If a single kiss could make him feel as if their souls had cleaved together, how much harder would it be to bear a lifetime without her if he risked sharing more than that?
“The eagle can fly over a hundred miles to be with its mate,” mused a female voice right behind them.
Benjamin ripped his mouth from Noelle’s and tried to calm his galloping heart. The avian expert had arrived.
“Virginia,” Noelle said, her cheeks flushed and her voice breathless. “You’re early.”
“I’m half an hour late.” Without demanding further explanation, Miss Underwood turned abruptly and began striding away. “This way to the partridge.”
He offered her his arm, so they could hurry after her retreating friend.
Noelle gave him a shy smile that melted his heart.
“Come along,” Miss Underwood called. “I’ve installed the partridge in the closest outbuilding in order to give you the honor of carrying him into the aviary.”
He slanted a startled glance toward Noelle.
“That means you,” she said quickly. “I seek no honor.”
Benjamin gazed down at her. He had never met anyone more honorable.
Regardless of how she might have felt in the beginning, she was not helping him now because she wished to be rid of him, but rather despite the fact that she did not. His spirits sank.
He had never been less enthusiastic about getting his way.
Chapter 10
For the first time, Cressmouth’s endless winter felt less charming and more simply…cold.
Noelle tried to keep her shaking fingers from gripping too hard as she looped her arm through Silkridge’s and allowed him to escort her—and the partridge—to the aviary.
The bird was cozily ensconced in a covered wicker basket hanging from the duke’s other arm. Noelle felt significantly less stable. Of the two, her fluttering heart seemed more likely to fly from her chest than the bird from the basket.
It was a quarter to twelve. Within the next half hour, Silkridge would deposit the bird in the aviary, break the bottle of champagne, and be gone.
“Are you ready?” she whispered.
She wished she hadn’t spoken. She already knew the answer.
“Yes,” he said with a quick glance to ensure the safety of the bird inside the basket.
Noelle was not ready. She doubted she would ever be. All she could think about was the incredible kiss they had just shared. It had transported her out of the greenhouse, out of the castle, into a world of fantasy where nothing could keep them apart.
She supposed she could have delayed him artificially. He did not know her bosom friend was an expert on birds. He had not asked for her help. If anything, he had seemed perturbed that his grandfather’s will had thrown them together in such a fashion. At first.
Now she was uncertain what to think.
She had no doubt that he desired her. His ardent kisses had proven that. Nor could she doubt that he liked her. He had agreed to a sleigh ride, attended a holiday play, wore her scarf about his neck. But such moments were far from enough.
His kisses made her wantmore. To keep Cressmouth, to keep him, to have it all.
She wanted him to want to stay. To chooseher. Having him be part of her life, part of her home, a part of her heart…
For a moment, when he had captured her in his arms, she had thought it possible. That their connection was unbreakable. That perhaps she could keep him.
But of course she could not.
Her lips twisted at the irony. A debutante would rejoice if the gentleman she fancied was a duke. For a title-less orphan like Noelle, it meant she and Silkridge were more than star-crossed. Their futures were predetermined. This forbidden spark between them might lead to a bedchamber, but never to the altar.
