Page 16 of Alone with the Beastly Duke
“Who is she?” Dorothy asked.
“She?” Axel asked, confused.
How did she know? Did I say something that gave me away?
“I do not understand what you are saying,” Axel lied.
“I mean, who is the woman that has occupied your mind so that you no longer enjoy the time that we spend together?” she asked.
Axel shook his head. “There is no one. I have told you, I am simply tired,” he argued.
Dorothy giggled. “Of course, I am simply jesting. I know there is no other woman,” she said confidently.
Axel heaved a sigh of relief.
“I am the only woman that can tolerate you in the Ton. Every other person in the Ton loathes you,” Dorothy pointed out.
“And I would have it no other way,” Axel agreed. He was being truthful now. “I will be leaving London soon anyway.”
Dorothy sat up abruptly, and for a moment, Axel could see fear in her eyes.
“Leave?” Dorothy whispered. “Why?”
Axel lay there, watching Dorothy. He knew that what he had with Dorothy would end someday, but he did not expect that she would take it so hard.
“It has been very hard for me to stay in London, of late. I want to move to Norway and live there permanently,” he explained.
“But why?”
“I do not love living in London. I do not like the judging stares that I get when I go out every once in a while. I do not enjoy having people run away from me because I am different from them,” he said, “Also, I cannot bear living in London anymore because it is here that I losther.”
“Axel, what would make you stay?” she asked. Axel laughed. However, when Dorothy did not laugh with him, he knew that she was serious.
“Nothing. Unless I miraculously get married and start my life anew here in London,” he answered lightheartedly. Dorothy turned to face him then.
“I can do that for you. I can scout for a young woman that you can marry and have your heir with. If that is what it will take for you to stay in London,” she offered.
“I was simply jesting, Dorothy,” he replied. “I do not wish to take a wife, and London has lost all its appeal to me.”
It, however, seemed like Dorothy did not hear what Axel had just said.
“You can take a wife here in London. That way, we would continue to meet like we used to,” Dorothy suggested. Axel was taken aback.
“I would not continue to see you if I got married,” he said.
Dorothy’s face fell. “What?”
“I would want to give my wife my all. This is what marriage means to me. Being faithful to my bride,” Axel told her.
“But, what about me?” Dorothy asked, her voice breaking just a little.
“You would find another man in Ton to be your lover,” Axel suggested, shrugging.
“Then I am happy you have no interest in getting married,” Dorothy said. She faced Axel with an expression that he could not quite read.
Axel had always suspected that what Dorothy had for him went beyond what anyone would have for someone they were simply having an affair with. But he had never been really concerned until now, especially since now he could not get another woman out of his head.
ChapterFive
