Page 39 of When her Duke Returns
“I am quite silly,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I fear I’ve left my diary in the desk drawer of my chambers.”
“I shall ask one of our servants to fetch it for you,” the Duchess offered.
“No,” Mary replied curtly and with more exigence than she had intended. “I would be quite embarrassed if someone were to flip through it. I shall run upstairs quickly and retrieve it.” She rushed for the lobby before anyone could stop her.
Her heart was beating frantically in her chest as she tried to recall the layout of the ground floor. If only Pudding had been around to guide her. She made a turn to her left, for she was fairly sure the study shot off onto the patio and drifted down the adjoining hallway.
She heard a rush of papers and a curse come from one of the rooms and hastened her pace. In a matter of moments, she was standing before the grand library of the castle, windows lining the wall from end to end with bookshelves on either side. In the middle of the room, leaning over one of the tables, was Alexander, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hair glinting in the temperamental light of the sun.
Mary had to bite her cheek to stop herself from shouting him down. “You are quite rude!” she bawled, for it was the first thing that came to mind.
“Mary,” he noted with a shake of his head and turned away from the table.
“It is quite ungracious to ignore one’s guests when they are making to leave. And… and…” She was stumped for things to say, so she turned to honesty. “And I think it is quite cruel of you not to say goodbye,” she added though she could barely see the Duke through her tears.
A sob caught in the man’s chest as he made it toward her. “I’m sorry,” he hushed and brought her into his arms. “I could not bring myself to watch you go.”
“That is no excuse,” she mumbled into his shirt. “You are simply rotten.”
“I am,” he agreed and planted a kiss on her head.
“And dull,” she continued.
“That too.”
“And not worth the trouble,” she concluded through broken sobs.
“I know,” he sighed. “I know it all.”Mary pulled away and wiped the tears from her cheeks. If she did not question him about the note now, it would only eat away her until next they saw each other—whenever that would be—or the news of his engagement reached her through its natural means.
“I have done something quite stupid, and you must promise not to be cross.”Alexander furrowed his brow though he stood steadfast in his silence.
Mary continued. “When I came upon you the night of your struggle, I snatched a piece of correspondence from your desk.” She lowered her gaze. “I know, Alexander. I know you are set to be wed.”
The man stepped back and looked away. “I thought you might have taken it,” he admitted sadly. “I’m not cross with you. I can’t be.”
“Why did you not tell me?” Mary urged though she knew she was on borrowed time.
“How could I?” he replied, his palms to the sky. “I hardly wanted to believe it myself. I thought if I ignored the fact for long enough, it might just slip away.”
Mary cocked her head, trying as best she could to keep her composure steady. “Will you go through with it?”
“I don’t have a choice.”
Mary began to cry and hated herself for it. The Duke stepped forward again.
“We knew there was no future for us, Mary. Not with the way things are,” he stated. “It was foolish of me to entertain any hope. I should never have sought you out; I see that now.”
“Don’t say that,” Mary pleaded. “These moments with you have been the sweetest of my life.”
“As they have been for me, little dove,” he replied and brushed a strand of hair from her face.
She breathed him in as he lowered his face to hers a planted a soft kiss on her forehead. He drew back with a sigh then looked over her to a spot behind them and froze. Mary turned around, Alexander’s hand still resting limply atop her shoulder.
“I thought I heard you speaking,” Cecelia said, for she was standing in the doorway, her eyes set wide. “We’re about to leave, and I… I listened in, but I didn’t think it could be true.”
“Cecelia,” Mary said, though her throat was dry. “Things are not as they seem. We were… simply saying goodbye.”
Mary’s words fell on deaf ears as Cecelia stood in a state of quiet shock. “I wondered whether there was more going on than we knew, but to know it as a fact… It’s so strange, and yet, not strange at all in the funny way that things can be.”
