A Duke and A Damsel

A Duke and A Damsel--Chapter 30

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A Duke and A Damsel

Chapter 30

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“I won't marry her,” Blake insisted firmly under his breath. “I can't marry her.”

It was probably the thousandth time he'd said it to himself in the past two and half hours since he'd returned from the masquerade ball, but he could no longer remember a single reason why he shouldn't marry Emma. However, the bigger problem was that he was starting to think of reasons why he should. It was becoming increasingly difficult to convince himself that the gentlemanly thing to do here would be to bow out of this farce of an engagement and let her marry whomever she pleased.

But he couldn't do that either. Rather, he didn't want to. Now that she was within his grasp, he would feel abominable if he let her go without a fight. After all, he loved her, and seeing her with that bastard Sebastian had been torturous enough. He had to convince her that he was right for her, that he loved her for who she was and didn't want to spend the rest of his life with anyone but her. He had to make her realize that he could make her happy in a way no one else could. He had to...

He heard the door to the library open and completely lost his train of thought. He turned around a little too fast to see who it was and felt his vision blur a bit.

“You!” he slurred accusingly. “Leave me alone. I don't want to see you or speak to you right now.”

Arjun walked in, ignoring Blake's request completely.

“Don't you think you've had a little bit too much to drink, you old chap?”

“I'm not old,” Blake said, disgruntled. “Didn't I just tell you to go away?”

“Yes, I suppose you did, but my, my, someone is testy today and taking things quite personally.”

“Why the hell are you still here? You're just making things worse.”

“I'm here because we need to talk. About Emma. Things have gotten quite messy, haven't they?”

“It's not my fault. I didn't come up with that idiotic scheme. That was your doing. At least I'm assuming it was. It doesn't take a genius to figure out you set me and Emma up and then brought those atrocious Milleboones to witness it. You knew the news would spread like wildfire.”