Page 70 of Taken By the Duke of Stone

She glared at her cousin, "nothing at all."

"I am tired of hearing that word nothing. It may be my least favorite word of recent," her aunt growled. She had never heard her sound like that before and it shocked her into silence briefly.

"I can handle it," she told them, "I am handling it."

"You do not look like you are handling it at all," the older woman said softly. "You look unhappy and stressed and harried and I hate to see you like this, my child. I truly do."

She lowered her lashes, "I am in love with the Duke. And he does not love me back. He will never let himself love me."

The Hartfields exchanged a confused gaze and it was her cousin that finally spoke, "what do you mean he will not let himself love you?"

"Noah, do not," Lady Hartfield said, then turned to a pale Lavinia. "Whatever decision you make, we will all support you."

She wanted to bury her face in the woman's perfumed neck and weep, but instead she gave a brisk nod and continued to stare unseeing ahead of her.

Lavinia was about to make the most terrifying decision of her life and the worst of it was that there was only a small part of her that wanted her to do the right thing. And at the end of the day, she didn't know if it would win.

CHAPTER 22

"You should not be here, Miss."

Lavinia knew that. Of course she did. Her presence here would mean certain ruin. But she had to have this conversation tonight. It was now or never.

"I know."

"Wait here," the butler said, his face full of apparent disapproval and then he disappeared into the house, leaving her alone in the foyer with only a single candle lighting up the massive space.

She had only ever seen the Wyld house from a distance, but tonight she was inside the impressive building. Uninvited and in the middle of the night. Or was it the early hours of the morning? She wasn't sure.

Brisk footsteps sounded ahead and a short while later, the butler appeared again and said without any expression, "Please, follow me, Miss."

Together, they navigated the endless hallways, spiral staircase and then more hallways till they finally stopped in front of a door. The older man rapped on it, once, twice and then pulled away. In the blink of an eye, he had disappeared like a phantom.

The door creaked open and she caught sight of the Duke.

"Lavinia, what are you doing here? Come on in," he held the door open for her and she slipped in. The room was far larger than hers with a massive four poster bed against one side of the wall. The only source of light in the room was the silver moon light seeping in through the open window.

She could see him clearly. He was in a dressing gown that was fastened loosely about him, revealing his golden skin from neck to chest. She swallowed uneasily, unable to tear her eyes away from that exposed flesh.

"Lavinia?" he asked again. "Why are you here? How did you get here? Does anyone else know you're here?"

"I was careful and nobody saw me if that is what you are asking."

"You should not take such risks," he grabbed her by the shoulder. "I do not enjoy the thought of you running around solate where any brute and bounder can get their hands on you. You must never take such a risk again."

She nodded and then he stepped closer and pushed the hood of her cloak off her head.

"I had to speak to you," she told him.

His eyebrows furrowed, "about what? Is it so important that you risked your life in such a way?"

She rolled her eyes, "I had one of the footmen accompany me."

Then she pulled away from his hold because with his hands on her even in a touch as innocent as his hands on her shoulder, she couldn't think.

"I think we should end our arrangement."

He blinked at her for a moment and then his eyebrows climbed up his forehead. "Our arrangement? What do you mean by that?"

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