Page 63 of Married to a Frozen Duke

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"Which did you prefer?"

He thought about it as the carriage pulled away from the inn. "Neither. Both were disasters in their own way."

"But honest disasters."

"What?"

"Yesterday, everything that could go wrong did. But we dealt with it honestly. No pretending, no society manners, just... surviving."

"And you think that's better?"

"I think it's real."

The carriage rolled through the morning countryside, and Alexander watched her looking at the world go by. She still wore the maid's dress, her hair simply styled, no jewels or elaborate anything. She looked nothing like a duchess.

But she'd survived yesterday with more grace than he had, handled disaster with humor instead of rage, made the unbearable slightly bearable.

"We'll get you new clothes," he said suddenly.

"I should hope so. Unless you want a duchess who dresses like a maid."

"You don't look like a maid."

"No? What do I look like?"

He studied her. "Like someone who survived a shipwreck."

"Flattering."

"Or like someone who weathered a storm."

"Better."

"Or like someone who married the wrong person and is making the best of it."

"That's both of us."

"Yes. I suppose it is."

They rode in silence for a while, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was the silence of two people who'd shared something difficult and come through the other side.

"Do you still think I'm a bad luck charm?" she asked eventually.

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. But..." He paused, trying to find the right words. "Perhaps not all bad luck is actually bad."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. I'm still trying to understand."

"Let me know when you do."

"Could take fifty years."

"You said we'd be dead in fifty years."

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