Page 71 of A Bride for the Icy Duke
“Theyhave a great deal of faith in you. Already you are showing yourself to be different from your father, and isn’t that what you always wanted?” She brought his hand to her cheek. “You can be everything they need, Alexander.”
“And you?” he asked, searching her eyes. “What do you need?”
“I already have it.” She beamed up at him, knowing the people were staring but not caring in the slightest. If they chose to judge her for loving her husband, then so be it. They were barely touching, even though there was a fire in her blood every time she thought about the prospect of touching him.
Or rather, allowing him to touch her.
A slow smile crept across his face. “Later, you deviant.”
“I said nothing,” she protested.
He brushed a knuckle down her cheek. “I could tell by the way you flushed.”
Laughing, she pulled free from his grasp and into the small, one-room house that Alexander had just helped repair, her heart and mind full.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“You look happy,” Godwin said as he stretched out in Alexander’s armchair in the library. “What an unprecedented event.”
“Remind me, are you capable of saying anything serious?”
“Is something serious called for? How dire. But then again, how very typical of you. Very well, we shall be serious.” Godwin leaned forward, elbows propped on his knees. “I assume you didn’t summon me here for a social call.”
“No. Although, while we are on the subject, may I remind you that you have an atrocious taste in acquaintances.”
“Ifthat’sall—”
“Wait.” Alexander poured his friend a glass of wine and held it up as an offering. “Much as I wish I could be angry at you for that, it was perhaps the catalyst.”
“Of what?”
“Lydia and I have…” He sucked in a breath, trying to find the right words. “I think I’ve changed my mind.”
“Good Lord. The Great Alexander has admitted I’m right.” Godwin took a sip, undeniably smug.
“Are you quite finished?”
“I’m basking in my moment, old boy. But do go on ahead. What exactly provoked you into changing your mind? Presumably, this has something to do with your resolution to abandon your wife to a life alone?”
Alexander leaned back in his chair. “Do we have to do this?”
“Do what?”
“I brought you here for a serious conversation, not so you could gloat. Yes, I have changed my mind, and yes, I admit that I was wrong to think I could leave her behind like that, but that does not alter the facts of the situation now.”
Godwin dropped his smirk. “You mean telling her…everything?”
“I want a future with her, but—” He dropped his head into his hands. “I must tell her, Godwin. I know you won’t believe that it’s necessary, but—”
“It’s not my place to tell you what should and shouldn’t happen with your wife, Rayment. Just as I can’t tell you the consequences of the conversation.”
“Would you?” Alexander asked, desperately aware he was seeking a negative even as he knew he couldn’t bear the prospect of bearing this secret alone.
If they were to make a go of things, he would have to tell her the truth, theentiretruth, and give her the opportunity of choosing him. There was a chance that she wouldn’t—that she’d be so hurt, she’d throw him out. And previously, to avoid that from happening, he had intended to take her decision out of the equation and leave.
But now, hope held him captive.
“I don’t know,” Godwin huffed at last. “I mean, Eliza probably knows all the worst and best things about me before we even began this thing, so it’s hardly a fair comparison. But I think if I were carrying a secret that pertained to her—perhaps even if I didn’t—I would tell her and let the chips fall as they would.”
