Bride for a Duke

by Bryn Donovan

  The Duke’s eyebrows knitted together as he shook his head. “I heard your father call you Serena.”

  Serena nodded. “That is true.” She turned and shut the door behind herself and Abigail to keep the conversation private. “I am Serena. This,” Serena said as she waved her hand at her sister, “is Abigail.”

  Lord Balfour and the Duke both stared at them for a moment. “We know that already,” Lord Balfour said finally.

  “No, you do not.” Serena shook her head at the man. “I met you at the wedding for the first time, Lord Balfour. That is why I did not remember you.”

  The Earl of Mornington cleared his throat, but it was the Duke that spoke next. “What is the meaning of all of this? Is this some game you two play?”

  Abigail clutched her hands to her chest. “No. Of course not.” She hung her head and spoke softly, “The day that Serena was to marry you, she found she could not. She begged me to take her place.”

  “You are my wife,” Lord Honeyfield whispered. “But you are not Serena?”

  Serena nodded. “You begin to see a bit now. It all happened so fast that we did not think it through.”

  Lord Balfour opened his mouth and then closed it again. He squinted his eyes at them. “Now I am confused as to which of you I know.”

  “You were introduced to Abigail originally, but it is me that you have come to know. I promise you that other than our names, we are the same people.” Serena looked at Lord Balfour pleadingly.

  Lord Balfour held out his hand towards the Duke as if asking him to wait. “I am beginning to understand. You did not wish to marry, so you got your sister to marry the Duke in your stead.”

  Duke Honeyfield blew out a puff of air as he stood up and paced away. “So, she did not want to marry me? She forced her sister to do so. No wonder she has been so miserable.”

  “No,” Abigail denied, her voice rising. “That is not true. I have not been miserable. How can you think it?”

  The Duke looked around at Abigail. “How can I think anything but that?”

  Abigail shook her head. “It is because of our intimacy that you think that. I swear that my guilt over the situation kept me from you and nothing else. I felt it horribly for lying to you.”

  “You could have told me,” the Duke responded taking a step back towards Abigail and she towards him. Serena stepped over towards the desk as James did the same thing, eager to let the couple work things out on their own.

  Abigail wiped her face as a tear went down her cheek. “Would we not have ended up here anyway?”

  The Duke raised his shoulders helplessly. “I do not know how to fix this. I do not know what there is to fix.”

  “I love you, endlessly, possibly in several lifetimes.” Abigail broke into a tear-stained smile as she sniffled up at her husband.

  The Duke’s hand went out and caressed her cheek. “How can I be sure that this is the real you?”

  “I have never been anyone but me,” Abigail whispered. “I just never was sure if you loved me or the image of Serena that you had in your mind.”

  He shook his head at her. “I never knew Serena. I only knew you.”

  As Colin looked at Abigail, he saw her truly for the first time. He had thought that her reluctance to be with him fully was because her feelings had not run as deeply as his. In fact, it had been quite the opposite, and he found he could not hold that against her.

  Yet, she had lied. She had left him with a conundrum. “This is quite the mess that you two have made for me.”

  Abigail lowered her head. “I am sorry. I wish I had spoken up sooner.”

  “We both do,” Serena added.

  Colin heaved a sigh as the door to the study came open unceremoniously. Lady Talbert entered. He saw Abigail’s eyes go around to the woman as well. “Lady Talbert, what are you doing here unannounced?”

  “I came because I felt I had to,” Lady Talbert said as her eyes went to Colin and Abigail. “Do you not know now that you chose the wrong woman?”

  Colin looked at the envelope in the woman’s hand. “You were trying to tell me about Abigail and her sister.”

  “Yes,” Lady Talbert admitted. “I had found evidence after feeling something was wrong with the situation. I could not just leave things be.”

  Colin looked back at Abigail. “You are wrong, Lady Talbert. I did not choose the wrong woman. Marrying Abigail was the most right thing I have ever done.”

  Lady Talbert gasped and clutched her hands by her sides. “But she lied to you! I never lied to you!”

  It was with compassion that he looked upon Lady Talbert. “I hope that one day you can forgive me for hurting you so. I understand now that I merely misunderstood your intentions.” Colin took a breath as he felt fatigue from all the emotions that had been wrenched out of him in the last couple of hours.

  Lady Talbert scowled at him. “You are a fool.”

  “I probably am, but that is the way love is. I hope that you can get past how I hurt you and find true love for yourself, just as I have done with Abigail.” Colin looked away from Lady Talbert and back at his wife.

  Abigail whispered, “Do you mean that?”

  “I do,” Colin agreed with a smile. “It took a lot for you to be honest with me. It is more courage than I had, and you have made me bolder for your example.”

  Lady Talbert stormed out in a huff, but Colin paid her little heed. James looked over at Serena. “I do not think we have been properly introduced.”

  Serena laughed and extended her hand to the Earl. “Lady Serena Haddington, and you are?”

  “Lord Balfour, Earl of Mornington,” James replied with an exaggerated bow. “Now that we have stopped these two from making a horrible mistake, shall we have a walk to celebrate?”

  Serena looped her arm through James’s outstretched arm. “I think we shall.” She gave Colin and Abigail a wave as James escorted her out of the room.

  Colin looked at his wife. “I do think those two might end up married.”

  “I would not be opposed to that, so long as you do not get us confused.” Abigail gave her husband a grin.

  Colin shook her finger at her. “That is not funny.”

  Abigail stood up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his mouth. He willingly fell into the kiss, feeling as if he were drowning in the love that welled up inside him. He pulled back and cupped her face between his hands gently. “I thought I had lost you.”

  “I thought I had lost you too.” Tears, warm and wet slid down her cheeks until they collided with his hands. Colin wiped away the wetness and gave Abigail a kiss.

  He scooped his wife up, and she laughed with delight as he did so. “Now, what should we do to celebrate our first true night together?”

  “I do not know, but seeing as we are not married, we should probably sleep in separate rooms.” Abigail giggled at the look on his face.

  Colin had not thought of that. “That is true. We are not wed, truly are we?”

  Abigail grinned. “We are not, yet no one else knows that.”

  He let her slide to the floor with a laugh. “It is an oversight that we can rectify swiftly enough. After all, I never consummated the marriage with your sister.”

  With a snort of laughter, Abigail said, “See I kept us out of trouble.”

  Colin rolled his eyes at her. “I would have preferred trouble.”

  “I can help with that too,” Abigail assured him as she motioned for him to follow her.

  Colin was intrigued by this side of Abigail, and he followed her out of the study door and up the stairs. When they reached their shared bedroom, Colin let her slip inside as if they were having some tryst with much amusement.

  Inside he pulled her to him. There was no resistance this time. She came into his arms willingly and let him undress her as it pleased him. She seemed just as eager to undress him as he was to rid her of her layers.

  When she was down to her stay, Colin stopped long enough to pull his own shirt off due to Ab
igail’s insistent tugs at the cloth. He closed his eyes as she ran her fingers over his chest. So long denied he ached with the need of her, but it could wait a bit longer.

  He toyed with her and kissed her neck as she stroked his chest languidly. They truly did have all the time in the world now. There was no reason to deny themselves any longer, yet the slow burn of it felt good.

  He leaned her back across the bed, and she willingly splayed her legs out. His fingers slid along the inside of her thighs. She wiggled a bit nervously.

  He felt as much as heard her gasp as he brushed his fingertips across her opening. He slipped his fingers inside her, wanting to make sure that she was ready for him. The last thing he wanted was to frighten her of the experience.

  She stilled as she adjusted to the sensation. He watched slowly as she smiled at him. It was what he had been waiting for. He stepped back and disrobed completely.

  She seemed entranced by his length, and he wondered what she would do if given a chance to fondle his hardness, yet now was not the time. He positioned himself and pushed the tip of his hardness against her opening.

  Abigail’s mouth came open with an intake of breath. “I am frightened,” she whispered.

  Colin leaned across her body and gave her a soft kiss. “Breathe, love,” he whispered back to her. “I have you.”

  Abigail looked up at him, and he locked gazes with her as he pushed gently into her. Her teeth clenched, and Colin stilled inside her. They stayed that way for a long while until finally, Abigail began to squirm under him.

  He thrust into her with as much restraint as he could. Her quickening breath and the way her hands dug into his back urged him to a faster pace. Abigail wrapped her legs around him stopping him from pulling all the way out of her.

  She greedily urged him on with her pants and sighs. “I do not know what I feel,” she gasped.

  “All I feel is you,” Colin whispered hoarsely.

  Abigail rocked her hips up to meet his thrusts. The feel of it sent Colin over the edge, and he could not hold himself back anymore. When he rose up off of her, Abigail gave him a tired smile.

  “Are you well? Did I hurt you?” Colin lay down next to her and wrapped his arms around her.

  Abigail snuggled into him. “I am perfect,” she whispered.

  Colin gave her auburn hair a kiss. He was tired and content. Tomorrow they would sort out the tangles of the marriages and such, tonight he only needed her in his arms.

  A knock on her bedroom door brought Abigail fully awake. She had been taking a nap. Groggily, Abigail made her way over to the door.

  She called, “Who is it?”

  “Well, it is me, of course,” a familiar voice called back.

  Abigail grinned broadly and flung the door open to find Marie Ann. “You are here!” Abigail threw her arms around her friend, and the girl hugged her back as tightly as Abigail hugged her.

  Marie Ann beamed at her when they finally broke off the hug. “I am so happy to see you again, Miss. Now that everything is sorted out, the Duke invited me to come to be your personal Lady’s Maid again.”

  Abigail shook her head. “I thought he had forgotten about it.”

  “I think he probably just wanted to surprise you. Are you surprised then?” Marie Ann’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

  Abigail nodded and ushered the maid into her room. “I am very surprised and so happy to have you here finally!” She sank down onto the bed, and Marie Ann sat down primly next to her. “The staff here has been wonderful, but it just did not feel right without.”

  “I know the feeling. When your sister returned from the wedding, I thought you had lost your mind due to grief, and that was why you were behaving so oddly,” Marie Ann said with a shake of her head.

  “I tried to write to you, but someone stole the letter. I am so sorry, Marie Ann. It must have been like I had forgotten you.” Abigail’s heart ached thinking of her friend pondering why Abigail had left her behind.

  Marie Ann waved off Abigail’s concern. “Once I found out what had happened, I understood why things had to be the way they were. It would have been a bit odd having Abigail’s maid follow Serena off to her married life.”

  “That is true,” Abigail agreed with a grin. “I just cannot believe that everything has been straightened out so quickly. That husband of mine is a miracle worker.”

  “Very near it from what I can tell.” Marie Ann looked around the room. “This is very cozy. Are these your private rooms?”

  Abigail nodded. “There is a bedroom attached to this one that you can use.”

  “That is very kind of you.” Marie Ann sighed. “I thought I would just be with the staff.”

  Abigail scoffed. “I would never let that happen. Besides, it will save you time.”

  “That is true. Now as my first duties here, would you like some tea?” Marie Ann stood up and smoothed down her black skirts and her apron.

  Abigail whispered, “Actually, do you have any of those candies that your grandmother makes?”

  Marie Ann snaked her hand into her apron and brought out a paper covered candy. “Never go anywhere without them. Grams has started teaching me how to make them so that when she is gone, I can still have my favourite candy around.”

  “She is not ill, is she?” Abigail frowned at the thought of that as she unwrapped the creamy treat.

  Marie Ann shook her head. “Oh, no, she is perfectly fine. She is just a worrywart. I shall go fetch you some tea. Should I bring it to you here?”

  Abigail shook her head as she stood up and eyed herself in the vanity mirror. “I shall be down in the library.”

  “Very well,” Marie Ann said with a smile before she was off to fetch the tea.

  Abigail judged herself ready and quickly made her way towards the library. She had just found a nice book when Marie Ann came in. “You found the library. Congratulations.”

  Marie Ann assured Abigail, “It was not hard to find at all. If this is all you need, I think I just might go exploring a bit so I can get myself familiar with the house and grounds.”

  “This is just fine. Go on and have fun. There is a really cute boy down by the stables that I knew you would like the first moment I saw him. You should go have a peek at him.” Abigail gave her brows a little suggestive wiggle at her friend.

  Despite herself, Marie Ann giggled. “How come when someone gets married they instantly try to get everyone else married as well?”

  “I am not saying you have to marry him, but he is cute. He looks a bit like that footman that you had a crush on in London.” Abigail shrugged.

  Marie Ann paused as she seemed to give the idea of it thought. “I might decide to look at the horses. It couldn’t hurt.”

  Abigail gave her friend a smile and a wave. She watched Marie Ann wander out of the room and picked up her cup of tea. Her husband had surprised her yet again, but the man seemed to be content to do so on a daily basis.

  It seemed so odd to be herself, her true self. The Duke’s family was easily enough persuaded to go along with Colin’s wishes in the matter. She thought it would be far more awkward, and there would be a scandal, yet there was hardly a peep about it.

  Even Lady Talbert had not proven to be a problem. She had felt that the lady would come back to haunt them, but apparently, she had her own reputation to maintain. Abigail heard a few months later that Lady Talbert had gone abroad with a family member.

  So here she was married or was that remarried to the Duke as Abigail and not Serena. There was a bit of talk, but ultimately people moved onto other scandals once it was clear the only thing they found there was a happily married couple.

  Colin popped into the library at the country estate. She had hidden herself among the books in a pile on the floor. “Ah, there she is. You should have come riding. It was a marvellous day for it.”

  “It looks like. Where did you lose your coat this time?” Abigail waved at the man who had his long sleeve shirt rolled up.

  Colin chu
ckled. “I had to help move some wood for the addition. It is far too warm outside for a coat.”

  “So you left it outside then?” Abigail read between the lines.

  He shrugged. “I probably did. Someone will find it and put it in my room.”

  “People will talk if you keep losing your clothing,” Abigail teased.

  Colin grinned. “Speaking of losing clothing.”

  “You back away you rogue, you!” Abigail was already giggling as she got to her feet.

  She did not make much of an escape. Colin swiftly had her around the waist as he pulled her against him. Her rump situated squarely against his hard length. Her breath came in bursts as Colin rubbed himself against her.

  “Shall we go up to our room?” Abigail asked over her shoulder.

  Colin slid his free hand down the length of her muslin dress, the thin material leaving nothing to the imagination. He brought his hand back up her leg, bringing her skirt along with it. She knew his intention then and had no defence against it.

  Abigail whispered at him, “We really should be a bit more proper.”

  “I will keep that in mind,” Colin whispered as he kissed the back of her neck.

  She blinked her eyes open much later and stretched. Colin had carried her up to their bed once he had had his way with her. She must have fallen asleep. Abigail rolled over and found her husband asleep next to her.

  His blond hair was spread out on the pillow behind him, and Abigail ran her hand over his soft strands. “What are you doing?” Colin’s voice was thick with sleep.

  Abigail propped up her chin on her hands as she lay on her stomach eyeing him. “Watching you.”

  “Is it that fascinating?” Colin cracked one eye open to look at her.

  She gave him a grin. “Yes.” Colin stretched his hands over his head. “I need to check on the workmen.”

  “You would have no need to check up on them if you had not suddenly had the urge to bed me.” Abigail tossed a pillow at his head which he batted away.

  Colin agreed with a laugh, “True. How can I be held responsible for that with this heat and your penchant for wearing those thin dresses?”