“Please sit,” Katherine said, and she motioned to the other woman to close the parlor door. She did so and then moved to pour them each tea. Katherine flicked her hand toward the third in their group. “This is my sister-in-law, Elizabeth Banfield.”
“Lizzie,” Mrs. Banfield said softly.
Aurora lifted her gaze. The young woman was petite and blonde, and her expression was a little guarded but very kind as she turned over the teacup. Aurora set it aside. She could drink or eat nothing now—she would surely cast it all back up again.
“Married to Nicholas’s brother, too?” she whispered.
Lizzie nodded. “Yes. Morgan.”
Aurora covered her eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t have come. I knew it was wrong to pretend that I didn’t know the connections, that they didn’t matter. I so wanted the escape you offered, Katherine. No,Your Grace, for surely you won’t want to be friends anymore after I took advantage of your kindness so selfishly. You must hate me as much as he does. I should go, I should go, no matter the cost.”
“Calm yourself,” Katherine said, sitting beside her on the settee and taking her hands. “You and Nicholas have a history. Will you explain it?”
Aurora nodded. “You are owed that, of course. After what I did, you are owed so much more.” She shuddered and tried to find words to a past that was so steeped in emotion. “His father…his adoptive father…served mine as man of affairs. We grew up together and were…” She fought the tears. “We were friends.”
“More than friends, I think, based on that reaction a moment ago,” Lizzie encouraged.
“Yes. Eventually more than friends. But it all ended…” Aurora shook her head. “I couldn’t explain why. We haven’t spoken in almost ten years. A lifetime. I married someone else, Lord Lovell. Nicholas entered the army and acted with bravery and honor.”
“But you knew his affiliation to Robert,” Katherine pushed gently. “You must have. It’s very public, especially now that Nicholas is being considered for a title.”
Aurora rubbed her eyes. “Yes, I did. Of course I did. But I understood that Nicholas…no, that isn’t right either, not anymore. Not after the time apart and his coldness toward me. Mr. Gillingham is not close to the Duke of Roseford. I assumed there was no risk that he would be here. But I should have told you the connection. I should have told you so that you could decide if you wanted me in your home.”
“I’m not sure I would have understood even if you had told me,” Katherine said with a sigh. “You’re right that Nicholas and Robert have been…I supposeestrangedis the best descriptor. They have always been very different. In truth, there is little we know about his past beyond what is public.”
“So he never spoke to any of you about me?” Aurora whispered. She tried to be happy about that fact, not hurt. She hadn’t mattered enough to him to follow through on their plans, why would she believe he cared enough to talk about her to his family or friends?
“You said it didn’t work out,” Lizzie said with a blush. “And I hate to pry, but as Katherine already told you, Nicholas is a man who holds his emotions close to his chest. That outburst on the drive is far out of character. Do you have any idea what might have sparked it?”
Aurora drew in a long breath, thinking back to those wonderful stolen moments so very long ago. To the promises whispered and broken. Then she shut her eyes, wishing she could block it all out. Knowing it would only play in her mind just as it had been doing for years. It had never softened, never improved. Just haunted her, as he haunted her. Still haunted her. Forever in her heart and soul.
“Thatis complicated,” she said softly. “So very complicated.”
Chapter 4
“Nicholas,” Robert said as Nicholas entered the duke’s study. He’d known someone would follow. How could they not after his uncharacteristic outburst? And here was Robert, trailing just a few steps behind him, his gaze filled with concern and confusion.
Nicholas ignored his brother and went to the window, looking out over the drive. Aurora’s carriage was moving away now, toward the stable. Which meant she was staying, if only for a short time while this drama was resolved.
He didn’t know whether to crow or curse at that fact. She was still here. A heartbeat away instead of a continent or a city length or a title. All things that had stood between them for so long. All things he had come to resent with as much power as he resented her and her abandonment of their future.
“Nicholas.”
He turned now, because it was his brother Morgan who said his name this time. Morgan, Selina and Derrick had all entered the room. He blinked in stunned silence. He’d been alone for such a long time, by design, that he wasn’t sure what to do with a gaggle of siblings with similar expressions of deep concern. While his brothers and sister all spoke at once, Derrick just held his gaze, silent and understanding as he shut the door by leaning back against it.
Perhaps because Derrick was the only one with any inkling of what the hell was going on here. Now Nicholas felt a frisson of regret that he’d ever spoken Aurora’s name even to his friend.
“What did she do to you?” Selina asked, and the flash in her gaze was perfectly readable. His sister was ready to go to war. It was heartening, really, to see her fierce loyalty turned toward him.
“My love,” Derrick said, softly but firmly as he stepped forward and caught her elbow.
She glanced up at him and some of the rage in her stare was muted a fraction. “Fine. I’ll listen before I plot.” She glanced back at Nicholas. “What did she do to you?” she repeated, this time softer.
He flinched as he recalled his behavior on the drive. It wasn’t like him to be so…rude. Confrontational. It was ungentlemanly, too much like the duke whose blood ran through his veins. Nicholas had fought long and hard to never be like the last man who’d held the title of Roseford.
“Nicholas,” Morgan repeated, his dark stare finding Nicholas’s. “Please. Let us help you if we can.”
They were all so alike each other, Robert, Selina and Morgan. It was all the more noticeable when they stood as a group. All wild and untethered and driven by emotion and desire. Nicholas had always been on the outside when it came to them.
