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“Are you coming?”
Audrey spun around to find Julius standing in the door with a quizzical expression. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts, she had failed to hear him climbing the creaking steps. She nodded, walking over to join him. They descended to the lower level, and Audrey realized her companion was rather more subdued than usual.
“What was the outcome?” she asked as they crossed to leave the mews, curious about what occupied his thoughts.
“They wish to discuss it with the other gentlemen, the duke and his cousin Saunton, who is husband to Abbott’s cousin. Abbott would prefer to devise less risky alternatives, so … I suppose I shall rest until they return. I cannot proceed without their agreement. At least, not without great risk. I must consider your involvement.”
Julius paused midway in the garden, turning to gaze at her. “I must thank you.”
He shook his head, his wheat-colored hair glowing in the morning light.
Audrey’s heart swelled painfully. There was so much she wished she could say.
Do not thank me. Do not speak of endings. Stay a little longer.
She ached with the longing to run her fingers through that tousled hair, to memorize the curve of his smile with her fingertips. But she folded her hands before her, willing the moment to pass with dignity intact.
She nibbled at her lip, remonstrating herself for her maudlin sentimentality. She behaved as though returning home and parting ways from Julius … as though she had been condemned to the gallows.
Julius moistened his lips, clearly wanting to say more but struggling for words.
Audrey took pity, her voice soft with emotion. “It was my pleasure, Julius Trafford.”
He was wearing the forest green coat from the day before, which picked out the color in his fascinating two-toned eyes. Some would consider the strange brown spots a flaw, but she thought them endearing, a visible mark of his eccentric spirit.
The man who accepted her worth without question. Who never once asked her to be anything other than exactly what she was.
Those eyes were staring deep into her soul, emotions coiling in their depths that she could not decipher.
At that moment, her stomach gave a mortifying grumble, and Julius’s buoyant spirits were restored, his face breaking into a wide grin.
“Shall we eat?”
Audrey could feel the heat that was climbing her neck at the embarrassing bodily function choosing to interrupt so rudely. Her chuckle was rueful as she nodded.
Whatever he had wanted to say would have to wait.
