Page 86 of Her Lion of a Duke
As tea was prepared, he sat across from her. She looked at the table, not meeting his eyes.
“I know Cecilia very well,” she began. “I have admired her since I met her. She is tall and beautiful and fierce—all the things that I could never be. I knew she had her secrets, too, and though I had my assumptions, there is only so much you can do when you want to know something about her. I suppose you know that well.”
“Indeed.”
“Well, I’ve suspected for years that she was Felix Gray. Their beliefs align too well, and their writing styles match. I asked her several times about it, but she always denied it.”
“And it appears that your suspicions were correct. You are clearly more intelligent than I am, for I never would have expected that from her.”
“How could you not have?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. “She is politically aware, she has very strong beliefs, and she knows how to publish her works. Regardless, she told me a few days ago that she had made an awful mistake.”
“So she confessed to you before me, her husband.”
“She asked her friend for advice,” she corrected. “Believe me, I could see how tormented she was. She wanted to tell you the truth, so I can only assume that you heard what she had to say, hated it, and sent her away.”
Leonard blinked.
He had not thought that Cecilia would have admitted the truth willingly, but Beatrice was not a liar. It had to have happened the way she claimed, which meant that Cecilia was going to tell him everything the night he learned the truth.
“She did not tell me of her own volition,” he said, “but that may well have been her intention. A maid found proof in her room, and I accused her before she had the chance to tell me.”
“So you sent her away.”
“No! I would never do that. This is her home—I am not a monster. She left of her own accord, and I am waiting for her to come home. It is killing me, but if she needs time, then I am willing to give her it.”
Beatrice burst into laughter, but before she could say anything, the tea arrived. She took a cup and a sandwich, sighed, and settled back into the settee.
“And you are certain that is what she wants?” she asked.
“I do not know what more she would want from me. She has never liked being chased.”
“Not by strangers, no,” she agreed. “I assume that she has told you why she scared off so many gentlemen?”
“I assume it was because she was not interested in any of them.”
“Precisely. When Cecilia encounters something or someone new, she tends to scratch and bite, then run away. It is easier to do that than to risk disappointing anyone. I was not surprised when the two of you decided to marry, for she has always beencomfortable around you. But this is exactly what I expected. She scratched, she bit, and now she has run away.”
“She has done the easier thing.”
“Indeed. So, what are you going to do?”
Leonard looked at her, perfectly calm and serene, and wondered whether this had happened before.
“If she wishes to be alone?—”
“What if she does not? You are not a stranger, nor some gentleman trying to foist yourself on her at a ball because you see her as a challenge. You are her husband, her protector. What if she is testing you?”
“Is that what you think she is doing?”
“It is what I would do if I were her. Your marriage was an arrangement. There was no great declaration of love or a grand display of affection. You were both being practical, but Cecilia has always needed more than what is merely sensible. Have you not considered, Your Grace, that she might enjoy being chased just once?”
Leonard thought back on the years he had known Cecilia. She had always been sensible, not willing to fall like the other ladies. She had never dreamt of marriage, only of securing a future where she might be able to carve her own way. She had madethat very much clear to him, but that did not mean there was more to her.
“Do you think that I should chase her?” he asked.
“You may do as you please,” Beatrice replied, setting down her empty teacup. “You are a duke, after all. You can do anything you like. I am doing what I can as her friend, and I think it would be wise for you to do what you can as her husband.”
They fell silent for a moment, Leonard not knowing what to say. He would have searched all of England if it meant finding his wife, but what if her friend was wrong? What if he arrived and she told him to leave, never to speak to her again?
