Page 103 of An Unwanted Spinster for the Duke

This time, he turned away from her. Her mind screamed,Look at me, coward!She swallowed hard, but it only worsened the pain in her throat.

“Say it. You need to tell me what you truly think. I can’t take the lies and secrets anymore.”

“I didn’t lie to you, Marianne,” he said softly.

Their eyes met. Marianne wanted to believe there was a pain in there—one that involved her. There was fear, too. Then again, wasn’t it what he said? That he was afraid of her? Of how she drove him into recklessness?

“You’re not the problem,” he replied in a hoarse voice. “You’re the weakness.”

Silence.

Time seemed to stand still as Marianne stared at Dominic in disbelief. His eyes were guilty, but his mouth remained closed. As the full meaning of his words washed over her, she recoiled as if struck.

He had implied it. He said that she made him reckless. He said that with her around, he lost his focus and vigilance. But hearing him confirm that he meant what he said was another thing.

“I see,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice from shaking.

But there it was, for him to see—the weakness that was her.

He might be right. She might be what was keeping him from getting his revenge without having to worry about someone else.

“Marianne—” he began.

But Marianne had already gone cold inside. She raised a hand and moved further away from him. What was she trying to persuade him for? She had overestimated her influence on him.

A weakness.

His hand reached for her, but she shoved it away with a hasty, “Don’t.”

“I didn’t mean it. I am distressed and should not have said anything,” he explained.

“Butof course, you mean it. When your emotions are high, the truth manages to come out!” Her voice broke. “I don’t know if you mean that forever, but you meant it now.”

“Please,” he said, looking stricken.

Marianne did not know what he was asking for. All she knew was that she needed to leave. She opened the door and stepped out.

Whatever they had was over.

Chapter Thirty-Four

It was the longest day of Dominic’s life. Even as he tried to focus on his ledgers, he couldn’t. Even going out for a ride through the woods did not work. Being a hunter would remind him of her, his little doe.

But was she ever really his?

He barely slept that night, and he knew he was not welcome in her bedchamber. So, he tossed and turned until sleep claimed him right before dawn.

When the morning came, he had to squint when the sun rays filtered through his windows. He trudged toward the breakfast room, hoping to catch Marianne for the first meal of the day.

She was not there. A creature of habit, she should have been seated in her usual chair, a book set to the right of her plate. She’d said that her father thought of it as bad manners, and perhaps it was, but she decided to defy him anyway.

The emptiness made everything else seem loud. He could hear his boots echoing on the marble floor. His fork and knife seemed to clatter more loudly on his plate, even though he was using them the same way as before.

Nothing should have changed, with breakfast still served on the well-polished mahogany table. But so much had happened in just a day.

Something moved out of the corner of his eye. Then, it purred and jumped onto Marianne’s usual seat.

Serafina.