Page 70 of His Haunted Duchess
Perhaps she regretted her decision to marry him. Yet, in most regards, she showed no displeasure with Highcastle or with the new life upon which she had so successfully embarked. In fact, sometimes he supposed?—
He turned his back to the front door and looked down towards the lake. It glittered on the one half with deep gold light. The other half, shaded by the woods, faded to a murky black shadow. He sighed. The sunset dimmed, lowering the golden light to a wan hue like a faded memory.
Frederic entered the front door. It would be dinner time soon unless she took it in her room which she had more and more frequently of late. He had not noticed anything amiss at first, but now, her absences and excuses seemed increasingly odd.
He turned his steps back to the library. He would read to pass the time before dinner. It would settle his thoughts. He strode in near silence and firm determination. Caroline jumped, and his heart, once he saw her, did likewise. She was seated in a chair with her back partially turned toward the door. Frederic smiled.
“Ah! There you are!”
Caroline smiled amiably, stood, and curtsied.
“Good evening, Your Grace.”
“A better one now, certainly, since I’ve found you.”
She blushed but said nothing. The silence sat between them before Fredric pushed it aside.
“I have but recently arrived, and I went in search of you. The gardeners told me you had been about the grounds.”
“The flowers have been so entrancing the last few days, and I hadn’t yet been out to enjoy them. The gardeners showed me the best bunches, and I carried a few inside with me like captive children and set them in a vase for dinner.”
“I’m sure they’ll be lovely, but did not the carriage wheels alert you to my arrival? I would have enjoyed walking the grounds with you.”
Her eyes flicked to the carpet.
“I did hear your arrival, Your Grace, but I worried about being about too much underfoot and so sought my occupation outdoors.”
“How could you be, the lady of the house?”
She curtsied and made to leave. What could he say, what reason could he contrive to invite her to stay?
“Which flowers did you choose?” He winced internally. His words sounded awkward as a schoolboy. She paused at the door.
“Roses and dahlias mostly. The gardeners planted some for me, just after—” She cleared her throat. “—just after the wedding.”
Why wouldn’t she look at him when she said those words? The answer hit him like a thunderbolt. She believed he regretted their union! The avoidance, the comments, the deference—itcould only be that. He almost laughed out loud. What a dunce he had been to stay silent so long!
“Caroline.” She paused, her hand on the doorknob. “Please.”
He almost whispered it. The word slipped out like a prayer before a war. This was the moment. She dragged her gaze to him. He stepped forward, closing the gap between them, and took her hands.
“May I— May I say something to you?”
He hardly knew where he found the breath to speak. It felt as though air had become a precious commodity just as he discovered a hole in his empty purse. Caroline’s eyes met his. His heart yearned for her—to touch the soul within her glance, to cradle it safe until death denied him the pleasure.
“Caroline, I did not recognize how ardently I loved you until I tried not to. My reason abandoned me, and I was left only with the stark truth: that you had entered my heart more firmly than I had ever expected and now—” He took a shuddering breath. “I wish—more than anything else—for you to remain there.”
She looked at him though her face had hardened and fired to porcelain. Frederic blazed forward, desperate to have it out completely.
“I have been loath to admit my feelings, to acknowledge how deeply you’ve been entrenched in my heart and habits, but Ihave never felt anything—anything quite like this before.” He squeezed her fingers in his. They were so cold! So wan and forlorn! “I am in love—in love with you.”
She stared through him, eyes glazed. At last, she blinked and pulled her hands from him.
“I—” She closed her eyes. “I am deeply grateful for the sentiments you’ve expressed, Your Grace. They are the most honorable, the most right of feelings, and I feel gratified that they may be extended toward a woman such as myself.”
He crinkled his eyebrows.
“And?”
