Page 79 of The Replacement Duchess

“I have already told you.”

“Have you? Because the simple fact that he has work to do does not signify that you speak to each other as though you are strangers. It was odd, as though you do not know each other at all. I had not expected to come to see you only to have that in front of me. I did not like it. I do not like it.”

“And do you think that I do?” Diana snapped.

She expected Samantha’s face to fall, but instead, it was almost one of triumph.

“There, now was that so hard?” Samantha sighed, exasperated. “Now, as you have started, you might as well continue. What has happened?”

Diana did not wish to tell her.

“Diana, do you remember the letter that you wrote to me at all?”

Suddenly, it all began to make much more sense. In truth, she had scribbled it down without much thought and sent it away. She had simply wanted her sister there, and that was all that she had considered important. Now that she was thinking about it, however, she remembered just how blatantly she had discussed her difficulties, and how she could no longer cope with them.

“Ah…”

“Yes, and I have been trying to put it out of my mind, hoping that whatever had happened was not too terrible and you were simply being a hypochondriac, but having seen the two of you this morning, I know that it is far worse.”

“It is not too bad!”

“I do not care how bad you believe it to be, I have seen with my own eyes just how different the two of you are towards each other. I do not like it, and I expect you to tell me what has happened, given that that is why I am here to begin with.”

“Well, if you must know, I have made some mistakes.”

“You have not fallen for another, have you?”

Diana’s eyes narrowed. “No, I have not. The issue is that I—did you truly believe I would?”

“No, of course not,” Samantha replied, almost laughing. “But so long as that is not the issue, then the two of you can work through this.”

Diana found herself hoping that her sister was right.

“I have not fallen for someone else, although it may well be seen as a better option than what has truly happened. I have fallen for the Duke.”

“That is brilliant!”

“No, it is not. It is anything but.”

“How is it not wonderful that the two of you have fallen for each other? That is the best thing for a married couple, is it not?”

“It is, and it would be if the Duke returned my feelings, but he does not, and he never will, and so now… Now I have to accept that I have ruined everything.”

“Has the Duke told you that he feels that way? In so many words?”

“He has said it with his actions,” Diana explained, trying to push the memory of him not kissing her the night before from her mind.

“Diana, any fool can see that he fell for you long ago. You might have missed it because you simply cannot meet his eye, but I have seen it. I can see it. If there has been no betrayal, then all is well.”

“It is not that simple. Even if the Duke did harbor some sort of affection towards me, I have no doubt destroyed it. All that I seem to be able to do is pester him. Besides, you say that I have not betrayed him, but I have.”

“How?”

“There was a room,” Diana began, looking at her hands, which she had folded and placed in her lap. “And he told me not to go near it, but I did so twice, even going so far as to renovate it. I cannot tell you what happened to him in there, but you must know that he had his reasons and I did not care. I did as I pleased, and it has ruined everything.”

“And were you aware of what happened?”

“No, but I should have listened all the same.”

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