“She is well, Your Grace,” Dietrich said, guilt twisting in his gut. He’d never thought the duke would assume something was wrong with his mother. “I simply needed some leave.”
The duke studied him with shrewd eyes. “I wanted to thank you for your part in restoring my daughter to us,” he said. “It is a gift that I can never repay, and I wanted to tell you how grateful we all are.”
“I hope she is settling in well.” The unspoken words churned in his gut. How is she?
“She is,” the duke said. “She and her sisters are getting along quite well, and Regina and I are overjoyed to have our family complete once again.”
He paused. Dietrich waited, the tension in the air growing thick.
“There is the matter of the reward that I put out when she was taken all those years ago.”
Was that all?
Dietrich shook his head. “I don’t want a reward, Your Grace. All I wanted was to see her back where she belonged. If that’s all, I will head back to work. The horses need to be fed.”
The duke nodded, still looking at him with narrowed eyes. “That is all,” he said, before sitting behind his desk once again. “And Dietrich?”
Dietrich paused in his turn. “Yes, Your Grace?”
“Thank you,” the duke said. “Once again, you don’t know what it means to me to have my daughter back.” His voice was thick with emotion.
Dietrich simply nodded as he left. He closed the door behind him, glanced down toward the painting, and there was Ella at the far end of the hallway.
They both froze.
She looked beautiful, wearing a gown befitting her new station, and Dietrich could hardly breathe at the sight of her.
She started toward him, but Dietrich simply nodded his head and turned to walk away.
He had no reason to speak to Lady Eliana.
He had to get back to his work.
Chapter sixteen
Ella
Ella watched as Dietrich hurried away from her, her stomach twisting in uncertain unease.
Why wouldn’t he speak to her?
She’d heard rumors that he hadn’t been back since the day she arrived, and everyone speculated it was because of her—at least, that’s what her new lady’s maid, Helen, had told her. Helen was lovely, even if she was a bit of a gossip, and Ella wasn’t sure how much she could trust her. However, since Helen was the only one willing to talk about Dietrich, Ella eagerly awaited her nightly reports.
It was good to see him again, even if he wouldn’t so much as look at her.
She paused near the portrait in the hallway, taking in her family as it had been all those years ago.
She still hadn’t grown used to the fact that her father was the duke and she could walk in to see him whenever she wanted. It was so different from what she had imagined—and somehow better than her wildest dreams. She had never felt more loved than she had in the past week.
Even the friendship she had felt from Beatrice and Danise paled in comparison to the pure joy and affection her family showered upon her.
Her father glowed every time he saw her, Duchess Regina was becoming more of a friend than a mother, and her younger sisters were ecstatic to have her in their lives.
She couldn’t imagine life without them now.
But every time she passed the stables, she thought of Dietrich.
If he realized how much he occupied her thoughts, he would probably tease her about it, joking that he was far too important to her. But it was the truth. She couldn’t stop thinking about him, and that was terrifying—especially since it seemed he could all too easily forget about her.
