“You don’t need to do that for me,” Bridget informed him.
She wanted to handle the problem herself, but she appreciated his offer nonetheless.
“Yes, I would do it for you, but I would also do it for my brother. He deserves to have the best wedding possible, and if your father might ruin that, then it is my duty to stop him. I protected my brother for many years, and I sympathize completely. I had to deal with my father from a very young age.”
“Oh,” Bridget murmured. “Your father passed, didn’t he?”
She did not wish that on anyone, but life would be a lot simpler if her father was not around.
“He did,” the Duke replied. “I grieved my loss, but it brought great relief for my mother and me. We are similar in that way, too. My younger brother knew some of who our father truly was, but not all of it. Mother and I shielded him from that.”
Bridget didn’t know how to respond to that. Her trauma was very recent, but the Duke’s sounded like it came during childhood.
“My father was an abusive man,” the Duke continued, his voice somber and low. He spoke quietly and slowly, measuring every word. “He abused my mother during most of their marriage, and he abused me too. He would give me terrible beatings for inconsequential things. He always told me that he was beating sense into me to prepare me for inheriting the dukedom.”
“That is awful,” Bridget said. Tears sprung to her eyes.
“I don’t know where his anger came from,” the Duke murmured. “Perhaps he was abused himself, or maybe the Devil was in him. I took my beatings like a man—equality be blasted on that point. No woman should ever be beaten like that. I placed myself before my mother to protect her, and then my brother when he became old enough to be taught a lesson by my father.”
There was nothing that Bridget could say to make the situation any better—she was only glad that it was in the past.
“When I was strong enough, I stood up to him,” the Duke said, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “He still beat me, but I gave as good as I got, and he soon learned to leave me alone. He learned to leave my mother and my brother alone, too, using verbal abuse as a weapon instead. He was a horrible man, and I am glad he is six feet under the ground. I am a much better man than he would ever have been.”
“You are,” Bridget agreed. “Even without knowing that story, I would know you were a good man.”
“I try to be,” the Duke told her. “I try to be good, and that means not being like my father. I do what I want, and I don’t listen to anyone except myself. That is why I will never marry.”
“Your father married, and you wish to do the opposite?” Bridget asked.
“No, not quite,” the Duke told her. “I… I still feel him in me. I will always carry his influence with me. I have made my peace with that too, but I worry that if I marry, I might…”
“You don’t want to hurt anyone you love,” Bridget concluded. “You are worried that if you marry and have children, you might become like him and hurt them.”
“Yes.” The Duke swallowed. “I know I am nothing like him, but I don’t believe he got married with the intent of hurting his family. It ended that way, but it did not begin like that. I shall not marry, and I will protect myself and others against the pain he inflicted. I carry my burden gladly.”
Bridget still did not know what to say that might help. She did the only thing she could think of. She reached out and took his hand, pulling it onto her lap. She held his hand tight and stared out at the water—at a future where there was no pain for the people they loved.
They sat and stared, and Bridget hoped the Duke found comfort in her presence, for she found comfort in his.
CHAPTER21
Dancing with The Duke
“Iapologize,” the Duke said with a hint of melancholy in his eyes. “You should not have to listen to me talk about my problems.”
“I don’t mind,” Bridget assured him.
“It is a beautiful night, and I only brought sadness to it. That was not my intention at all. I very much enjoy being out here so late with you, and I would like you to remember these times as happy ones,” the Duke expressed.
“I will remember them as such,” Bridget told him. “I have enjoyed our time together. You are wonderful company.”
The Duke did not say a word, and when Bridget looked at him, he had a sly smile on his face. It was then that she realized she was still holding his hand. She gasped, quickly pushing his hand away.
“Oh, you are a rogue! I always knew you were. You tricked me into saying nice things about you.”
Nicholas laughed. “I have done no such thing. You were the one who took my hand.”
“Only because I wanted to comfort you,” Bridget stammered.
