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He pulled her into his arms, her back to his chest, trying to calm her racing heart.

“Calm down. We will find her. I will not have you suffer a loss so grave. I do not want your light dimmed—don’t you become grumpy and old like me.”

“You are not old!” she said vehemently.

Seth’s lips twitched as he waited for her to realize what she had failed to say, and suddenly she stiffened in his arms.

“Or grumpy,” she added.

He laughed softly. “It is all right, Duchess. I know my flaws better than any man.”

Alicia scoffed as they began to walk around the lake, and she intertwined their fingers loosely—an action that was becoming his favorite thing in the world.

“You might be a little brooding at times,” she mused, “but you know by now how little I mind your moods.”

Seth glanced at her. “Are you saying you are no longer trying to repel me, Duchess?”

It had been said in jest, but Alicia’s footsteps slowed. She did not look at him, her eyes still fixed on the water, but her expression was thoughtful.

“I fought with my friends the other day,” she said quietly.

Seth frowned. “You did not say so.”

“No. Well, it was about you, you see.”

Seth hesitated as she turned toward him, fear rising within him like a serpent he could not control.

When did her opinion become so important to me?

“About me?” he asked.

“They still believe you to be someone you are not. Someone the ton has spread unfounded rumors about for years. They were trying to protect me, but I can no longer entertain such assumptions.”

Seth’s blood was rushing between his ears. “Protect you?”

She nodded. “When we first met, they believed you to be dangerous. Something I dismissed the first day of our marriage.”

The wind ruffled her hair, the ripples on the water reflecting the sunlight as it finally penetrated the clouds above their heads.

“I could not tell them the truth.”

“What truth?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“That I no longer wish to annul our marriage. That all my schemes, all my plans, have fallen away now. I just wish to live my life.”

The fear morphed into something else—something that felt suspiciously likejoy.

On impulse, he surged forward and spun her around, capturing her lips in a gentle kiss.

She moaned, her hand coming up to rest against his upper arm as she welcomed him. He did not deepen the kiss, not wishing to distract from the tenderness of the moment.

Pulling away, her eyes searched his curiously, and he sobered.

“I am glad to hear it, my Duchess,” he said with a gentle smile. “Come, let us find Dove so that we may return to the house.”

CHAPTER 27

After a full circuit of the lake, they had still not found the kitten. As they approached a stone bench beside the water’s edge, Seth walked toward it, taking a seat.