Page 114 of The Duchess Trap
“I know who sent it,” he went on. “Lord Felton. He’s desperate. Cornered. And until he’s dealt with, Catherine is not safe.”
She considered him quietly, her expression unreadable. “And so, you’ve decided that shutting her out will keep her safe.”
“It’s the only way.”
“Is it?”
He turned sharply. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see her in that smoke, holding a child while the roof came down around her. I almost—” He stopped himself, exhaling hard. “If I hadn’t reached her in time…”
Her voice was quiet. “But you did.”
“By chance. And chance isn’t something I rely on.”
The dowager’s gaze softened, though her tone remained firm. “Duncan, you cannot control every breath in the world. You’ve spent your life believing you could, but this?—”
“I call it a reasonable response,” he said.
His grandmother tutted. “Reasonable? I know what you’re doing,” she continued. “You believe that if you love her less, it will hurt less when the world takes her from you. But you’re wrong. You can’t outwit grief, Duncan. You can only choose whether to face it with someone beside you or alone.”
The old lady rose slowly, leaning heavily upon her cane. She stepped closer, her eyes bright with something fierce and proud. “You’re a man who built his life from ashes. I respect that. But if you think love is the fire that will burn you down, you’ve forgotten who you are.”
He forced a breath. “And who is that?”
Her lips curved faintly. “A man who has already walked through pain and come out stronger. A man who knows that control is not the same as courage.”
The room went still. The words hung there between them, uncomfortably true.
She studied him for a long moment. “Catherine is not your ruination. She is your chance to rise above his shadow.”
His hands tightened at his sides. “She deserves safety.”
“She deservesyou.”
He shook his head. “She deserves peace.”
The dowager’s gaze softened. “Then give her both.”
He looked away. The fire popped, a faint spark leaping and dying in the grate.
For a long time, neither of them spoke. The clock ticked, steady and low, counting out the seconds like heartbeats.
Finally, she exhaled. “You are my grandson, Duncan. I’ve seen you bend the world to your will, command men twice your age, rebuild what others would have let burn. But this stubborn pride will ruin you.”
Her tone softened again, the steel giving way to warmth. “You deserve happiness. You both do. Don’t let fear cheat you of it.” She turned toward the door, pausing at the threshold. “If you value what you love, act like it. Before she forgets how to believe in you.”
The door clicked softly behind her.
Duncan stood motionless for a long moment, the echo of her words reverberating through the empty room.
He poured himself a drink and didn’t touch it. The brandy’s amber glow caught the firelight, gleaming like molten gold. He stared at it, seeing not the drink but the memory of Catherine’s eyes, deep and warm and full of something he’d been too afraid to claim.
Her voice came back to him then, that night in the study:We’re stronger together.
He’d told himself he was protecting her. That distance was safety. That control meant survival. But the bitter, undeniable truth was that every wall he built only pushed her further from reach. And the further she went, the colder he became.
A muscle worked in his jaw. He’d thought he could live without her warmth, that he could bury himself in order and reason until the ache dulled. But it hadn’t dulled. It had sharpened.
Catherine had shown him love and compassion, and he had betrayed that love with silence.
