Page 51 of Good Duke Gone Hard

“Idon’t know,” Margaret insisted.

“Yes you do.” Upon seeing Margaret stick her bottom lip out, Bella asserted, “You will know what to do the second you see him. And I’ll…” she waved her arm at the painting. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of this. I’ll have it draped and placed in your room or something. Just go.”

Margaret flashed a glance at the painting, then back at the house, then again at Bella. “Alright. Yes, you’re right. I can do this.” She twirled around, grabbed her skirts, and then raced off toward the house. After racing about a hundred paces she whirled back around to shout to Bella, “I love you! Thank you!” Then she blew some kisses as Bella laughed.

Margaret braced herself to stop and pull on the handle to open the door when out stepped her mother.

“There you are, my dear.”

“Hello, mother. I really must–”

“Just one moment of your time, daughter.”

In her urgency, Margaret almost missed the use of and tone on the word daughter.

“I have to–”

“Margaret. We need to talk.”

Right now?Margaret wanted to scream.What the bloody hell? This is my moment. I need to speak with Jonathan. I need to see him. I need to tell him that nothing can keep me from him. I can’t lose him again. I just can’t.

Her mother must have seen the strangling emotions racking Margaret’s face.

“This isn’t like last time, my dear.”

Margaret’s throat closed. How did her mother know her so well?

“He’s not going anywhere.”

“How do you know?”

“I know.”

“That’s not good enough.”

“It has to be.”

Margaret felt the tears burning her eyes. Compelled to go to him, she physically had to refrain by leaning against the exterior of the house and pressing her hands into the stone wall.

“I’ve been on your side since the beginning.”

“But when he first arrived, he remembered nothing. How did you even know who he was anymore?”

Her mother gave her a disbelieving stare, “Since the first time, my dear.”

“Really?”

“Truly.” She nodded for emphasis. “And now he’s back. He’s changed. Let him show you. Let him come to you. He will prove himself beyond any of your doubts and fears. Just…be patient.”

“How can I be more patient?”

“I understand it’s the last thing you want to do right now. But he needs this time. I’ve never led you astray, my dear. Trust me.”

Battling every impulse in her body, Margaret decided that wild horses were the only thing that could keep her from Jonathan. But she’d have to settle for riding a horse wildly.

The wind whipped Margaret’s cheeks as she galloped across the fields. Instincts took her to the only conceivable place. The pond.

She dismounted and let the reins drop under the horse’s neck. Scanning the horizon, she inhaled deeply. The air was fresh and a slight chill hung in the breeze. She slipped off her shoes and made her way to sit on the bank.

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