Page 28 of The Duke and the Accidental Bride

“If you are to ambush me like this, Miss Gouldsmith, you may at least do me the service of removing your hood when you speak. One rudeness a night is enough, I would think.”

“Oh, I am sorry...” She was quick to remove the hood and the moment that she did, Duncan realized his mistake.

She looked as beautiful as ever. Her dark blond hair pulled back in a tight plait. Her big, deep brown eyes that were intelligent and rebellious, a little too clever for their own good. Soft, porcelain skin that shimmered in the lighting from the fire. And those plump, juicy lips that Duncan saw in his dreams.

The cloak was loose and full-covering, and he had that to be thankful for, at least.

“Better?” she asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Duncan swallowed. “Much better. Although the fact that you are here at all severely undercuts that fact.”

“You cannot marry me,” she said suddenly.

Duncan sighed. “This again? We have spoken of it already. You have asked and I have --”

“I have been trying to trick you.” She spoke over him, desperate to make her point. “I have been trying to rattle you, to annoy you, to make it clear that I should be the last person you would wish to marry. I have done everything that I can think to force you to concede!”

“I am aware, Miss Gouldsmith.” He crossed his arms and looked at her. “Which surprised me. I had thought that you and I had come to an understanding.” He made sure to be looking right at her, and that she was looking at him. “Our discussion in the back of my carriage two weeks ago, Surely, you have not forgotten.”

Isabella breathed in sharply, and then swallowed. “You -- you cannot marry me,” she said again, taking a step into the room. And then another. “Please.”

Duncan’s eyes flicked over the cloak and despite himself, he wondered what she might be wearing underneath... if anything at all. That was assuming that she had come herebecauseof his warning. Because she wished to put it to the test, thinking that was the way to end this?

Would she really do such a thing? Surely, even she is not so desperate as that?

“Miss Gouldsmith, I suggest that you leave now.” He forced himself not to take a step toward her. To keep his distance. “Do not make me say it again.”

“Please!”

“What we spoke of last week.” He licked his lips, eyes dancing over the cloak. “That was not an idle threat. You promised me that you would...” He swallowed. “Behave. This is as far removed from what you promised as could exist. Now, leave and pray that I forget this ever occurred.”

Please leave. For the love of God, go.

“I know what I promised,” she said stubbornly. “And for how I have behaved last week, I wish to apologize.”

“Apologize?” Duncan repeated. “Apologize for what?”

“This past week. It was wrong of me,” she said, bowing her head. “And immature. I thought I could annoy you into wanting to leave me.” She chuckled at the notion. “Now, I know that was never going to work. You are set on this marriage and your mind will not be changed.”

He hesitated, certain it was another trap. “I am glad that you finally understand. It will make things going forward a lot easier.”

“That is why I am here.” She took another step closer, less than five feet now separating them. “No more tricks. No more games. Just me, standing before you, asking that you... that you look inside your heart and understand that this marriage -- that us! That we cannot work. And despite what may happen if you renounce me, it will pale in comparison to what will happen if it do not.”

“And what will happen exactly?”

She bowed her head. “I cannot say for sure but knowing me, nothing good. That much I do know.”

It was, perhaps, the first honest thing that Miss Gouldsmith had ever said to Duncan. The first time that she had not been trying to annoy him, or anger him, or trick him into saying something. It was, in every sense, the truth.

She really was desperate.

It gave Duncan pause as he considered the situation more fully. Trying, perhaps for the first time, to see things from her point of view. And where he could now understand her plight a little more clearly, sadly, it changed nothing.

“It is not as easy as you wish it,” he sighed, the anger he had been feeling at Miss Gouldsmith having broken in like this fading. Turned now to pity.

“But it is!”

“No, it is not. Miss Gouldsmith...” He took a step toward her, feeling a desire to embrace her but resisting that urge. “I do not wish to marry you either, as I have told you a dozen times. I, as is the same for you, have no choice.”

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