Filed to story: Elowen Hale and Duke Cassian Valebourne Book PDF Free
Marwen’s eyes went wide. She turned slowly, lips parting, breath catching in her throat. Wheels creaked over the cobblestones.
Elowen turned too.
Cassian sat in his chair, his face pale, striking, and impossibly composed. Bran was behind him, pushing the chair slowly forward.
Elowen’s heart skipped. He was awake again?
But… why was he here? Did he hear everything?
She couldn’t help but feel a pang of dread, wondering how much he’d overheard.
The chair came to a halt-close enough to see, but not so near as to give anything away.
“Perfect timing, Your Grace,” Marwen said quickly, her voice regaining strength. “Just look at the kind of woman you married! Not even a week into her vows, and she’s sneaking off in the middle of the night to lie with a stable boy!”
Even though she had done nothing wrong, Elowen still felt uneasy.
Instinctively, she glanced toward Cassian. In the dim light, all she could see was the sharp line of his jaw, subtly tensing.
“Just the other day, she came to confront me,” Marwen was saying, voice filled with indignation. “Accusing Lucien of trying to harm His Grace. But Lucien has always respected his cousin more than anyone! You know this, Your Grace! He would never dare offend you. It was that girl-Elowen-spouting lies, stealing my access sigil, playing her little mind games…”
She narrowed her eyes. “I wouldn’t be surprised if all of this was planned from the start. She’s scheming to seize Duskmoor’s household authority for herself!”
Elowen was stunned. The audacity-Marwen was turning the truth on its head.
Granted, the claim that Lucien had tried to assassinate Cassian… might have been something Elowen had exaggerated just a little.
Her confidence wavered. She glanced again at Cassian. After all, Lucien was his cousin. Marwen was his aunt. Of course, he’d lean toward…
Cassian tapped a long, elegant finger against the armrest. His voice came, even and cool. “Take her away.”
Marwen lifted her chin, triumphant. “You heard His Grace! What are you waiting for? Drag this shameless harlot out of here!”
But the guards behind Cassian didn’t move toward Elowen. Instead, they stepped forward and seized Marwen by the arms.
Marwen stared in disbelief. “What… what is the meaning of this?!”
Cassian’s expression remained calm. “Lucien did, in fact, attempt to assassinate me.”
Marwen froze. Her eyes widened. “What?!”
Cassian continued, “I knew ahead of time that the Duchess would be visiting the stables today.”
Marwen’s breath caught. He knew?
Bran, standing behind him, added, “Her Grace told me before leaving that she planned to inspect the horses and stablehands. If she were truly meeting someone in secret, why would she inform me beforehand?”
Marwen’s face went pale, then flushed with anger and disbelief.
She gritted her teeth. “But… but she clearly slipped away alone to meet with that stable boy-“
Elowen let out a sigh and spoke with resignation, “This sort of matter… the fewer people who know, the better.” The moment she said it, Marwen’s alarm bells went off.
Elowen turned to the boy. “You not only ruined Lucien’s brushes, but also poisoned a warhorse. You’ve cost Duskmoor a great deal of money. How do you intend to repay it?”
The boy was speechless. Elowen’s tone remained kind and composed. “If you tell me who sent you, I’ll forget the debt.”
The boy stiffened and shook his head. “I… I wasn’t sent by anyone!”
Elowen replied, “You bear some resemblance to His Highness the Crown Prince. How could there be no one behind this? You entered the manor intentionally, perhaps to provoke discord between His Highness and His Grace, to drag this household into ruin. Whoever sent you clearly had malicious intentions.”
Marwen began to panic. And Elowen looked at her again. “That’s why I brought him somewhere private to question him. A matter this sensitive-if it got out, the entire household could be in danger.”
Marwen’s face turned ashen. She tried to smile, but it came out stiff and dry. Cassian’s lips curled ever so slightly.
Elowen looked at the boy again. “If you insist on keeping silent, there’s little I can do.”
She shrugged helplessly. “I suppose I’ll have to sell you to the Velvet Lantern. Twenty clients a night should clear your debt in about six months. Thirty a night, and you could be done even faster.”
The boy stared at her, a look of horror on his face. “What?!”
Elowen tilted her head. “Didn’t you say you were good at serving people? Twenty or thirty shouldn’t be so hard, should it?”
The boy turned ghostly pale. “No… no way…”
He was getting older. Lately, even just two visits from Vivian in one day left him completely drained.
Twenty or thirty? Every night? He’d be dead within a week!
Elowen caught the terror in his eyes and lifted a brow. “So? Are you ready to tell me who sent you?” The boy clenched his sleeves tightly, his brow furrowed, as he struggled with the decision.
Just as he was about to speak, Marwen suddenly cried out, “Ah!”
She collapsed to the ground, arms and legs sprawled.
“Lady Marwen has fainted!”
The boy blinked, as if waking from a trance, and clamped his mouth shut. Elowen didn’t seem disappointed. She already had a good idea who was behind it-either Marwen or Vivian.
The maids and attendants scrambled to help Marwen up.
Cassian spoke again, slow and measured. “In the past, I was too busy to oversee the estate, and so all responsibilities were temporarily handed to my aunt. But now that I have taken a wife, the duties of this household shall be transferred to the Duchess. Starting tomorrow.”
Elowen’s heart gave a small flutter. He was giving her control of the household.
Marwen gave a final twitch on the ground and passed out completely.
Elowen was watching the scene unfold with interest when Cassian’s voice broke in. “Would you like a chair, so you can enjoy the show properly?”
There was a teasing note in his voice. Elowen flushed and smiled awkwardly. “It’s not that entertaining…”
Cassian raised a brow but didn’t press her. Elowen offered quickly, “Shall we go back, Your Grace?”
Cassian gave a soft hum of agreement. Bran remained behind to deal with the boy. Marwen was carried off to Rose Hall.
Elowen stepped forward to push Cassian’s wheelchair. They walked in silence.
Back at the manor, Elowen suddenly heard a restrained cough. She looked down-and to her shock, noticed that Cassian’s lips had turned completely bloodless. Sweat dotted his forehead.
“I’ll call for the physician!”
She turned to leave. Cassian caught her wrist. “Wait.”
Elowen looked at him anxiously. “Your health-“
“I forced myself to wake,” Cassian said plainly. “I can stay conscious for a while… but not long.” Elowen nodded, worry in her eyes.
Suddenly, a thought struck her. She hesitated, then asked, “Your Grace, when you were unconscious… could you hear what people were saying around you?”
Night after night, she had laid beside him, murmuring all sorts of things-about her family, her past… even crying once or twice. She’d thought he would be comatose for a long time, so she hadn’t held back.
But now, with Cassian waking more and more frequently… it hit her. His body seemed much better. Even if he couldn’t open his eyes, maybe his mind had been aware all along.
What if he’d heard everything? That would be mortifying.
Cassian didn’t open his eyes. “No. I couldn’t hear anything.” Elowen wasn’t entirely convinced. “Really…?”
Cassian suddenly lifted a brow. “Did you say something to me?” Elowen choked and quickly looked away. “No… not really…”
Cassian’s expression remained unreadable. “Help me to the bed.”
Elowen supported him gently, helping him to sit on the edge of the bed. Then Cassian said, “You’ll be managing the household starting tomorrow. Don’t ruin my estate.”
Elowen straightened at once. “I won’t! I promise!”
Cassian said nothing more. He let go of her and lay back down. But Elowen could still feel the heat of his grip on her wrist. She looked down at the spot where he had touched her. Then looked toward the bed. Cassian had passed out again. From the exertion earlier, his collar had loosened slightly, exposing the smooth, firm line of his chest.
He’d broken a sweat. His skin gleamed faintly.
“Your Grace!”
Bran hadn’t entered the room yet, but his voice called out first, “How is His Grace?”
Startled, Elowen jumped, yanking her gaze away. She’d been staring so intently she hadn’t noticed anything else. Embarrassed, her ears turned bright red.
Without turning around, she replied, forcing herself to sound calm, “He’s… fallen asleep again.”
Thankfully, Bran was too focused on Cassian to notice her flustered state. He sighed, full of sorrow. “I thought His Grace was recovering…”
Elowen managed to pull herself together. “This means he is getting better. He’s been waking up more often. If we continue caring for him properly, he might fully recover someday.”
