Just as scared as you are right now.
The thoughts in her head were crowding her brain, but when she and Caleb finally slid to a halt and he turned her to face him, there was one that stood out more than the rest.
“You hurt me more than your brother ever did,” she said. “Perhaps that puts things in perspective.”
Sadness stared back at her, so bleak it threatened the pleasure she’d found in seeing him again. “I know and I am sorry. If I could go back with what I know now, I would do everything differently.”
“How?”
“I would be honest with you from the start and hope you would love me anyway.” Her throat closed and words failed her. “But perhaps we can start again.” Hope brimmed in his dazzling eyes. It lifted Mary’s spirits and filled her with a renewed sense of longing. “I know I have a lot of unacceptable qualities, like being a duke, for example. But if you will permit me, I would like to show you that I can still be the man you knew at Clearview, no matter what title I hold.”
“I don’t know.” She had to think clearly about this, and being so near him was muddling her head. “My appetite for dukes has been sated, I’m afraid.”
He smiled in spite of the anguish in his face. “Allow me to call on you tomorrow, Miss Clemens. We’ll spend the day together, and I will show you my favorite places in London.”
To tell him no would be unbelievably difficult. And besides, she really did not want to. What she desired most of all right now was to tell him yes. So she nodded. “Very well, Mr. Crawford. Tomorrow it is. But I cannot promise you’ll get the result you seek. My heart still hurts, and my mind is urging me to be cautious.”
Without commenting, he skated backward while executing a perfect bow. Mary laughed into the palms of her hands when he added a wink. Turning about, he called over his shoulder, “Be ready by ten!” He bent his knees and pushed himself forward to increase his speed as he skated toward the far bank.
“Who was that?” Sarah asked from directly behind Mary’s left shoulder.
Startled, Mary spun around, attempting to face her. She almost lost her balance in the process and had to be steadied by Lilly and Edith, who were there as well, looking just as curious as Sarah.
“Mr. Crawford,” Mary said. Her sisters raised their eyebrows in a silent plea for more information. “Very well. He’s more correctly known as the Duke of Camberly.”
All three pairs of eyes widened.
“You are acquainted with His Grace?” Sarah asked in dismay. “The brother of the man who caused you to leave for only God knows where five years ago?”
“I would have thought you’d be angrier with him than you appear,” Edith said.
“It’s complicated,” Cassandra said, somehow materializing at Mary’s right elbow. She’d brought Emily with her. “Mary mistook His Grace for a common laborer when they initially met.”
“So did you,” Mary said. Feeling crowded, she skated away from her sisters and friends, but of course they chose to follow.
“Ah, I begin to grasp the bigger picture,” Sarah said at Mary’s back. “You fell for him without knowing who he really was, and now you want the laborer rather than the duke, which poses a bit of a problem since you cannot have one without the other.”
“Thank you, Sarah,” Mary muttered. “I have managed to figure that much out on my own.”
“I don’t see the issue,” Penelope said. Somehow she was now there as well, skating alongside Mary. Looking down at her, Mary saw that the other children were not far behind. “Mr. Crawford is handsome and kind. He knows how to fix things too, which I imagine would be rather useful,” Penelope said.
“He rescued Raphael from that awful storm,” Daphne added.
“And he makes a brilliant fishing rod, Miss Clemens,” Peter shouted across the heads of the other children.
“I like how he smells,” Bridget yelled.
Mary had to agree. His spicy scent was a wonderful mixture of cedar, bergamot, and sandalwood. Her heart thumped wildly when she thought of the way it infused her senses whenever she was near him.
“I have agreed to meet him tomorrow,” she said in order to placate Caleb’s supporters. “Depending on how that goes, I may or may not choose to see him again.”
It was the best she could do for now. Because although he’d been charming as always, and she’d wanted to forget all the rest, she had to consider the state of her heart. It was still recovering from his deceit, so if she decided to trust him now and he betrayed her again, she feared she would never survive it.
15
Caleb rosethe next morning at seven. By eight he was freshly shaved and dressed. He descended the stairs and entered the dining room where breakfast awaited. His mother was, as he’d expected, already seated at the table. What he did not expect was to find Griffin there too.
“You are up early,” he told his brother as he pulled out a chair and took his seat.
