Page 60 of A Christmas Temptation for the Duke
She shook her head. “And it is fine, really. I understand why they treat me as they do. Or rather, why they seem so intent on acting as if I do not exist half the time. It is not personal, rather it is….” Again, her chin started to wobble. “The point is, often the only way for me to be noticed is to act out or to force them to look at me.”
He chuckled softly. “So, when you saw fit to abuse me –”
“I did not abuse you.”
“Did you not?” He looked pointedly at her.
She grimaced. “I am not used to being told what to do, or how to do it. Why would I be? So, when you…” She pretended to scowl at him. “Attempted to reprimand me, I might have over-reacted simply because I do not know any better.”
“I will remember that.”
“In truth, I was not surprised when they forgot me…” The Earl watched her intensely and she had to look away as if from shame. “Nor was I surprised when they did not return. I guess I just hoped that maybe it was all in my head, you know? I always suspected they did not see me, but to have it shown to me so resolutely was…” She sniffed. “It stung, and that as much as anything is why I have behaved in such a fashion.”
“Lady Alison, I am sure your family loves you.”
“I doubt it.”
“I am sure they see you.”
“I know they do not.”
“Look at me…” His hand reached out and touched under her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes. “They do see you,” he said, his stare determined and commanding as if he could force her to believe him. “Just as I see you.”
“I knowyoudo…”
His hand was still under her chin, their eyes were locked, their bodies were close, and Alison felt that same spark light between them that she did the other night. It was far too warm for the blankets, but she did not want to remove them. They seemed to hold the two together, and she did not want the moment to break.
Sadly, the Earl did it for them.
Seeming to realize what was happening, he dropped her chin and looked away. She winced as if from pain, wanting nothing more than to reach for him but not wanting him to reject her.
“Would it make you feel better to know that I once left my sister behind on a trip?” he said suddenly.
She frowned. “What?”
He chuckled and turned back to look at her, smiling through the intensity as if that might disarm the moment. “It was years ago, now. My middle sister, Caroline. We were on the way to the wedding of my eldest sister, and with there being six of us, Caroline the middle child, and she who caused my motherthe least amount of worry. Somehow, we just…” He shrugged. “Forgot.”
Alison snorted. “And I am sure you were nothing but apologetic.”
He grimaced. “Not exactly. You might not know it to look at me, but I was a touch more arrogant back then than I am now.”
She snorted again. “Is such a thing possible?”
“In truth, I was more concerned that she might have done something to embarrass herself…” He shook his head at the memory. “And that she went and got caught up with a duke as a result of it annoyed me further.” He scoffed at himself. “My priorities were not exactly noble.”
“A duke? What are you talking about?”
“It’s not important,” he said. He was back to looking at her, his hands folded on his lap, leaning back just a little as if to try and avoid the same moment that had almost taken them a second ago. “What is important is that Caroline knew it was not done on purpose, just as she knew how much we cared for her.”
“I believe that you did,” Alison said. “But your family is not the same as mine.”
“No…” A shadow passed behind his eyes. “In some ways, it is worse. Or rather, the things I have done to my sisters…” Hetrailed off and looked away with the same sense of shame that she saw in him so often.
Alison studied him for a moment. She could not say why, but she could see sadness taking over Daniel. Whatever it was that had happened between him and his sisters, it hurt him deeply, and he hated himself for it.
Was that why he spurned her? Was it to do with his sisters?
There is more there. A deeper reason to why he is the way he is. Nothing to do with me at all…
