Page 107 of Bound By the Duke

Aurelia kept her head high as she ascended the stairs. But inside? Inside, she was breaking.

CHAPTER 33

Whitmore Estate had never felt so empty.

For a week now, its halls had echoed with silence. Even the warmth had dimmed, as though the fireplaces had been misplaced. Servants whispered in corners, their voices low and cautious.

But Percival heard them.

He was walking through the corridor, his boots clicking against the marble floor. As usual, the hushed tones made him pause.

“… His Grace has barely spoken a word since Her Grace left,” a young maid murmured, clutching a basket of linens. “He dines alone, he works alone. Even Lady Charlotte looks so lost without Her Grace.”

Another voice, older but gentler, answered, “He misses her. Anyone can see it. He just doesn’t know how to show it properly.”

Percival’s jaw tightened. He held his breath.

The younger maid whispered again, bolder this time. “But if he loves her so much, why won’t he show it? Why hold it all in? Her Grace adores him. She would do anything for him, and yet…” A sigh. “He keeps himself shut away. Cold as stone. Doesn’t he know that she only wants him?”

Something sharp pierced through his chest.

“I think he knows and I think the duke loves her as well,” the other maid answered, “Love is not always an easy thing to confess and you must understand our duke has not had an easy life...”

Percival walked away not wanting to hear more as guilt and vulnerability warred for supremacy inside him. He had noticed the longing in his wife’s eyes when she looked at him. Noticed how she tried to fix his relationship with Lottie. He had noticed how she took up her duties if only to not be a burden to him yet… For a fleeting second, Percival almost turned around, almost barked,How the hell am I not showing it?! Do you think I don’t know how much she loves me?! Do you think I don’t crave her more than air?!

His hands twitched at his sides. His tongue burned with words he would never let out.

So he exhaled slowly, his shoulders stiff, and resumed walking.

He could not lose control. Not here. Not like this.

The study was waiting for him, with shelves of untouched books and the faint scent of parchment and ink. He sank into the leather chair behind his desk, and the quiet of the room surrounded him.

But his thoughts were far from quiet.

No matter how hard he tried, Aurelia’s face flashed through his mind. He could still see her face contorting with anger. The way her brows had drawn together, her lips trembling with fury and something else.

Something he had recognized.

He had seen it beneath her glare. The silent plea, the desperate scream for him to do the right thing.Hold me. Tell me to stay. Don’t let me go.

He had seen it in her eyes.

And he had ignored it.

A groan tore from his chest. He dragged a hand through his hair, leaving it messy. Nothing like the polished image he showed the world.

He braced his elbows against the desk and buried his face in his hands.

A week. It had been only a week, but it felt likeyears.

He hadn’t realized—couldn’t have realized—how much her presence had shaped his days. The way her laughter softened the cold, the way her voice moved within the silence of his home, the way simply seeing her brought him something dangerously close to joy.

And now, without her, all that was left was emptiness.

He had thought himself a man who preferred solitude. But solitude without Aurelia was unbearable.

His chest rose and fell sharply, his throat burning with words he had never allowed himself to say.