For one second, he did not move, but Charity could anticipate the space between them narrowing anyway. She wanted to reach out and keep him close to her.
But he stepped back abruptly, as if he had forced himself to.
“Leave,” Duncan said.
“What?” Charity blinked, stunned.
“Leave,” he repeated, turning his gaze away from her as if he could not look at her any longer.
Charity’s cheeks burned with anger and humiliation.
“Are you sending me away?” she said, flustered. “Have I said something wrong?”
Duncan’s gaze was hard when it returned to her face, devoid of the tenderness that he had been showing her previously.
Charity stared at him for a long moment, wanting to say something tender. But she did not trust herself to speak without breaking.
So instead, she lifted her chin, let her hand drop from her necklace, and turned toward the door.
Behind her, Duncan spoke again.
“Charity.”
She stopped with her hand on the handle, and she waited, since part of her wanted him to take it back and apologize. But the apology did not arrive, and she couldn’t look back now.
“I will speak to you later, Your Grace.”
She opened the door and left, closing it behind her with controlled care, and she walked down the corridor with her heart still racing.
She had realized she wanted something she had no business wanting.
CHAPTER 14
Charity could not stop thinking about Duncan the next morning, and it annoyed her more than she wanted to admit, since she had gone to bed angry with him, had woken up still angry, and yet none of that changed the fact that his face kept returning to her mind every few minutes while she sat at the breakfast table pretending to listen to her sisters.
She kept telling herself that she was only thinking of the argument, but that was not the whole truth. The part she did not want to examine too closely was the part where she just wanted him to kiss her.
It was all mixed together in her mind, and she hated that she could not separate one feeling from the other.
She looked up when the dining room door opened, and her stomach dropped before she could stop herself, but it was only a maid bringing more tea.
Duncan still had not come.
Charity lowered her eyes to her plate and cut into a piece of toast she had no real appetite for.
Across from her, Augusta watched her for a long moment, and Charity knew that look well. Augusta reached for the jam, spread it across her bread with unnecessary care before speaking.
“Are you waiting for him? You keep staring at the door every time it opens,” there was a hint of lightheartedness in her tone that had not been there for a while.
“I am not staring at the door,” Charity looked up too quickly.
“You’ve looked at it four times since I sat down, and I only sat down five minutes ago.Please.Let’s not lie to ourselves here,” Augusta lifted her brows.
“I was not looking for anyone in particular,” Charity felt heat rise in her face and reached for her teacup.
“Do you miss him already?” Augusta leaned back a little, clearly pleased with herself.
“Miss who?” Charity nearly choked on her tea.
