Page 54 of Her Seven Nights with the Duke

Nora tensed up as the Duke regarded her quietly. His dark blue eyes bored into hers. She tried to look beyond the walls that he always had up. He had been different with her the night before. Perhaps she could see past that and find out what it was that was making him guarded.

“Has something happened? Perhaps you could tell me, Your Grace,” she said when she couldn’t look past his walls. He was shutting her out, much like he always had in the past.

She had always felt like she knew nothing about him other than what he was willing to show her. Last night had filled her with hope that things could be different, but now it seemed like it was too good to be true. He had reverted to his old self.

“My feelings or the thoughts that keep me quiet are of no importance to you, Lady Nora,” he said finally, turning away from her as he picked through the papers he had gotten from the innkeeper.

She stared at him in shock. “I apologize for intruding. I understand that you don’t have to share every detail of what you are thinking merely because you opened up to me last night and told me things you have never told anyone.”

“Quite so, Lady Nora,” he said, rifling through the papers for the current affairs.

The carriage trundled on in silence as Nora sought a way to keep herself busy, so she did not have to deal with the thought of the Duke and the reason for his sudden coldness towards her.

“You were right for wanting to end our agreement,” he said suddenly, not looking up from the papers.

She flinched. After making her decision to return home, picking up where they left off was the one thing she had begun to look forward to. She had hoped that they could continue with it, at least until her seven nights were over and he no longer wished to see her.

It appeared she was right, after all. The moment he offered her help, he would no longer wish to continue.

But why come after me? A sense of responsibility? The gentlemanly thing to do?

She massaged her head, the thoughts causing her a mild headache that was more bothersome than hurtful.

“I had hoped that we could?—”

He raised his hand, cutting her off before she could finish what she wished to say. She stared at him desperately, unable to understand what was going on.

Why are you so cold?

“We cannot continue, Lady Nora. I wish I could give you what you want, but I cannot marry you or make you happy,” he said.

She scoffed disbelievingly as she crossed her arms over her chest protectively. “I never asked you to marry me, Your Grace. I am quite aware of what our deal was. It was never about marriage for either of us.”

Nora glared at him, irritated by his words. They irritated her not only because he had uttered them when she knew not to ask him for them, but also because she had started to hope for more.

A part of her had begun to hope that his presence in the carriage, stopping her from leaving and telling her his secret meant that he had begun to have feelings for her, but it appears that it had only been a moment of weakness on his part.

She laughed.

Is the Duke ever weak?

All of this could have been because he merely wished to even things out since she had volunteered information about herself and her past, even though he hadn’t asked for it in the first place.

“I apologize if my words have caused you any level of discomfort, Lady Nora. It was never my intention. I merely wished to inform you how things are to be.” He folded the papers and stared at her. “We are approaching familiar grounds soon, so I’ll let you go here. I’m glad you were able to come to a decision. I only wish you had been able to achieve what you truly desired.”

Nora panicked. His words sounded like a goodbye. Like he would no longer be seeing her from now on. She didn’t want it to be goodbye, and yet she knew it was only wise to keep her thoughts to herself.

Although their seven nights had not ended the way they were supposed to, he had promised her nothing more, and now there was nothing keeping them in contact.

She nodded in acceptance, biting her lip to stop it from quivering. She had never been great at goodbyes, which was one of the reasons why she mostly kept to herself.

“Of course, Your Grace. Thank you for coming to my aid.”

Samuel regarded her for a moment, his eyes scanning her face. He sighed and rapped on the roof of the carriage, and alighted the moment it stopped.

She watched, finally allowing the whimper she’d held back in his presence to break free. She would miss him, that much was obvious. The nights had come to mean more than just a means to make money for her. She had come to enjoy his company, and she had fallen in love with him.

“There you go. That’s what you get for loving a man who doesn’t care for you,” she said with a wry smile, sniffling quietly. She rested her head on the back of her seat, closing her eyes as she tried to forget all about it.

---