Page 81 of A Deal with the Broken Duke
He should have known that coming back would end badly. He could never have found happiness here. That much was obvious.
Perhaps he would simply return and forget all about the life he had been trying to rebuild here.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Juliet managed to hold herself together until she made it home out of the ball.
It wasn’t easy. The ride home with Daniel was a particular challenge. He knew something was wrong, and he persisted in trying to get her to tell him what it was.
“Did you speak to Harry about the curse?” he asked her.
He had known she was going to, so Juliet didn’t see the point in lying.
She nodded.
“How did he take that?” Daniel asked anxiously.
“He’s not angry with you for telling me.” She had managed to stop crying, but she felt on the verge of starting again.
“It’s not me I’m worried about,” Daniel said.
“Well, he isn’t angry with me either.”
“But I’m guessing he still believes the curse is real?”
Juliet nodded.
Daniel hesitated. “Areyouangry with me, Juliet?”
“I’m not pleased with you,” she said. “Why did you tell him to end things with me if he thought the curse was affecting me? You’re not a fool. You know better than to believe in things like that.”
“And if I’m wrong?” Daniel asked. “What if I decided I didn’t believe in it and something happened to you? What then?”
“Nothing is going to happen to me. This is ridiculous.”
“Has he ended your courtship, then?”
She didn’t answer.
“Juliet… you know I’ll find out anyway.”
“Yes, you just have to be involved in everything,” Juliet snapped. “That’s all that matters to you, isn’t it, whether you know what’s happening? You can’t let me keep it to myself for even one night.”
“That’s not the way it is,” he protested. “I want to know because you’re my sister. Because I care about you.”
“No,” she said. “You want to know because you’ll be relieved that it’s over. You never wanted me with him.”
When she saw the stricken look on his face, she did feel guilty for saying it. But also, she meant it. She thought it was true. There was a part of Daniel that was just happy to have their courtship over, and it made her not want anything to do with him.
As soon as they arrived home, Juliet jumped out of the carriage and ran inside, not even waiting to see if Daniel was behind her. She hurried past her father, who was waiting in the foyer, ignoring his calls, and ran up the stairs directly to her bedroom.
Her father would know that something was wrong. But Daniel would explain. He’d been so intent on knowing exactly what was going on with her… Well, fine, he knew, so he could be the one to answer questions about it.
She threw herself on her bed and finally allowed the tears to come.
She had felt this moment coming from the moment he’d kissed her. She had known it was a herald of the heartbreak that would follow. And she hadn’t stopped herself because she had wanted that kiss so much.
She touched her lips, trying to call that moment back. That perfect happiness, standing on the precipice of this misery.
