Sebastian’s arm still wrapped protectively over her shoulders. “Upstairs,” he coaxed when she resisted. “Trust me, I have a plan.”
“And what plan is that?” Even so, she followed him, letting him guide her up the stairs to his bedchamber. Once there, despite her protests, he stripped her wet clothes from her.
“If you think—” she started, but he hushed her with a finger to her lips. Then he withdrew a shirt and a pair of soft fawn pantaloons. She stood still as he tenderly dressed her in his clothes, his hands gentle but not lingering. At no point did shefeel as though this was an exercise purely with the intent of putting his hands on her body.
By the end, she was dressed—albeit indecently—in his male clothes that were nearly twice her size. He even offered her a waistcoat, though she shook her head. This was bad enough.
“What will the servants think?” she frowned.
“They don’t have to see. No one has to.”
She scowled. “Except for you.”
He gave a small half-smile. “Little mouse, do you really think I would ever think badly of you? There is nothing you could do or say that would make me think less of you.”
“That sounds like a challenge.”
He took a seat by the fire and folded his arms. “Go ahead.”
“I—” She took a deep breath, suddenly uncertain. “I left not knowing if I would ever come back.”
“I know.” His eyes were deep black, burrowing into her soul. Yet in them, she saw nothing but warmth and understanding.Patience. “I wish you didn’t feel that way. But now, I understand why you did. It was never about my reclusiveness or the circumstances behind our marriage.
“I had ripped you from a world you never felt you belonged in, and never had the courage to help you belong in mine. I would have deprived our future child of their parent, knowing full well what you went through. And for that, I could spend a lifetime searching for the right words, but even an eternity’s penance would make my sin less forgivable.”
Her throat ached with the effort of holding back her tears.
“I told Lady Mary Ann everything,” she whispered.
He nodded again. “I had hoped you hadn’t gone far, and I’m glad you have someone you trust. A friend in these times is what you need—so long as she doesn’t invite Lord Redwood again.”
She shuddered. “I doubt it. She knows now what he did to me and the mean things he said. Though they were partially true.”
“To my detriment,” he said wryly. “You have not known how many times these past few hours I cursed myself for being such a blithering fool.”
Tentatively, Aurelia sat at the very edge of the bed. The storm still raged outside the windows, but inside they were safe and warm. It felt like an allegory, but she couldn’t trust her senses when Sebastian was concerned.
She might be safe now, but her feelings had still been trampled in the worst way.
“I understand why you feel the way you do,” he said now, linking his fingers and resting them against his knee. He was still wet, she noticed. He had gone out of his way to dry her and ensure she had clothes, but he had not done the same for himself. “And I can’t tell you not to feel that way—it would be pigheaded in the extreme. I know I am at least partly the reason behind it, and I’m sorry. But believe me when I say I would never cast a woman I loved from this house.” He met her gaze squarely. “And I love you, Aurelia. Time will not be a deterrent. Nor will anything you say. If there is anything I’ve learned, it is that my feelings will never change, no matter how far you run from me.”
She pressed the heel of her hand against her cheeks, feeling them damp with tears. “So you say now…”
“A man may spend his entire life misunderstanding, my sweet, but never his heart. And mine only knows how to endure with you near.”
“Even if I want to go out in Society sometimes?”
His brows came together. “Even knowing that people will be cruel?”
“People willalwaysbe cruel. But I will not let their cruelty force me into hiding. I can’t change their minds about me from one appearance, but I am a duchess, and you are a duke. All I want is for us to leave our mark on the world.”
He made a small scoffing sound. “You say this as though it’s easy.”
“Not easy,” she pressed softly. “Necessary. For my happiness and yours. It is what I want, Sebastian. Not to cower away in this house with no other choice in the matter.
“If we decide to stay here most of the time of our own volition, then that’s all very well, but I will not be forced into hiding. And if that is the only life you can see for me, then cut me free.” She gestured at the window. “My things are already packed, Sebastian. Do you think I can’t leave you? You already pushed me away once; I have one foot out of the door already.”
His eyes seemed very dark as they watched her. “Those are the conditions of your staying?”
