Page 31 of His Unruly Duchess
She cast him a mock withering look. “What do you think?”
“How about…” he tapped his lips, thinking, “… this evening was not as terrible as I thought it might be. In truth, it has been rather pleasant, and I am sorry I did not suggest it sooner.”
She frowned at him as if trying to figure out the jest in his words. Once she realized there was no jest, just his true sentiments, her full lips curved into the widest, brightest smile he could have hoped for. And the pink of her cheeks darkened, her twinkling eyes only able to hold his gaze for a moment.
“I can confirm that there is nothing donkey-like about you,” he said, smiling. “Those teeth are perfectly uniform and, as far as I know, you have no tail to swat away the flies. Just a reticule, probably, to bat away all the suitors who pestered you this Season.”
Her laughter sprang up again. “How did you know? I believe I left one or two with pride so bruised that the physician said they will never recover.”
“And what did they do to deserve such a beating?” he asked. “I must know, so that I do not make the same mistakes.”
She chewed her lower lip for a moment, balancing her teacup on one hand as she trailed the other across the surface of the reflecting pool once more. Presently, she lifted her gaze to him, and said in a quiet voice, “They were not themselves. They were pretending to be something they were not. And that is something that I cannot abide.” She smiled more stiffly. “Fortunately for us, you do not have to worry about wooing me.”
“Because we will be living our separate lives soon enough?” he said, hoping to cheer her more with that imminent relief from their forced proximity.
Her brow furrowed, an emotion tightening her features that he could not pinpoint. “Precisely,” she said, in a tone that did not sound at all convinced. “If you will excuse me, Maximilian, I feel very tired all of a sudden.”
“Of course,” he replied, standing up as she made her swift exit.
Seeing her depart in such haste confused him more than the estate ledgers, wondering how on earth he had said the wrong thing when he was merely reminding her of what she wanted.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The following two days were not as memorable nor charming as that first dinner, as a distance reemerged between Caroline and Max. Breakfasts and luncheons were a brief and prosaic affair, with discussions of the latest news and the weather. At dinner, they talked of their respective days, never verging into more personal territory.
Caroline hated it, despite being the main cause of it. If he attempted to ask a more delicate question about her, she steered the conversation back to the weather or the gardens or the bonnet she was thinking of buying with her pin money.
Eventually, he stopped trying to ask anything that could be considered too private.
“Will you wear the rubies tonight, Your Grace?” Lila asked as Caroline prepared for dinner.
Caroline observed her reflection. “Not tonight. I shall go without jewelry, I think.”
“Of course, Your Grace.” Lila hastened to put away the beautiful ruby choker that had belonged to Caroline’s great-great-grandmother and passed down the generations.
Like the legacy Max wishes to create,Caroline thought absently, hurrying to suppress the thought. She had to stop thinking about him at all, though it had been as difficult as not thinking about the rain in the midst of a downpour over the past two days.
In quiet, solitary moments, her mind returned to the reflecting pool and how he had gazed at her with such intensity; how close he had been, how freely he had complimented her smile and her laugh, how truly lovely the evening had been.
She would have been lying if she had said that the memory of it had not made her wonder what life would be like if she stayed, if she threw herself into the role of wife and duchess, if she made the decision to actually choose the circumstances that fate had handed her. At night, alone in her bed, she dreamed of it, whether she wanted to or not. Of a happiness she had not asked for, coming to her regardless. With him.
It is the relief of not being utterly alone anymore, that is all,she told herself vehemently. After all, Max was offering her the very thing that most ladies would have given everything they possessed to have—true freedom. A house of one’s own, liberty to do as one pleases, never wanting for anything without having to pay a price for that privilege.
“Your Grace?” Lila said.
Caroline turned, smiling. “Yes, Lila?”
“Are you quite well? You… seemed to go somewhere, just now.”
Caroline forced a chuckle. “I am tired from my afternoon walk. I intended to nap, but my books were too interesting, and now I am suffering for it.”
Just then, the gong sounded, granting her a reprieve from further questioning.
“I might bathe after dinner if you could arrange that?” Caroline asked, determined to sleep restfully that night instead of tossing and turning for hours, unable to drift off.
Lila bowed her head. “Yes, Your Grace.”
Satisfied, Caroline headed down to dinner, rehearsing all of the mundane questions she planned to ask Max, so there would be no risk of anything that might be mistaken for flirtation.
