Page 56 of Duke of the Sun

“Like what?”

Michael hesitated. The words left him instantly. Instead of replying, he sighed and opened the door to the carriage, holding out his hand to help her inside. Cordelia watched him for a moment more before slipping inside, immediately shrouded by the darkness. Michael breathed in a final gulp of air before following, entirely lost by his own thoughts.

And soon, Pembroke was only a distant memory.

CHAPTER16

The carriage compartment was a rather small thing, but it grew even tighter the moment the door snapped shut, and the driver began to press forward towards Solshire. Cordelia could feel every movement in her chest, how it rose and fell greatly, how she felt as though she might’ve started gasping for air at any second. She was never one to feel as though the walls were caving in on her, but the childish fear came upon her in a quick second, like she had lived with it all her life.

Her eyes snapped over to Michael. He looked like the statues within the orangery, incredibly still and on alert. Michael focused his gaze on the space directly across from him, not once looking any other way. Cordelia opened her mouth multiple times, eager to speak but only finding silence instead. No matter how much she wished to thank him, to implore as to what he was feeling or why he decided to defend her in the first place, Cordelia could hardly bring herself to speak.

A trait that happened to beveryunlike her.

Cordelia shifted in her seat to look out the window before scooting again, her hands finding the strand she had been pulling on before the dinner party. She yanked on it once and then again, pulling the work to bind the dress together apart without even realizing it.

“You are fidgeting,” Michael suddenly said.

Cordelia stared at the side of his face. “Does it bother you?”

“Would you stop if I told you it did?”

“Well,” Cordelia paused, thinking about what she should say, despite the true answer resting on the tip of her tongue. For a moment, she thought Aunt Patience lingered around her still, ready to clap down on her the moment she acted like a petulant or disobedient child. Cordelia smirked. Her Aunt wasn’t around at all. “I probably wouldn’t.”

Michael finally met her stare. “Back to your normal self, aren’t you?”

“I suppose,” she murmured.

He looked away again.

“Michael,” Cordelia began, her courage gathering, “I wanted to -”

“We shall arrive back in Solshire soon,” he blurted, cutting her off instead. “I have plenty of work to be done in the morning, and will need it to be an early night.”

Cordelia pressed her lips together. The reasoning behind his outburst at the dinner hung in the air between them. She didn’t realize how desperate she was to know why he had said such things until he refused to speak, till he cut her down before she ever had the chance. Cordelia leaned against the carriage door, holding back the curtain to get a glimpse at London passing by. The rain had simmered to a light trickle, barely making a sound as it hit the carriage’s rooftop.

An uneasy silence settled between them for the rest of the ride back to Solshire. Cordelia ruminated over the words her Aunt said, how easily it was for her to fall back into the mindset of Cordelia being the obviously lesser child. Insecurities and fears she left behind were suddenly rushing back to her, and now there was the added fright of her husband feeling the same way. Perhaps he defended her out of pity, not wanting to have to deal with a crying and sad wife all the way home.

Unanswered questions hovered in the air around them as the carriage came to a stop in front of Solshire. Hunters met the carriage as it paused at the front steps. He opened the doors, and Michael shot out from the compartment. Cordelia quickly climbed out next, surprised not to see him waiting with his hand outstretched like he normally did.

Michael, in the distance, stormed up the stairs that led into the estate’s front doors, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides with every step he took. Within a moment, he was gone behind the doors.

“Your Grace,” Hunters greeted her with a long bow. “How was your dinner party? You have returned earlier than expected.”

Cordelia sighed. “Rather dreadful, Hunters. Thank you for asking.” She began to walk up the steps, quickly hearing the sound of the butler following close beside her.

“I suppose that is why the Duke ran off so fast?” Hunters asked.

Cordelia shook her head. “I hardly know.”

“But -”

Pausing at the top of the steps, Cordelia pulled her cloak off, following next with her gloves. She barely cared for decorum, to wait to place them somewhere, to wait till she was inside. Cordelia lacked the patience, and the heart to do so. Her gaze fell on the butler, surprised to see the slightest bit of concern pass his normally expressionless eyes.

“Perhaps the Duke faced some harsh realities about his wife,” Cordelia snapped, “And has decided to leave at once than to stay alongside me for another second.”

“I cannot believe that to be true, your Grace.”

“Why not?” She shrugged. “He has left before, hasn’t he?”

---