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“Is that understood, Miss Victoria?”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Good.”

She saw nothing good in all of this.

CHAPTER4

Breakfast Surprises

Stephen was still trying to understand how, instead of putting her out of his mind by going to the library, he ended up seeing her again. This time in her nightgown, with her hair down, almost barefoot. Somehow it was worse. No, not worse. It just added to an image his mind was building without his consent. Because his body had explored how she felt under that nightgown that made her eyes even brighter.

“Get it together, Stephen.”

He had made two mistakes the night before. The first was to talk to her. Ever since she had walked into his life, Victoria had the unfailing talent to test his ability to hold back anger. What on earth made him think that a late-night encounter was a good idea, especially when she was so vulnerable…

He scoffed at that last thought. Victoria, vulnerable? She wasn’t, was she? She stood before him like a queen, utterly unimpressed by his title, his presence, or the dangerous thoughts hewashaving about her.

The second mistake was to touch her. One might have thought that he had touched her enough already on his first night back in the house. He was trying to make a point, he remembered that, but then she challenged him—she always does, blast it!—and he was drawn to her, eager to teach her a lesson, remind her who he was. He had felt the warmth of her skin, the delicate line of her jaw beneath his hand. And, worst of all, she had let him.

“All right, we are not allowing this impossible woman to reign over this household,” he said to himself, preparing to face her over breakfast.

Determined to regain the control that had almost slipped away from him, he went down the stairs to the dining room.

“My boy!” His mother got up to hug him.

He returned her hug and almost smiled at the genuine joy she showed at having him in the house.

At least one person is happy to see me.

Speaking of which. Where is Victoria?

He quickly noticed that the bane of his existence was absent this morning. He should have felt relief that he could enjoy his breakfast, but for some reason, he felt the opposite. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had been too blunt, too cruel with her last night. He had made some accusations that might have been unreasonable in her eyes. She couldn’t be avoiding him for whatalmosthappened, could she?

“I had the cook prepare your favorite apple pie. Lucky for you, he had even more practice since you left,” Dorothy said in a cheerful voice that was enough to drag him out of his thoughts.

“How so?” He sat down and took a sip of his tea.

“Apple pies are Victoria’s favorite.”

He almost choked on his tea at the mention of her name, as well as the fact that against all odds, they had one thing in common.

Instead of answering, he looked around the room to distract himself. He frowned. This was not how he remembered the dining room to be. It looked more cheerful but in a balanced, tasteful way. It made the place more alive, like a real home.

Then, he looked out the window, and he noticed more colors outside, too. He set his cup down and walked to the grand window. He looked upon the pandemonium of colors, the buzzing of bees and butterflies.

Before his departure, the garden was a green, curated landscape of carefully trimmed bushes, proper and fitting for his station. That was the garden he grew up in. He could barely recognize these grounds as his. They were wild, brimming with color but in a way that made complete sense. This was an artful chaos.

Stephen tried to hate it, but he failed. He couldn’t take his eyes off it.

“Mother,” he remarked, still at the window, “the gardens are… different.”

“Aren’t they lovely? It makes my day to just look out my window at the roses this time of year.”

“They are indeed lovely,” he admitted, and his mother smiled widely. “And the room.” He gestured around the dining room as he retook his seat. “It looks warmer and quite tasteful. Everything seems carefully planned and wisely chosen. You really did an excellent job, Mother. It looks sophisticated in a very unique way.”

“I am glad you noticed the changes. We also renovated the big drawing room.”