Destined For A Duke (Completed)

Chapter 22

Everything turned chaotic the minute Lord Arthur left. Max and William disappeared with a pale Brandon. George and Lady Dalton tried to help a hysterical Lady Malcolm to her room. Ella helped her sister to her room with Emma's assistance.

Bella was the only one who didn't utter even a single word the whole time. Ella worried that her sister might be so effected by the news that she might miscarry. Melancholy was common amongst expecting mothers.

Ella helped her sister into a night gown and started combing her hair while Emma cleaned her hands and face with a wash cloth. All the while Ella kept looking at her sister's eyes to search for any sign of life.

Emma tucked her sister in. Ella could not being herself to say something reassuring and was relieved when her friend spoke up.

"Everything happens for a reason. God is silent but He knows everything. Your pain is temporary, he will give you permanent happiness soon enough. You will be a mother soon enough. A bundle of joy will make you forget all your problems. You just wait and see." Emma patted her sister's hand gently.

Bella gave her friend a hollow smile and turned to look at Ella.

"I don't know if I am happy or relieved. I don't feel pain. Does that make me a bad person? I am supposed to be grieving but I can't. I can't grieve for a man who have me nothing but pain." Ella hugged her sister and Emma held her hands.

"No, don't you ever think like that. He was a monster. The only good thing that he did was give you this beautiful child growing inside of you. You have every right to feel the way you do." Bella suddenly sat straighter and Ella saw the fear in her eyes.

"That's the problem. He gave me a child. My child will have my dark coloring. Ella what if it's a girl? What do you think the ton will do to her? My poor baby will suffer her whole life." Bella pushed away the two girls before standing up and walking towards the sink with wash cloth.

"Call a maid. I want the strongest bleach you have. I will bleach my skin, maybe it will get lighter. My child will not live a life like mine. Hurry up. I want it now!" Ella tried to stop her sister's fierce scrubbing but she kept on rubbing herself. Bella finally had tears in her eyes. She kept on pushing Ella away with surprising strength until a muscular hand stopped her.

Ella looked behind her to see Emma standing at the door looking out of breath. Beside her were Lord William, Brandon and Lord Arthur. Ella realized that her friend must have left to get reinforcements while she was busy with her sister. Max gently picked Bella up before moving her to sit on her bed.

"I am brother. If your child is a girl then I will make sure that everyone in ton treats her right. Her father could have done nothing for her because he was a weak man. Your biggest support is still alive. Your child is a part of my family too and I'll look after it. If it's a boy, I will teach him how to run a state. You have nothing to worry about. Your coloring will never effect the child." Max's promise was sincere but Bella laughed.

"My dear brother, you know nothing. You have just married my sister, complications will come. Everyone will immediately assume that she is your mistress when you enter a room, she will always be inferior, she will always be that whore who trapped a Duke. It Will be easier for her to deal with such things as it was for me because we had a happy childhood. By the time I attended my first ball, I knew that I was more than my skin color because I had never met someone from ton before. The so called ton would have destroyed me if I had to hear all the vicious things during my childhood. Can you imagine the kind of childhood a baby of my coloring will have in ton? The name calling he would have to face?" Max turned pale as he understood what Bella was implying. He turned to look at Ella before his face turned resolute.

"We will do it. I don't know how but we will keep our children safe. We will make sure that no one from the ton has power over them. We will figure something out. For now, take some tea." Ella felt her heart swell with love as Max cared for her sister. She wanted a kid as soon as possible. With the way Max talked of looking after their children, Ella wanted to see him with them. Bella soon fell asleep after drinking her tea.

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"The tea had laudanum. Everything is bearable after a good sleep." They had just left sleeping Bella in her room.

"Why is Lord Arthur here?" Ella could not help asking. He was a mystery that was interested in her sister. Ella didn't miss the way he looked at her sister as they were leaving her room.

"Brandon called for him. He cannot contact his brother and needed Lord Arthur's help." Max took her hand before gently pulling her into one of the passing rooms. Everyone else walked ahead, unaware of the fact that the two of them had left.

"I want to promise you that I will do my best to protect you and our children. I hope you will trust me enough to inform me if someone treats you badly." Max's voice was sincere but Ella couldn't help laughing. She imagined Max treating a Lord the same way he treated the inn keeper.

"I am a grown woman my Lord. I will survive most of the time. If something became too much for me to handle, I will tell you. Your main responsibility is children." Ella smiled in what she hoped was flirtatious manner. She wanted Max to start the child making process immediately.

Instead of a comeback, all Ella got was his booming laugh before he left the room.

Ouch! That level of disinterest must have hurt.