Page 31 of The Wise Daughter
She lowered her voice. “You are the first gentleman I have met who feels that way.”
A soft breeze blew through the stables and wrapped around him as if urging him toward her. Tentatively, he reached for her hand and laced his fingers with hers. Her skin was rose petal soft and warming under his touch. The effect of her flushing cheeks, observed so closely, was utterly disarming. To his relief, she didn’t pull away, but instead, searched his eyes. He savored the connection, willing her to see inside his eagerness to make their engagement work.
Whether he was gaining confidence or losing reserve, he didn’t know, but the need to be closer prompted another step. There was hardly any space between them now.
“The truth is, Your Grace–”
“Aaron,” he softly reminded her.
“I fear you are too generous with my father. He will waste your kindness.”
“I don’t believe that kindness is ever wasted, Nora.” He raised his other hand to her arm. Halfway to the embrace he wanted, and still, she did not pull away.
Her eyes quickly brimmed with water.
Aaron very nearly pulled her to his chest, but his confidence wavered. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, but he first wanted her to trust him. He would not push her toward affection before she was ready. Instead of pulling her close, he dropped the hand on her arm and laced his other fingers with hers so that he held both her hands. It took the patience of several swift heartbeats, but her fingers eventually closed around his.
Such a small gesture, but it sent his blood coursing with a surge of reassurance.
He lifted one of her hands and hugged it to his chest. Sweet, crisp scents of apple blossoms drifted his way. As she looked up and studied his face, he studied hers in return. Her eyes, matching the sky, were open, searching, and –dared he think it?-- interested.
The silence between them was no longer burdensome but perfect and inviting and–
“Your Grace!” Another man’s voice.
Blast!
Nora pulled her hands from his and hopped an entire, frightful step away as Ruthers came running back in.
Blast, blast, blast!It was fortunate for Ruthers that he was such a trusted friend.
“Apologies for ruining your moment, Derricott.” He cleared his throat. “But Carver was right. You must come right away. We’ve caught a thief.”
Chapter 12
Aaron followed Ruthers inside, aware that Nora was keeping pace.I can keep her safe in my castle,he told himself over and over, trying not to fear what might happen to her if the men who had beaten him were inside.
“It’s the chimney sweep,” Ruthers said, winded from rushing. “We caught him trying to rush off with a handful of your best silver. Vander and I had to hold him until we could lock him up.”
“Does this castle actually have a dungeon?” Nora asked, looking at him curiously.
“Nothing so dramatic.” Aaron was too upset with Ruthers for ruining his moment with her to explain that there was a rather plain holding cell where criminals had once been held in generations past, but no one had been put inside for decades.
“He’s in your mother’s music room, Your Grace.”
Aaron’s muscles twitched. Of all the places to choose!
“He was already working on the chimney in that room. I reckoned if we just locked him in, there would be nothing else for him to take.”
Another thought that angered Aaron. His mother’s music room deserved more attention, but he reluctantly accepted Ruthers’s logic. “And I suppose the silverware is in your safe keeping?”
Ruthers stopped for a moment, looked at him as if he had just said something curious, then nodded. “It’s safe.”
When they reached the music room, Chuff stood ready with a key and unlocked the door. Inside, with empty walls, missing instruments, and scratched floors, the chimney sweep stood trembling.
“Y-your Grace.” The man dipped into an awkward bow and opened his mouth as if he wanted to say more but couldn’t.
Aaron steeled himself for the task ahead. His father would have known what to do if he were here. Aaron had never dealt with a criminal before, but he had obligations as the duke and master of his household to restore order.
