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Her fingers trembled, and the brush dropped to the grass, barely making a sound.

Slowly, she began to turn around, and her tears rolled hot and fast down her cheeks.

Standing before her, at last, was the man her heart had yearned for through all the grief and rage and confusion.

He had finally come.

CHAPTER 35

Daniel felt his heart stop at the sight of her, standing so magnificently amidst the blooming flowers. Even the tears that streaked down her cheeks were like diamonds that fell from eyes the color of a stormy blue sky.

My Duchess—how could I have hurt her so?

Pain seized his chest, and he nearly staggeredtowardsher. Never again away from her. Even if he had to crawl on his hands and knees, he would always find his way back to her.

“Your… painting is magnificent.”

She raised an eyebrow at that and smirked. “The first painting you compliment and it is of your likeness.”

Daniel wanted to kick himself for that inane comment. He had meant to compliment her skills—not his likeness.

She turned around and wiped her hands on a rag before tossing it back on the table. “I never thanked you for sending Mr. Turner to me, by the way, so…thank you.”

Her voice was cold and so aloof that if he had not seen the tears streaming down her cheeks, he would have thought that her heart had truly turned to ice.

“I hope you liked my gift,” he murmured. “The student seems to have surpassed the master so quickly.”

She shrugged and started putting her brushes aside. “Regarding your gift, I like it well enough. I may not be as talented as Mr. Turner, but it is a good way to pass time after—” She stopped, her eyes softening. “After everything that happened.”

You mean after I spoke of breaking our marriage a mere day after our wedding.

“Have you come about the annulment?” she asked him in a broken voice.

He shook his head and reached for her. “No. Never that.”

She laughed scornfully. “Is that not what you wanted?”

“I thought I was doing what was best,” he replied hoarsely, his hand reaching for her. “Please, Evie.”

She stepped back, out of his reach, shaking her head as she stared at his hand, the resentment clear in her eyes.

“How like you!” she cried bitterly. “You marry me, claiming that it is for the best. Then, you cast me aside, claiming that it is for the best. How can I trust you when you keep changing your mind?”

At that point, Daniel knew that all the pretty words in the world would not matter for Evie, whose heart he had so callously broken. All his manipulation and coercion would fall short because she would not so easily believe whatever he had to say to her now.

His hand dropped to his side. “You are right. I have made a mockery of everything,” he told her softly. “I thought I knew what I wanted, but all along, what I wanted the most, what I wanted more than even my next breath… it has always been you, Evie.”

They stood there, facing each other in the afternoon sunlight. In spite of her tears, Evie stood with her chin held up defiantly.

This time, he would be the one to lower his head. Before her, he could only acknowledge his mistakes and what it had cost them both.

For the first time, he must confide to another person what was truly in his heart. He had to lay himself bare before her if only to win the smallest chance that she might believe in him again after everything he had done to her.

“Before you, I was shackled to my prejudices,” he admitted hoarsely. “My mother abandoned me in an orphanage because she was unable to care for me, and my father only acknowledged my existence when it became convenient for him to have a son, even one out of wedlock.”

He looked up and found her staring stonily at him, so he continued. “I made a vow that even if I assumed the title of the Duke of Ashton, I would never give him the satisfaction of continuing his line. I was determined to end it with me.”

“So, it has been your decision all along to remain childless,” she ground out. “It had nothing to do with any limitations on your part.”