The Duke of Ruin (The Untouchables Book 8) by Burke Darcy

Author:Burke, Darcy [Burke, Darcy]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Darcy Burke Publishing
Published: 2018-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Fairly bursting with anxious energy, Diana paced in front of the windows overlooking the garden and lawn at the back of the castle while she waited for the maid to arrange the tray of tea and food. Finally, she left, and Verity, whom Diana hadn’t seen in almost two years, poured her cup precisely the way she liked it—a bit of cream and a large spoon of sugar when her mother wasn’t around.

Verity sat in a wing-backed chair, looking up at Diana. “Are you going to sit or hover?”

Diana sank onto the settee perpendicular to Verity’s chair. “It’s been a trying week.”

“I can only imagine.” Verity sipped her tea and, setting it down, picked up a cake. “I’ll endeavor to hold my tongue so you can disclose the entire tale. It looks to be fascinating.”

That was one word to describe it. Many others crowded Diana’s mind: desperate, exciting, disastrous, astonishing to name just a few. Life changing was perhaps the best.

“Just a moment.” Diana was rather famished, so she wolfed down a cake in a manner she never would have done at home. Taking a sip of tea, she set her cup down and began to speak.

“As you know I was engaged to the Duke of Kilve.”

“Yes. But you arrived with the Duke of Romsey.” Verity flinched and held up her hand. “My apologies. I did say I wouldn’t interrupt.”

Diana smiled. “You said you’d try. I know better.” People found the two of them reserved or perhaps even aloof in Diana’s case, but together, they were animated and talkative, as if they couldn’t possibly say everything they wanted to. Perhaps they saved it up for when they saw each other, despite the fact that they corresponded regularly. It certainly felt like that to Diana. With her cousin, she could be absolutely herself, in a way she couldn’t with anyone else.

Verity laughed softly, her eyes glowing with warmth. “It’s so good to have you here.”

“It’s good to be here.” And it was. Oh, how she wished that staying here—away from her parents, away from the pressures they placed upon her, away from Society, away from scandal—was a choice she could make.

“So tell me about Romsey.” Verity picked up another cake and winked at Diana. “If I keep eating, I can’t talk.”

“The story is more than just Romsey,” Diana answered. But he was a central part of it. Without him, things would have gone very differently. He’d promised Kilve he would look after Diana and protect her from scandal to the best of his ability. She’d believed in his promise, but now, after what had happened in Brereton, scandal would find them.

Diana worked to start back at the beginning. “The Duke of Kilve is in love with someone else and is going to marry her instead.”

Verity’s jaw dropped. “What? The scoundrel!”

“Try not to blame him—it was my idea to marry, not his. And I believe I caught him at a rather vulnerable time.”

Twisting her lips into an unsatisfied grimace, Verity grunted softly.

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