Page 47 of Her Runaway Duke
He picked up the paper, so intent on the story that he didn’t notice anyone else enter the room.
In a shocking turn of events that has sent the upper echelons of society into a frenzy, the beautiful Lady Siena Whitmore vanished on the day of her grand nuptials to the Baron Mulberry. Was it a daring escape or something much more sinister?
Rumors abound of a clandestine affair with a mysterious suitor, a man deemed unsuitable by the rigid standards of high society. Could Lady Siena’s heart have led her astray?
Others suggest that the disappearance is shrouded in the dark veils of family intrigue. Could Lady Siena have unearthed long-buried secrets that propelled her to flee the impending union?
Or was she ruthlessly snatched away from her true love just moments before they recited their vows to one another, and is now being held in a land far away against her will as she waits for her beloved to rescue her?
The Baron Mulberry, left at the altar and bewildered by the sudden turn of events, has joined with Lord and Lady Sterling in issuing heartfelt pleas for the safe return of his intended bride. His grief and confusion have only intensified the public's fascination with this captivating tale of love and loss.
As the search for Lady Siena ensues, society holds its collective breath, eager for the next chapterin this scandalous saga. Will the fair young lady return to the arms of the viscount, or has she truly forsaken her aristocratic destiny for the tantalizing allure of a love deemed taboo by the ton?
He cast the paper down in front of him, nearly chuckling at the amount of fiction within it.
Until he noticed Siena standing in front of him, her face white as she stared down at the table.
“What is this?” she asked, reaching out a shaking hand.
“It’s nothing,” he said, trying to hide it beneath the edge of the tablecloth. “Just an old scandal sheet. It’s?—”
“It’s about me,” she said, slowly sitting as she brought a hand to cover her mouth. “I suppose I should have expected that I could not just vanish without question, but I assumed – wrongly, obviously – that Eliza would see to an explanation.” Her eyes flew up to meet his, and it didn’t take her long to understand the grim expression he was wearing.
“No one will come here, Levi, I promise. No one knows I’m here. No one, except—” she hesitated, biting her lip.
“Eliza?” he finished, a brow raised.
“Yes, I did write her again, although I omitted nearly any mention of you besides this being one of your residences. There are also the tenants and the people from the village. I don’t believe anyone saw me, but if they were talking to the servants, perhaps word of my presence here could have been shared that way. Unless you believe they will be loyal to you?”
He snorted. “Besides Thornbury and McGregor, I haven’t exactly given my servants reason to be loyal. I showed up here and haven’t spoken with any of the servants or tenants until the day the stables burned down.”
“Oh,” she said softly as she pushed the paper away from her as though it was offensive. “Well, I suppose all that I can hope now is that soon enough there will be another scandal, and everyone will forget about me.”
“I highly doubt it,” he scoffed. “You are a missing lady. A beautiful one of high birth. No one will ever forget you. If you do not appear again, your name will be remembered in the history books.”
He stood now, unable to sit still any longer. “I should have thought of this before, but I didn’t think you were staying here for any longer than it would take for the roads to clear. And then… well, then I became distracted. This is foolish, Siena. You cannot continue to hide here, pretending to all that you are what – dead? Lost? Gone forever?”
“I am not pretending anything,” she said, standing as well and gripping the back of her chair, her knuckles turning as white as her face, causing a pang of regret to fill him, although he wasn’t entirely sure what he was regretting – that he was saying these thoughts aloud? That he had formed this connection in the first place? “This is my life, Levi. I told you that this is the first time I can truly make choices for myself, so forgive me if it is taking longer than I had planned to determine what my next step might be.”
“I’m sorry,” he said, letting out a deep sigh, hating to see her like this, especially knowing that he was only adding to her discontent. “None of this is your fault, Siena. I take the blame. I told myself to enjoy this time with you without fear of the repercussions. Then the paper arrived this morning as a stark reminder that as much as I would like to think I live in my own world, disconnected from the larger one, it is still out there, with thoughts and opinions that do have substance, whether I like it or not.”
Her gaze softened as she stared at him, before saying softly, “but does it truly matter? That is the world I ran from, and I have no intention of returning. What I have found here, with you, has had more meaning to it than anything that I left behind. Last night was magical, Levi, truly. Don’t forget that man you were then.”
“I am not forgetting him,” he said, shaking his head. “However, I am also remembering the rest of the world.”
“CanInot be your world?” she asked, the supplication on her face and in her voice melting the icy walls left around his heart.
He walked around the table toward her, taking her face in his hands. Her skin was so soft and impeccable, his scarred hand on her cheek in stark contrast. But then she nuzzled her face into it, and he was reminded that she had yet to show him any sign of caring about such a thing.
“I can see that becoming my reality, every single day that you are here,” he said softly, and she closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his.
It was a brazen act in the light of day, when any of the servants could step into the room and see them, but if she didn’t care, then neither did he.
Which made him wonder when he saw the worry in her expression after she pulled away.
“I do have one concern,” she said.
“Only one?” he asked lightly, although he was instantly filled with trepidation.
