“Ana, I saw that face - I heard you, screaming at Audrey, the day you dragged her into the study. I’m
not nearly as deaf, dumb or blind as you think I am,” Agatha chastised. Ana’s body shook as realization set in. Audrey’s expression hardened, satisfied to see her oppressor treated so harshly.
“I... I did what was best for the duke! D-do you know what would’ve happened? If the duchess found out?”
“And then you ran off and told her, to get back at Audrey and Lord Parris, because their love interfered with your plans, didn’t you?” Agatha crossed her arms. “I’ve always backed you up, Ana. And now you’ve broken that trust.”
“I... you can’t...” Ana stammered.
“Agatha, can we?” the duke asked.
“We can,” Agatha’s lip twitched. She sighed deeply. “Ana, you’re relieved of your duties. We’ll arrange for a carriage to take you out of the estate tomorrow.” Ana trembled, hate in her eyes. She stayed silent, crestfallen; shocked, before running back into the hall, stomping her way down the stairs.
“She’s not the only one, Agatha, I’m sorry to say. You may be a bit short-handed,” the lord said with a smirk, squeezing Audrey tight to his side.
“Is that right?” Agatha asked curiously.
“Of course. You’ll also be accepting Ms. Fisher’s resignation from her position,” he chimed happily. Both Audrey and Agatha shot concerned expressions to his smirking face.
“Wh-what?” Audrey’s voice quivered nervously.
“Well, you’re going to have your hands full, aren’t you, Ms. Fisher? A bit too full to live the life of a maidservant any longer,” the duke chuckled. Agatha smiled knowingly, bowing as she returned to the hallway.
“I’ll arrange for everything tonight, m’lord,” the old woman said, throwing a coy wink Audrey’s way before sauntering back down the hallway.
“M’lord, I don’t... I don’t understand. I want to work with you, I’ve... I’ve done an excellent job, haven’t I?” Audrey asked, afraid. The duke assuaged all of her fears with another passionate kiss, one more tender than any they had shared before. A kiss to remember - the first of many memories they would forge together.
“You’ve done an excellent job as maidservant, Audrey... but I have a feeling,” he quipped casually, “that you’ll do an even better job in your new vocation. Duchess Fisher,” he smirked. Her face lit up. “Or, perhaps, after the wedding... Duchess Parris?”
“W... wedding, and...” she knew she wanted it, but she didn’t know just how much, until the sound of his name, and how little he cared about all the scandal, truly set in. She kissed him again, and again, and he returned, with all the same adoring vigor as she.
Duchess. The more Audrey thought about it, the more she liked it.
“Is this your way of... proposing to me?” her voice shook.
“I’m not asking,” the duke purred, “I’m telling.”
“Good,” Audrey cooed into his ear. She twined her fingers in his - but he instead grasped her wrists, and with a devilish smirk on his lips, pulled her wrists behind her back, in that sensuous, submissive position she had grown to love so, so much. He kicked the door shut behind them, breathing hot into her ear.
“We have a lot to do together, my duchess,” he sighed hotly into her ear, kissing her passionately, pulling the sheet away from her pretty young body.
“I... know...” her voice trailed away, gripped in delicious heat.
“We can start simply... as long as you listen to my every command...” he hissed.
“I can’t wait to, m’lord,” she exhaled.
“Bryce,” he corrected her. She smirked.
“No,” she said, hands trembling as their bodies enmeshed so hotly. “Master.”
Taming The Viscountess
The Duke Falls In Love With A Sharp Woman
By Virginia Vice
Chapter 1