Page 78 of Her Ruse with the Rakish Duke
How can I banish you from my memory, vixen?
Yours faithfully,
Victor
She picked up the most recent letter, for if she were to read everything, her heart wouldn’t be able to take it.
Dearest Daphne,
I have no words to describe what a fool I have been. I thought I could live without you and I could live knowing you’d belong to someone else. Now I know better.
You have permeated even the deepest recesses of my soul. I thought I’d hidden from you, and now I can’t picture a future without you by my side.
I know the scandal it would cause to end your engagement for me, but I ask that you trust me to create a happy future for you.
I want to keep your days filled with laughter and your nights warm with pleasure.
Please put me out of my misery and say you’ll fight my demons with me.
Yours, most sincerely,
Victor
Daphne sighed as she finished reading the letter, her heart torn in two. Victor had abandoned her too many times before for her to trust him again.
But the love blooming inside her as these words sank in made her want to risk it all with him.
She sighed, not knowing what to do.
“Daphne?” Melanie called stepping out from the shadows.
“Melanie! What— how long have you been here?”
“Long enough,” she answered with a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
“I don’t know what to do,” she admitted in a moment of weakness. “How can I trust him?”
“I do understand your plight, cousin, but I will ask you this one question. Would you prefer the future you’d share with Percy or the one you could have with Victor?”
The answer was clear in her heart. She was tired of lying to herself.
“The one I would have with Victor,” she admitted.
“Then you have your answer.” Melanie smiled. “Love conquers all, darling cousin. It might look scary to leap but the reward is so much better than you can imagine.”
Having said her piece, Melanie skipped out of the library, leaving Daphne to her thoughts.
* * *
Victor ran a hand through his hair. He’d been leaning against the wall of the corridor for at least an hour, waiting for Daphne to come out when he saw Melanie emerging from the library. The young lady gave him a nod of acknowledgment and then walked on.
When is she coming out?he thought anxiously.
It was so clear to him now; he was in love with her. And he couldn’t imagine a future for himself that didn’t involve her. And the first step he could think of was showing her the letters he wrote to her on the cold, lonely nights he spent away from her. When the only thing that kept him sane was the thought of her safe several miles away from him.
In his letters, he told her of his experiences and how they changed him. He shared funny anecdotes that he imagined would make her laugh. Sometimes it was the imagined picture of her face lit with its excitement that kept him warm on the coldest of nights.
She had saved him in several ways and it was time to let her know. He quickly ran up several flights of stairs to reach his bedroom and rummaged through his luggage to find the small bundle that would convey his feelings.
