Page 41 of The Wrong Duke

As to the cabin? It was a decrepit old thing, even older than her father was — she had vague memories of him mentioning it once or twice in passing — having been built by his father when they’d first bought this land. It seemed to grow from the earth as if it had sprouted there, entwined by vines and shrubs, melding into the trees in a way that made it look as if it was a natural part of the forest. The inside was even worse than the outside: no furniture, a few old rugs that had become a part of the wooden flooring, spiderwebs covering the entire ceiling, bugs, and other infestations that she didn’t want to think about. And with no shutters to cover the windows or even a plank where the doorway was, the protection it provided was middling at best.

In a way, she supposed, it was an apt metaphor for her life. The way the storm shook and rattled the fragile walls of the cabin. The way it groaned as if it might collapse at any moment. How isolated it was, alone in this world, forgotten entirely, used only because times were desperate, and there was nothing else to fall back on.

Amelia had to laugh because in times like this, that was all there was to do. She had wanted some time to think to herself, and now, she had plenty of it.

Was there any need to say what she was thinking? Was there any need to voice who she was thinking of? Not who she wanted to, mind you. But who shehadto. He who she had wanted nothing to do with. He who she was desperate to forget at all costs. He who, to speak bluntly, made this storm seem like a mere spring rain when compared to how wet she became when she allowed her mind to wander to him unencumbered.

What Amelia needed was a sign. She had tried to do the right thing. That was all she did! But the universe was a fickle beast that enjoyed tempting her in ways that she didn’t understand. Should she give in to temptation once and for all and admit how she really felt? Or should she keep fighting for the sake of her father and most of all, her sister?

Wind poured through the open door, but Amelia remained standing in it, taking its brunt as she looked to the heavens for answers. A crash of lightning suddenly erupted right above her, striking a tree which crashed through the forest not twenty feet from the cabin. She gasped in fright, thought for a moment to retreat deeper into the cabin... only to watch where that tree had just fallen... to see something that she couldn’t quite make out... something that she was certain to be imagining.

“Miss Baker!” she heard the voice cry through the howls of wind. “Miss Baker!”

It couldn’t be. Who would be crazy enough to go out in this? But she heard the calls again, focused through the forest toward the cries, saw now that she wasn’t imagining it at all. She had asked for a sign, and the universe had chosen to answer.

“Miss Baker!” It was His Grace, stumbling through the forest, drenched from head to foot, caring not for the danger he was in because the look on his face, a determined scowl that suggested he might move the heavens if that’s what it took, told her all she needed to know. “Miss Baker!”

“Your Grace!” Amelia called, nearly charging through the storm toward him. “Over here! Your Grace!” she tried again, her voice cut off by another crack of lightning. “Evan!”

His head snapped about as he heard his name. He came to a sudden stop, looking through the forest and right at her, unable to believe what he was seeing, as if a ghost had appeared before him. But then a smile spread up the side of his face, relief such that she nearly collapsed on the spot because her savior had come.

“Miss Baker!” His Grace shouted and forced his way toward her. One hand up to block the wind and rain, he pushed through the shrubs and climbed felled branches. “Thank God, you’re all right!”

“Your Grace!” she cried and ran the last few feet toward him, feeling so overcome that she very nearly threw her arms around him. But she resisted the urge... just. “You came!”

“Here!” He took her by the arm and dragged her back inside the cabin, out of the storm. Body dripping wet. Chest heaving from exertion. Face red. Hair a tangled mess. He’d never looked so good.

“You came,” she said again, once they were inside. “I didn’t know if you —”

“What were you thinking?” The duke spun about Dand bore down on her, his size seeming doubled in the small cabin. “Is this a game to you?”

She blinked and took a step back, not at all expecting this reaction. “I... I don’t know what you —”

“Are you so desperate to... to get Lord Malnor alone that you’d risk your life like this?” he snarled. “Are there no lengths that you won’t go through so you might get his attention? Congratulations, Miss Baker, this is a new low, even for you.”

“You think I did this on purpose?”

“You tell me.” His face was contorted with fury, and the way the cabin shook about him, it was as if his rage was the cause of the storm. “You must have seen there was a storm coming. And you know this forest well enough that you managed to find this cabin before it took you. Am I supposed to believe this was just a coincidence?”

“I don’t...” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had thought His Grace to be her savior — that he would be overcome with relief that he had found her when he did. But this... truth be told, she would have rather been trapped in the storm than face this level of wrath. “Is that really what you think of me?”

His laughter was cold. “I have no reason not to.”

“How dare you,” she hissed, no longer caught by surprise, her anger matching the tempest which brewed just feet from where she stood. “How dare —”

“Me?” he scoffed.

“Yes, you.” She stood up to him. “That you would think such vile things of me. That your opinion of me would be so low — yes, I knew there was a storm coming, but I did not think it would arrive so quickly. And yes, I was vaguely aware of this cabin, but of course, I was! These are my family’s lands. When the storm broke, I was lucky to find it. Lucky that I wasn’t caught in the middle of it!”

“And I’m just supposed to believe that, am I? After all you have done. Why, Miss Baker, should I not consider this just another one of your tricks?”

“I don’t care what you think,” she spat, her body shaking now. “And if you are so suspect of my intentions, why come at all? I thought you would have been happy that I might have been caught outside. It would have solved all your problems if I were. A darn stroke of luck for the way you’ve been acting.”

The Duke reared back as if struck. “That’s not... you know that’s not true.”

“I know no such thing,” she snarled.

“When I...” He looked away, almost as if ashamed to meet her eyes. And suddenly, he didn’t look nearly so big as he had. “When your mother told us that you were caught in the storm, I...” He still refused to look at her, and his voice had dropped so low she could barely hear it. “You have no idea how hard it was for me not to rush back out and find you.”

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