Page 40 of His Stolen Duchess (Stolen by the Duke #7)

Chapter Thirty-Four

G eorgina sat alone in Hyde Park. She was not strictly alone—many people were walking in the park that evening—but she sat away from everyone else, looking out at the lake where she had almost died.

Georgina smiled.

What an interesting web Fate weaves for us.

She’d only gone down to the kitchens in the early hours of the morning before her wedding because she couldn’t sleep.

That was the only reason she bumped into Dottie.

If she hadn’t pushed, she would never have found out that Abbington had slept with the maid and cast her aside.

And if she hadn’t been so brave, she would never have gone to confront Abbington that morning and found out exactly the type of man he was.

“And if I wasn’t so scared of spending my life with him, I wouldn’t have been able to run away.”

She looked over at the bushes where she had broken through and stumbled into the lake. There were other places where she could have come through and been fine, and if she had been looking where she was going, she wouldn’t have fallen in.

“If I had learned to swim as a child, I might not have met the Duke at all. And if he were not walking through the park, he would not have been there to save me. And if it were not for his brother’s passing, he might not have been so motivated to pull me from the lake.”

Georgina sighed.

“The past is what still haunts him and keeps him from loving me. I know I must go back to the manor and be with him, but I’m so afraid. I know I love him, and I will fall more in love with him, and he won’t ever return that to me.”

Georgina sighed again, shaking her head. “And now? I’m sitting sad and alone in a public park, having a conversation with myself.”

The sun was starting to dip down behind the trees, casting an orange glow across the sky, mirrored in the lake below. It was beautiful. The orange streaks in the crystal water made it more inviting, hinting that it might be warm when she knew it wasn’t.

It didn’t frighten her. It was her first time back at the lake after almost drowning at the bottom of it. Yet, she felt no fear. If she had her bathing suit, she would gladly go in for a swim.

Georgina looked from the lake to her left.

The Duke stood twenty paces from her, hands in his pockets, watching her.

The light was bending him, turning him into a silhouette backed by wondrous hues of orange and gold.

He stood still, studying her. She could not see his eyes but could sense what they contained.

He was admiring her.

She sat on the grass with her legs and the gathered hem of her skirt beneath her. She was side-on to him, her hands in her lap, her hair cascading down one shoulder like a waterfall.

He watched her, and she watched him. She could only see his outline, his broad shoulders tapering down to his waist. Thick legs, strong arms, tall, powerful, an oak of a man between the oak trees.

Then he came for her, and she knew by his purposeful stride that he had come to take her home. She felt butterflies in her stomach as that was exactly what she wanted, but she didn’t let her emotions free because she would be returning to a life she had just run from.

Two betrothals and I’ve run from them both. Is this who I’ve become?

She waited patiently by the side of the lake for him to approach her. He eventually did, ambling slowly but purposefully in her direction. As he got closer, he came into the light, and she was able to see him better.

He was handsome, even when he wasn’t trying, but he looked tired. She wanted to get up, touch his face, and look into his eyes, but she wasn’t ready to give herself over to him. She was not sure she would ever be ready.

“It’s a beautiful evening.”

She looked up at him, trying to steady her breathing. “Yes, it is.”

“You look very beautiful, Georgina.”

“And you look handsome, Lysander.”

“Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Georgina brushed her fingers through the soft grass. “You can sit wherever you like.” She didn’t want to sound antagonistic, but a hint of arsenic laced her words because she could not have the man she wanted.

Lysander sat on the grass beside her, looking out across the lake as the colors of the sky slowly changed and reflected in the water.

Even just being near him again lifted her mood.

She wanted to be his, but she didn’t like the measure of control he had over her, even though he didn’t purposely exert it.

“Your parrot is pining for you,” Lysander said.

Georgina smiled. “He gets lonely. He’s a silly bird, really, and he acts out, but I think it’s only because he’s afraid that he’ll go unnoticed and people will forget about him. Has he been sulking?”

Lysander chuckled, and the sound was like music to Georgina’s ears.

“He has been sulking, standing at the bottom of his cage, so it looks like he’s not in there. I don’t understand why he does that. And the things he’s been saying. I won’t repeat them with a lady present.”

“He has quite a sharp tongue on him at times. Don’t worry, he doesn’t really mean the things he says. He just throws out insults and hopes someone responds to them.”

Lysander picked up a stone from the grass and tossed it out into the lake. It hit with a splash and rippled the still water.

“I don’t know. I think he knows exactly what he’s talking about, and I’m almost certain that he knew exactly what he wanted to say when he hurled his insults at me. He does have a very sharp tongue.”

“Oh, no!” Georgina gasped. “I hope he didn’t bother you too much. I hope the staff was feeding him while I was gone. I left in such a rush that I didn’t have time to talk with anyone.”

“I gave him some treats from his bowl,” the Duke admitted.

Georgina turned to look at his face in profile. “You gave him treats? How long was I gone?”

Lysander smirked. “I believe we have reached an understanding of sorts.”

“An understanding of sorts?” Georgina shifted, twisting on the grass to face her husband. “What have you and Mr. Squawksby been up to in my absence?”

“We need to talk,” Lysander said.

Four little words, but they put the fear of God into her. Four simple little words, but she had the impression they would decide the rest of her life.

She only nodded, afraid to say anything before the Duke said his piece. She didn’t want to embarrass herself.

“Today is the anniversary of my brother’s death. He passed twenty-one years ago today, and we buried an empty casket.”

“Oh, my goodness!” She couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and placing her hand on his leg. “I had no idea. I’m so sorry.”

“You only didn’t know because I didn’t tell you,” he admitted.

“There are a lot of things I haven’t spoken about, and perhaps I never will, but there are things I must speak about before they break me.

Then, there are the things I have already spoken to you about that I didn’t think I would tell anyone.

I feel at a crossroads, but there are more than four options.

It’s as if I’m spinning in place, and when I finally stop, that’s the direction I’ll take.

I don’t know how to explain it any better than that. ”

She hoped with her heart that their conversation would not sour.

It was when he was at his most vulnerable that she felt closest to him.

As she sat, listening to him convey his emotions, holding his hand, she knew she loved him.

She was at a junction. One road led to pure happiness, and the other led to a broken heart.

Only, she wasn’t the one who would choose the direction. Lysander would choose.

“You are explaining it just fine,” Georgina said. “Please don’t stop.”

Lysander took a deep breath. “I couldn’t show it at the time, and I still don’t want to admit it now, but I was terrified when you were accosted at the townhouse lake. I needed to be strong for you, so you wouldn’t feel scared.”

“I don’t need you for protection, Lysander. I appreciate that you protect me, but that’s not what I need from you. I want honesty. I want a partnership.”

I want love and romance and a happily ever after.

“I need to explain something,” Lysander said. “When I was terrified, of course, part of that was about you getting hurt, and I was angry that anyone would dare to attack you, but the real terror came from the thought of losing you. I didn’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose you.”

Georgina sat up a little straighter. “What are you saying?”

“When I lost my brother, I knew my parents blamed me, and I knew deep down that it wasn’t my fault, but I still blamed myself.

From that day onwards, I vowed never to love anyone ever again, so I would never have to endure such monumental pain.

When you were attacked, it reminded me of how fragile life truly is.

If I’d been only a few minutes later, I might have lost you. ”

Georgina focused on breathing through her nose in even breaths. Her heart pounded in her chest; a war drum commanding the butterflies who lay below, and they flapped with thunderous wings in response to the drum’s cry.

“When the fear came to me at the townhouse, it was fiercer than I imagined possible. It was then that I knew I had feelings for you, feelings that I vowed never to have. I didn’t let them in—they found their own way, and now that they are here, they won’t leave.

I’m making this sound coarse when it’s really not.

Or perhaps it is. I’ve closed myself off for so long that it’s hard to understand. ”

Georgina shifted forward and placed a hand on Lysander’s chest, directly over his heart. “Then let me help you to understand them.”

Lysander placed his hand over hers. “Love ended in loss once. I’ve spent my life protecting myself as well as others. I’m scared of loving you, Georgina.”

Does that mean he loves me?

“What are you saying?” she asked.

“I can’t imagine my life without you,” he told her. “These past three days have been the hardest days of my life. I’ve tried to fight it, but I’m not strong enough, or perhaps I don’t want to fight it anymore. I need you to return home, Georgina. I don’t want to live another day without you.”

“I think I’m ready to come home,” she said.

“I wanted some time to think about my future, but all I have been able to think about is you, Lysander. I have fallen in love with you, and I’m terrified—terrified that I will love a man who will never return it, but I can’t live in fear; neither of us can.

I don’t care what comes next, I only care that I love you, and if you don’t?—”

She didn’t have the chance to finish her statement.

Lysander grabbed her head and pulled her in for a kiss.

Their lips met, and a spark flew through Georgina.

The kiss wasn’t just one rooted in passion; it was warm and welcoming and about coming home.

She knew she would return to the manor, but kissing him again was truly what it meant to her to return home.

It was not the manor where she belonged, but with Lysander.

For an instant in time, it felt like they were the only two people in the world. There were other people in Hyde Park, but not for Georgina. She kept her hand over his heart as it beat quicker during the kiss. Her other hand came up to his cheek, warmth radiating from his skin into hers.

His mouth claimed hers, politeness and chastity thrown to the winds. It was a kiss that spoke of sleepless nights in each other’s arms, a future where they could be happy, and all the feelings and emotions that Lysander could not yet vocalize.

I will teach him how to feel; how to love again.

Her hand gripped the fabric of his shirt above his heart, scrunching it up as his tongue probed her. They pulled each other closer. The world narrowed to the warmth of his lips and the caress of his tongue.

When he finally drew back from her, it felt as if she had undergone a metamorphosis.

It had lasted only seconds, but she felt they had both transformed during that brief kiss.

Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes brighter, her chest heaving, but the most meaningful change was the one that had happened within.

“What happens now?” she asked in a ragged whisper.

“Now, we go home together,” Lysander explained. “We live together happily as man and wife, not because it was arranged that way—that is in the past now—but because we love each other.”

“This is not some cruel joke, is it?” Georgina asked. Her heart was pounding more than it ever had before. “Do you really love me, Lysander?”

“It terrifies me, but I do,” he replied. “I can’t close myself off from the love I have for you; that has proven to be impossible.”

“You love me?” Georgina gushed. “I love you, too. I love you so much, Lysander.”

Lysander pulled her in again, dropping a gentle kiss on her lips. “I love you, Georgina.”

It was almost too much for her. If she had been standing, her legs would have turned to jelly, and she would have collapsed. She swayed a little as she sat on the grass, gazing into his eyes. He held her head, staring back at her.

“It’s time to go home,” Lysander said softly. “Together.”