His Wayward Duchess

His Wayward Duchess - Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lord Edward John Gray, Duke of Ravenham was in a bad mood this morning.

Last night his friend had brought up a subject of which he didn’t want to revive in his mind.

Caroline...

Just hearing her name brought back pain... and it made his heart ache.

His beautiful yet wicked wife who had left him two years earlier…

All because his selfish behavior had been hurting her.

Something inside on him broke when he remembered those wonderful days when her laughter would wake him up and her singing out in their garden would echo through the house, warming up his heart.

But he had taken that sparkle from her.

Reminiscing about Caroline always caused his heart to throb violently...

Especially as it had all been his fault.

Closing his eyes, pictures flashed before him...

After a year of their marriage they had both been happily receiving the news of her pregnancy.

Caroline had by then carried his child in the third month, but when her mother suddenly passed away she had grieved so much that she got sick. Due to the stress she lost it.

Edward had been out of town in business for the House of Lords. A secret mission of diplomancy in France.

When returning home, and learning of the miscarriage. He had seeked Caroline immediately but then the trauma... or whatever happened to her... made her strange and unreachable.

She shielded herself from him, making him lose courage and one thing led to another so he started drinking to ease the pain of seeing her so broken down.

But instead of going to her with his worries, he had gone to gaming hells’ and… White’s.

He hadn’t been able to soothe her agony of losing the child and each time he had gone back to the cold house he had found her staring into space, then she had start crying when she saw him as if he was the reason to her pain. Like that one night he had drunk too much and stayed at a friend’s apartment.

He thought she wouldn’t doubt him when telling that it was a friend of whom he didn’t want to reveal because this friend wasn’t decent enough for those that Edward usually befriended… but Caroline had though he was cheating. In a fit of anger - how could she distrust him when he wasn't at fault? - Edward had stormed out of the house to cool his head down.

When he returned she had left, leaving only a note saying that she couldn’t love him anymore and that she didn’t want him to look for her.

That had made him fall into deep despair.

Hell, he knew he was drinking too much.

 But he couldn’t live a single day without her if his mind wasn’t as clouded as when he was drunk...

Life had literally stopped the night she left and she had taken his heart with her.

He sighed as he picked up a letter that he had received this morning.

It was from his mother, he could tell by the paper she used.

Well, Caroline would’ve been angry at him if she saw him now…

He sighed again, and read the message fleetingly before his eyes widened and he called for Benet.

“My lord. Do you wish for me to bring up some tea to your study-“

“Benet.” Ravenham interrupted while lowered his voice. “I need you to prepare the carriage, a package of clothes and some food for me. I'm in a hurry to travel to my mother’s estate within the hour. And if anybody asks... you shall not say a word about it.”

“As you wish, my lord. And cloths… I’ll see to it now.”

“Thank you, Benet. You are the most loyal servant any rake could ask for.”

“My lord... praises me far too much. I’ve been looking after you since you were little, sir. It’s fulfilling to still be of service to you.”

“I’m sorry that your daughter’s working at my... at Caroline's mansion.

I know you’re missing her.”

Benet smiled slightly. “Oh don’t be, sir. Her ladyship was kind enough to give her an employment when she needed it. And she’s grown very fond of Lady Caroline.

If she’s happy… then I’m happy.” 

To be continued...