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It was a strange thing, and likely Duncan was reading too much into it, but if he didn’t know any better, he might have thought that Isabella was trying to start an argument. Surely not?

They were lying in bed together, naked and dripping in sweat, out of breath and running hot because they had quite literally just finished averyintense session of love making. It had been as blissful as expected, both fighting for control as they gave themselves to the other completely. The pleasure they felt intensifying at the mere thought of their partner feeling the same as they pushed and pressed and tempted one another to reach climax.

And once they were done, Duncan had expected the same as what always happened. He had been looking forward to it! They would lie in bed, wrapped in one another’s arms, laughing and chatting and getting to know the other that little bit better than they had the day before.

This time, things felt different. But again, Duncan wondered if he was imagining it.

The topic of choice was the Stoneside garden party in three days' time. It was an event that Duncan had showed middling interest in, and which he had thought Isabella to be on the same page as him. But most surprisingly, she was now insistent on going, pushing them both to attend as if their lives depended on it.

What was more, the greater Duncan’s protest, the harder than she pushed.

“I’m not going to do anything about it,” Duncan said. “Except announce my extreme disinterest in attending – why bother?” He turned on her, propping himself on his elbow. “Those events are always so boring.”

“So, you are calling me boring?”

He frowned. “I never said that.”

“I will be there, so if you are bored, then I must be the reason for it.”

“No, that is not what I – you are twisting my words.”

“I am interpreting them correctly.” She raised a daring eyebrow at him, as if trying to bait him.

It was confusing to say the least. Which led Duncan to the obvious conclusion that seemed impossible but was all he could think of.She knows the reason that I do not wish to go.

That was the irony here, Duncan wondering why Isabella was pushing so hard when he was purposefully pushing back because he was trying to avoid both the event and telling her why he did not wish to go in the first place.

Times were that he would have held out, pushed back, refused. But he was careful not to start a fight, worried what that might do for where they were in this relationship. He liked this space, and he didn’t want to leave it.

“You really wish to go?” Duncan sighed.

“I do. And we are going...” Still, that eyebrow remained raised.

“Fine,” he said and fell back in bed. “We will go.”

“Re -- really?” she balked and stared at him as if she could not believe it.

He laughed. “Yes, really. That was what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

Isabella frowned and her eyes searched him. A sense of confusion grew in her, the suggestion that she didn’t understand why he was being so kind. Or that she didn’t believe it.There is no way that she knows. I destroyed the letter as soon as I read it. It was unsealed!

“Perfect.” She leaned in and kissed him on the lips before lying back down beside him. “And thank you for saying yes. I...” She hesitated. “I appreciate it.”

“Who would have guessed I could be so understanding,” Duncan chuckled.

Perhaps he was imagining things, and this was just a test to see how he would react? But why would she do such a thing? Things were going so well, and Duncan couldn’t fathom why she might want to sabotage it.

It must have been that letter. The one from Lady St. Vincent. Somehow, she had found out about it.

In said letter, Juliet had told Duncan in no uncertain terms that she was in love with him, and she wished for them to run away together. Knowing how tenuous his relationship with Isabella was, Juliet seemed to think that he was a given and that already he would be packing his bags, desperate to leave with her.

It was absurd! Insane! So unlike the woman that Duncan might have thought it written by another, if he hadn’t recognized the handwriting.

He did not send a response, because he did not think one necessary. However, Juliet had told him also that if she did not hear from him then she would wait to see him at the Stoneside garden party, as if his mere being there was proof that he was of the same mind as she...

It was no wonder he did not wish to go. And it was no wonder why Isabella might be pushing for it. No doubt she wanted to see for herself if these last five days had been real, or if Duncan was exactly who she expected.

Why must everything always be so darn difficult? Why, for once, can it not be easy?