Page 16 of A Match Made On Duchess Square

What was wrong with him?

He did not know what to do other than continue to hold her as she released those heartbreaking sobs against his chest. “Gwen, I’m so sorry,” he repeated for lack of anything better to say. “There is so much pain in you, it is making my heart ache.”

She cried a little longer, then attempted to pull herself together. “No, I’m glad we spoke of Andrew. The anguish of not knowing builds up inside of me like an unlit powder keg, then someone says something to light a match to that keg…and I explode. I usually wait until I am home to come undone. I’ve grown fairly good at hiding this pain in front of others.”

“But you trust me.”

She nodded.

He took out his handkerchief and gently wiped the tears off her cheeks, then handed it to her on the chance she would need it again.

Shadows darkened her aquamarine eyes as she regained her composure and silently stared back at him.

He could fall in love with those eyes. With her.

The realization startled him, and he quickly quelled the thought before he did something stupid and kissed her.

She had the achingly sweet lips for it, heart-shaped and full, like ripe cherries.

No.

This was a step too far.

A kiss could not be undone. It would be the height of foolishness if he attempted to kiss her while she was pining in anguish for another man.

He let out a breath. “I would not blame you if you wished to club me over the head.”

“I am not angry with you, mostly with myself. I want so desperately to move forward, but how can I while this mystery remains unsolved?” She rested her head against his chest once more.

Holding her in his arms felt so good, as though she belonged in them.

But he suppressed this errant thought, because both of them were struggling with old feelings and some frightening new ones, creating this volatile situation. “I’ll do what I can to help you. I have highly placed contacts in government. I can ask—”

“No! I, too, have important contacts, and they were of no help.”

“Have you reached out to the Foreign Office? If Andrew is nowhere to be found in England, then it is possible he is on a mission for the Crown overseas. Likely a string of missions that may have required him to assume a new identity.”

Still, why be so cruel as to hide this from Gwendolyn?

This question troubled him most. She was no flighty fribble who would casually gossip and give him away.

James had known Gwendolyn only a few months, and yet he could tell she was someone who loved deeply and faithfully. Someone intelligent, responsible, and to be trusted.

Why had Andrew Clement shattered her hopes and dreams?

James felt he had to do something.

Not that it was up to him to restore Gwendolyn’s frayed hopes or impossible dreams. But should he not try to help in some way? After all, she was putting commendable effort into helping him find the perfect wife and had asked for nothing in return.

He understood loss, certainly about facing a future without a loved one. And Gwen’s situation was not so different from his.

Of course, it was not quite the same, because he had been given a decade with his wife, while Gwen had spent almost a decade searching for news of her lost love.

But were they not both grieving for what could never be?

Gwendolyn must have suspected what he was thinking. “Others have tried to help me. Fiona’s husband, for one. Miranda’s husband for another. They are both powerful dukes.”

“And nothing?”