“Let her in.”
Not long after, he heard the footsteps of his butler, accompanied by the rustle of a dress. The door opened, and a woman stepped in. She had her face hidden under the hood of her cloak. But somehow Gerald knew before that woman took down that hood. Arabella.
At the moment she took off her hood, he was faced with her deep blue eyes. For a few seconds, he was stunned. He had noticed them, of course, the first time he saw her, but it was a different matter to look at them at this hour in his study.
“You.” He hissed, harsher than he intended.
Arabella must have expected some kind of brutish behavior, but still she flinched at the tone of his voice.
“I must say this about your person, Miss Arabella,” his voice sounded hoarse and cruel, “you never cease to surprise me.”
It came out sharper than he meant it to. Her brows drew together slightly.
“I was not aware I had made it my life’s mission to astonish you,” she bit back.
“No,” he said evenly. “You seem to do it effortlessly.”
Her usually soft face turned to icy stone, her blue eyes steeled with determination, and her body sat up straight.
“I‘m not here to play games, Your Grace.”
“And yet this is what you have been doing. I am curious as to what game you‘re playing right now.”
He saw the moment that Arabella knew that this was the truth. Her face was clouded with something akin to guilt, but she found herself quickly, squared her shoulders, and faced him with renewed determination.
“I am here to clarify the situation,” she said finally.
“I believe that you made yourself quite clear, Miss Arabella,” he growled, remembering how she spoke to him in the carriage.
Arabella flinched again. But she didn’t back down or show any fear. Only determination.
“I am here to say that whatever happened,” Arabella looked away, “it had nothing to do with my family. They are not to blame for this.”
“So you‘re here to plead with a monster?”
He expected to see anger and fear at this comment, but she still held the capacity to surprise him. What flashed on her face couldn‘t have been mistaken for anything other than guilt.
“I‘m here to take responsibility for what has happened. The rules, the plan, were all my ideas. The goal was, of course, to have you withdraw your proposal. But I was the only instigator.”
Gerald looked at her, and he couldn‘t believe the strength that she had in that small, curvy frame.
“I know I offended you. I thought that this was the best idea to avoid this marriage, I never stopped to think that there are repercussions that may come upon my father and my sister. But they are not to blame.”
“You think of me as a man who would take revenge on the whole family of the woman who rejected him? Is this what you think of me?”
Arabella realized that her coming here today might have been equally offensive to him. Sure, when his anger and fury flared, he had thought about what was most precious to Arabella and what he could do to make her feel as bad as he was feeling. But he had to admit that it said more about him than her, to think that he was capable of such a thing.
“I just wanted to let you know, Your Grace,” Arabella continued, “that this was all my fault and my fault alone. If you have any resentment, that should be directed to me. If you feel the need to punish someone, then that someone should be me.”
“This is a very particular and unique way to ask for forgiveness, Miss Arabella,” he taunted.
Arabella did that same face that she did when he truly angered her, that flinch and that firmness of her lips that told him that she was trying not to speak her mind. She didn‘t, of course, realize that her big blue eyes did all the talking for her.
Despite being under such an irritated gaze, Gerald felt better than he had the whole day. This was the fun that Arabella wasproviding him. Her decisiveness, her stubbornness, her bravery. He took one step towards her to test all three.
“So it is you that I have to punish?”
Arabella said nothing, just looked ahead. In the light of his fireplace, he could see her figure, how the flames caught the elegant slope of her nose, the curves of her body. Arabella talked of his anger, but what was truly prevailing at this moment was his deep desire for this woman.
