Page 54 of Unraveled By the Duke
“My thoughts exactly. I do not think it is wise, Aurelia.”
“I am sure that Miss Dunnings had no clue what a rogue she was introducing me to. None. But… if it concerns you, perhaps I should not go.”
“It does, and you are welcome to stay here for as long as you need,” Alexander said. “I will have the maid prepare your room for a longer occupancy.”
“Thank you, Your Grace. You are most kind. You, too, Celia,” Aurelia said gracefully.
As Alexander made to leave, Celia hurried to him, catching his sleeve. They stood in the doorway.
“Thank you, Alexander,” she whispered.
“No gratitude is necessary. Honor dictates my actions,” Alexander said.
The ice was back. The glacier behind which his emotions were held seemed as high and impenetrable as ever.
“I thank you, nonetheless. I hope that… last night”—she lowered her voice further, though Aurelia had turned to look out the window—“did not… I mean to say that there was nothing untoward in what… Oh bother, I believe you know what I am trying to say!”
She became frustrated and annoyed as she fumbled for the appropriate words. Looking into his eyes, she thought she saw a flicker of emotion.
“I am sure I do not. Last night, we acted as man and wife ought. That is all.”
“It felt like more,” Celia insisted.
“It was not. Our marriage remains a transaction. Excuse me.”
His departure was not accompanied by a gust of frigid wind, but it felt to Celia as though it was. She hugged herself as she watched him go, feeling despair engulf her.
Life returns to its familiar pattern. Coldness and loneliness. What am I to do?
She turned when Aurelia cleared her throat.
“I’m sorry, Aurelia,” she said, disliking having to apologize but feeling guilty that, once again, Alexander had distracted her from her own flesh and blood.
Will I ever be free of guilt again? Guilt over drawing Alexander into a marriage of convenience. Guilt over exposing my family to scandal because of my need for freedom beyond the bounds of propriety.
“You look at him the way I think I once looked at Phillip Grimaire,” Aurelia noted.
Celia scoffed. “Do not confuse my marriage with a fairytale. It is what it is and what circumstances demand.”
Suddenly, Aurelia was hugging her. “I’m sorry if I was being difficult, Celia. This has been a very trying time.”
Celia felt a warm rush of relief at seeing her sister behave like she once had, before her world was turned upside down. The curious coldness that she had exhibited earlier seemed to be gone.
“Do you really worry that I wouldn’t be safe in the company of Miss Dunnings?” Aurelia asked. “She has been such a good friend to me.”
“I do, Aurelia. I am sorry to say it,” Celia sighed.
“Did you really see her with another man?” Aurelia pressed, somewhat wide-eyed.
“I did. And I drew it. The picture is either in my chest, in my room at Banfield House, or at Uncle Cuthbert and Aunt Hilda’s from the time I spent there.
“Your chest at home is locked,” Aurelia said.
“It is. How do you know?”
“I have seen you lock it many times, Celia. Keeping all of those sketches that you don’t want Mama and Papa to know about hidden. You don’t think you keep any secrets from me, do you?”
She grinned mischievously, and just for a moment, it felt like being at home, before the horrible moment Celia had been caught sneaking out. Before the scandal involving Alexander. A time when she and Aurelia had laughed together. Had fun without a care for anything except for who they would like to marry one day.
