Page 55 of The Iron Duke's Flaming Christmas
“I am sorry, Miss Bomind,” she said, visibly gulping, as she gazed up at her.
“Whatever for?” asked Selene, smiling at her, her heart shifting with love for the dear little girl, who had sorely tested her limits, but was such a spirited and bright soul.
“I was mean to you,” said Lenore, blinking rapidly. “Lady Gwen told me that you were planning to steal my father away from me and send me to boarding school.” Her bottom lip trembled. “She made me start to dislike you, but I know now that she was a mean lady who lied about you. Papa told me everything.”
Selene glanced at the duke, who was looking solemn… and a bit angry.
“I want to assure you that Lord Mastiff and his daughter have left the house,” he said, his face tightening. “And they will never be welcome here again.” He hesitated. “I kept my word to Lady Gwen and urged the authorities to act leniently toward her in the matter, as she was the one who told me where to find you. They assured me she will not be prosecuted for the role she played.”
Selene nodded, her heart twisting, turning back to Lenore.
“I understand why you were mean to me,” she whispered. “And I do not blame you for it. Sometimes, it is hard to know what the truth is, and it is hard to know who to trust.”
The little girl nodded. “Yes, it is.” She gazed at Selene shyly. “All I ever wanted for Christmas was a mother like you.”
Selene was so moved by the girl’s declaration she was momentarily lost for words. She glanced at the duke, who looked a bit embarrassed. He extracted Lenore’s grip on Selene, his eyes softening with love as he pushed the girl’s hair out of her face, kissing her on the forehead.
“I love you, my lady,” said Selene, her heart twisting. “Whatever happens, remember that.”
The little girl nodded, her eyes shining. “I love you too, Miss Bomind.”
“I am going to call for the maid to take you to the kitchen for milk and buns,” said the duke. “I need to talk to Miss Bomind alone.”
Lenore clapped her hands together with glee. “Thank you, Papa.”
After the maid took Lenore, the duke turned to Selene. A silence descended upon the room. Selene’s heart started to pound uncomfortably.
“Are you well enough to take a walk in the grounds?” he asked abruptly, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Y…Yes,” she stammered. “I think so.”
“Good,” he said, with a small smile. Their eyes met and locked. Her heart started fluttering wildly.
Stop it. It is only a walk. He probably just wishes to make sure I am fully recovered before I return to my duties. Do not read anything more into it than that.
***
The snow was falling around them as they walked side by side through the grounds. Selene took a deep breath of the cold air, filling her lungs. It was the first time she had been outside since the terrible ordeal.
Her eyes slid to the duke. His expression was inscrutable—she couldn’t read him at all. But then, she never could. He was always so enigmatic.
“I should be well enough to return to my duties now,” she said abruptly, in a breathless voice. “That is if you want me to remain here as Lady Lenore’s governess, of course.”
He stopped walking, turning to her, frowning slightly. There was a tense silence. She felt the tension within him, as taut as the bow of an arrow. His eyes were glistening like dark diamonds, boring into her own eyes.
“Of course I want you to remain at Trenton House,” he growled. “But I do not want you here in the position of governess any longer. That would not do at all.”
She could barely breathe. “You do not?”
He swore beneath his breath, his eyes flickering toward the sky, as if seeking guidance there.
Her eyes fastened on the tiny white snowflakes on the shoulders of his dark cape, resisting the urge to reach out a hand and touch one of them. Resisting the urge to touch him and run her hands along the breadth of his shoulders, just breathing him in.
Oh, how she loved him. Even now, she was drowning in it, could not climb her way out of it, could find no way to halt the flow of it. It was filling her heart, like a huge waterfall crashing and bursting over rocks, and there was no dam she could find to stop such a powerful force.
He swore again, reaching out and pulling her into his arms, taking her face between his hands, gazing at her beseechingly.
“Do you know how bereft I was as I was riding to that lodge to rescue you?” he whispered, his eyes glittering fiercely. “All I could think about was how my whole world was going to end if I was too late. Every beat of the horse’s hooves on the ground was insisting the truth to me that I was trying so hard to deny—that I would surely die without you.”
