Tension hung heavily in the air. It was so thick that Lavinia could almost taste it.
The Duke lifted a hand and offered it to her. She accepted it and sidestepped around Lord Windham.
“You should leave, Windham,” the Duke said, his voice low and dangerous. He was not asking.
Lord Windham’s eyes flickered with a mix of resignation and frustration, but he evidently knew better than to challenge a duke. With a final, resentful glance at the pair, he turned and strode away, disappearing into the shadows of the woods.
The quiet had once again replaced the tension, and the woods around them seemed to breathe in sync with the silence.
Peter still trembled in rage, his fists clenched at his sides as he tried to calm himself.
The moment he noticed Lavinia missing at her mother’s banquet, he knew something was wrong. His instincts had screamed at him to find her, to protect her, and when he had seen Lord Windham practically pinning her to the tree, he was compelled to intervene.
“Did he hurt you?” he demanded as soon as Lord Windham was out of sight, his voice low but laced with concern. He stepped closer to Lavinia, his eyes scanning her face and body for injuries.
“No, he did not,” Lavinia replied.
She looked up at him, trying to convey her strength, but he wasn’t convinced. He knew she was brave, sometimes to the point of recklessness, and he also knew that she would rather downplay her suffering than admit to it.
“Don’t lie to me, Lavinia,” he said, his voice growing more insistent. “If he did anything to hurt you, I swear?—”
“Peter,” Lavinia interrupted, her tone sharper now. “I’m not lying. He didn’t hurt me. Lord Windham is… he is in love with me. And I do not think he would ever harm a hair on my head.”
It was then that Peter remembered he and Lavinia were holding hands, because she snatched her hand away.
“Good God,” he whispered. “It is worse than I thought.”
Her brow furrowed in confusion. “How?”
He nodded back toward the lawn, where all the other guests were still mingling. “If anyone other than me had found the two of you out here and overheard Lord Windham professing his love for you…”
“I know.” Lavinia shivered slightly. “I would have been forced to marry him.”
Peter looked at her, his anger giving way to frustration and a deep sense of helplessness. “What am I to do with you, Lavinia?”
The left corner of her mouth twitched. “You said yesterday that you wanted very little to do with me, Your Grace.” She eyed him intently. “Besides, no one did see me standing with Lord Windham, except for you. I’ve been careful,” she said, her tone firm as if she were convincing herself. “I know what I’m doing.”
Peter scoffed, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Careful? Lavinia, you were alone in the woods with that man. That’s not what I would call careful.”
Lavinia’s eyes flashed with indignation. “And what about now?” she shot back. “I’m alone in the woods withyou. Is that not just as unwise?”
Peter’s eyes narrowed, his frustration mounting once more. “That’s different.”
“How?” Lavinia challenged, her voice rising. “How is it any different? You think I’m safe with you, but what about the scandal if someone were to find us? You know as well as I do that my parents wouldn’t care about the circumstances. They’d only see the impropriety.”
Peter ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. “I’m trying to protect you, Lavinia.”
“I don’t need your protection,” she hissed. “What I need is for you to understand that I can handle myself. I’m not some damsel in distress waiting for a knight to save her.”
Peter stared at her, a mix of anger, frustration, and something else—something deeper—roiling in his gut.
“I think it would be better if you went back to the banquet,” he suggested.
Suddenly, she looked different. He noticed a stubborn lock of hair escaping her coiffure and fluttering into her eyes. He raised a hand gently, tucking her hair behind her ear. Her cheeks flushed a light red as she looked away from him.
“You’re right, I think I should head back,” she said, avoiding his gaze. She turned to walk away.
“You should.”
