. I cannot wait until it is mine.”

Her eyes widened as it came to her.

Her father wanted more than money. He wanted to own Caspian. And while she could not imagine what deals he had made with these lords who would soon be gambling with Caspian, she knew well what he would do once Caspian owed them more money than he could afford.

“I will tell him,” she said. “I will tell him what you plan.”

He scoffed. “I doubt it. Oh, you might think that you will. Right now, you might even believe it to be possible. But know this…” He stepped forward, so close that she felt his breath on her. “I own you, Arabella. You might have married a duke, you might have dared to dream that you were free of me, but you will always be my daughter, and when I say jump, the only question you will have for me is how high.”

She turned away, disgusted with her father, but more disgusted with herself.

“And if you think to refuse me…” he growled. “You know what I am capable of. That boy… Timothy, was it? He is rather adorable. At least for now, he is.”

“No…” she gasped.

He scoffed as he stepped back. Then he straightened up and fixed a warm smile on his face as if they were having a very pleasant chat. “It was good to see you, Arabella, truly. So much, in fact, that I already look forward to the next time.”

With those words, her father turned and strode back across the garden, quickly vanishing behind the hedges as if he had never been.

And there Arabella stood. Shaking. Cowering back. Frozen to the spot with a sense of fear and helplessness that she knew too well. She was a fool to think that she had changed, as she was a fool to think that change was even possible.

Always, she belonged to someone else, and her life was never her own. It was only then that she finally was willing to admit it.

Chapter Nineteen

Caspian stalked the various rooms of Boodle’s Club in search of George. While he often liked to drink alone so he could ruminate on his thoughts and stew in his own pitiful sorrow, tonight was a different story.

For several days now, Caspian had sat with his cousin’s words, unable to escape them as he slowly inched closer toward what he had long since suspected but still refused to admit: that his cousin spoke the truth.

Have I been wrong all this time?

It ought to have been a relief to realize. For most, it would be seen as a new lease on life. If he was not like his father, then it meant that Caspian had a chance to be happy. He could be a proper father to Timothy, a real husband to Arabella, and the risk of dragging them down a path of torment and pain was one he no longer needed to fear.

However, as was the way of Caspian, he was stubborn and scared, and despite that truth niggling in the back of his mind, growing harder to deny, he refused to fully accept it. If, by chance, his cousin was wrong, the result would be an utter tragedy. For him, for Timothy, and for Arabella.

So it was that after several days of deep consideration, he went to the club, figuring that he would open up to his closest friend so that an answer might be found.

Of course, the very fact that Caspian wanted someone else to convince him of this path ought to have been further proof of what he wanted.

But it does not matter what I want. What matters is what might happen if I dare to chase that which I desire. That is what scares me, and that is why I must be careful.

Frustratingly, George was nowhere to be found.

For that reason, Caspian soon found himself sitting alone in Boodle’s Club, tucked away in the back corner, a mug of ale gripped firmly in his hand, his thoughts the only company that he had. Or so he thought…

The club was busy but not loud. His eyes reviewed the patrons, recognizing a few faces, but not enough for anyone to see him and dare to approach. Most knew better than to waste their time on such matters.

That was when he saw her.