Page 94 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
Daniel, sitting in front of the fire, started when he heard her voice. “Alison…” His eyes reflected in the flames of the fire, and she saw in them a combination of both surprise and what she chose to interpret as relief. “What are you… you’re awake.”
“Thanks to you.”
“No,” he said. “I did not –”
“For once will you just accept the compliment,” she spoke over him, laughing as she did. She was not there to fight. She was not there to argue. In her mind, they were past that by now. “I feel in this instance, it is deserved.”
He grimaced awkwardly, still appearing unsure. “I did what anyone else would have done.”
“You did what only you could have done.”
It was subtle, but a smile tugged at his lips. “That you are awake tells me you are feeling better. I am glad.” A beat passed between them, and Alison remained in the doorway, watching him closely as she tried to determine what mood he was in and how she should approach this. “How did you get in?”
“Godfrey let me in,” she said. “As he told me where to find you.”
He nodded once, still saying nothing.
“Strange…” Alison started into the room, walking slowly and carefully as if she was approaching a skittish cat that she did not wish to frighten. “Seeing as you were meant to be on your way to the Americas.”
“I still might be,” he said. “But I missed my ride, and the next does not leave for some time.”
“You have looked into it already?”
“Not yet,” he admitted. “But there is always a ship. It will not be hard to buy passage.”
“You still intend to go?”
“Of course I do.”
Alison’s smile grew. She no longer felt confusion concerning his feelings for her. In fact, she was all but certain of the love he held for her.
What she needed now was to make Daniel admit to it. And he wanted to; she was certain of it. That he had rescued her, that he had covered Felix’s debts, and that he was still here…I have no doubt in my mind. And I know he feels the same.
“No, I do not think that you do.” She reached where he was sitting and then stopped so that she was standing over him.
“Alison…” He forced a groan. “Please, can we not have this argument?”
“It is not an argument,” she said simply. “It is just fact. You have no intention of going to the Americas. It is not a case of maybe or mind changing. I know this now.”
“Is that so?”
“Am I wrong?”
“You could not be more wrong, Alison.” He scowled at her, but there was no anger in it. “When Tommy found me and told me what had happened, I could not very well leave you. So, I made a choice, one I do not regret. But it changes nothing.”
“It changes everything.”
He exhaled sharply. “It does not. The reason I am leaving…” A shake of the head. “It has nothing to do with you, just as it has everything to do with me. I cannot stay here, Alison. This world… this place… it is not for me.”
“And why not?”
“Because the people who live in it would be better off without me.”
“Such as your sisters?”
“Among the many.”
“And what of me?”
