Page 92 of The Duke and the Accidental Bride

Isabella loved Duncan. And more than that, he loved her too.

“I was wrong about him,” Louisa continued, smirking slightly now for she could surely see the look in Isabella’s eyes. “And I was wrong about you too.”

“I... I... I....” Isabella stomach began to turn with regret. And fear. For two days she had avoided her husband for reasons that were not his fault, and she could not imagine what he must be thinking.

“Should be leaving,” Louisa picked up for her. “And quickly. You and your husband have a lot to talk about and you’re not going to do it sitting around here. Now...” She nodded her head toward the door. “Go and tell him how you feel. And for once, Isabella, be nice. I can’t help but think that he’s earned it.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

Duncan was busy doing a final walk through the manor when he heard it. The front doors flying open. His name being called. A sense of hope wrapping itself around his heart like a hand; there to either squeeze the life from him or to restart what had been close to death.

He had been so close to leaving too.

The carriage was already packed with most of his things – those that he would need to begin his trip. He had also left detailed instructions with the staff on how they were to proceed once he was gone; what to pack, what to leave as is, and most importantly to do as Isabella instructed them for this was her home now.

The letter he had written to her sat on the table in his office, signed and sealed, there for her to find whenever she chose to return.

All in all, it was done and finished. That just left this final walk through the house, a few moments of regret taken, and then Duncan would leave and never look back...

“Duncan!” the voice cried from downstairs. “Duncan! Are you here!”

That was when the hope seized him. He recognized the voice well enough, for he would know it in his dreams. But the tenor of it... the tone... she called his name, but he could not tell if it was in anger or joy.

“Duncan! Duncan, are you here!”

Duncan very nearly snuck away. Fear seized him and he wondered if he might be better leaving through the back and then taking the carriage before she saw him. Anything to avoid a confrontation that he did not think his heart could handle.

But he steeled himself and forced his feet to walk down the hallway. She called him still from the foyer, so Duncan was careful to stay back and then sneak toward the banister so that he might be able to see Isabella before she saw him.

She stood in the middle of the foyer, hands clutched to her chest as she spun about and called his name. Now that he was nearer, there was no mistaking the tone in her voice. And if not that, the look he could see on her face and in her eyes as she searched were of such joyous beauty that Duncan very nearly threw himself over the staircase to reach her sooner.

But he did no such thing.

In fact, he stayed watching her a moment longer. The sun was coming through the doorway, shining its brilliance behind her. This made her glow, angelic and radiant, like a dream turned reality. Duncan had always been physically attracted to Isabella, that was not the question. But as he watched her, he realized that he had never admitted to himself just how beautiful she was.

“Duncan!” Isabella looked up and saw him watching her. “What are you doing up there?”

“Watching you,” he admitted. “What... what are you doing down there?”

“Being watched,” she shot back with a smirk. “And looking for you.”

“You’ve found me.”

She raised an eyebrow. “But are you going to come to me? Or do I need to come to you?”

Duncan almost laughed to hear the humor in her voice. Impossible to fathom, as he was certain she would be angry with him. Unless this was a trick of some kind? A final chance for her to anger him and ruin him that little bit further because it was the least that he deserved.

For that reason, he stayed where he was.

“Isabella...” His hands gripped the banister as he looked down at her. “What happened with your sister --”

“Was my fault,” Isabella cut him off.

“What? No! It was –”

“Do not say it was you,” she warned him. “You saved her. If you were not there…”

“It should have never gotten that far to begin with.” All of this was written in the letter, and he would have preferred that she read it there. But she was here now, and she wanted answers. Shedeservedanswers. “I put your sister’s life in danger, Isabella. Me! I was the one who --”

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