Page 59 of The Duke's Sinful Deal
But she had not. Instead, she had chosen composure.
Arabella pushed herself upright, the movement unhurried but deliberate.
“No,” she corrected softly. “Not safer. Simply… unfinished.”
Poppet lifted her head, watching her with mild interest.
Arabella smoothed her skirts absently, though her thoughts had already moved beyond the room.
He would return soon.
The week apart was nearly at its end.
And when he did—She paused.The thought did not complete itself, not because it could not but because she was not yet certain how she would meet it.
Would she wait?
Would she allow him to resume as he had left, to continue as though nothing between them had altered?
Arabella shook her head faintly. “No,” she said, more firmly now.That, at least, was certain.
She would not return to what had been, she refused. Her pulse quickened slightly at the thought, not with fear, but with anticipation that carried something sharper beneath it.
Arabella rose from the settee, crossing the room slowly, her steps measured as though each one settled something further into place.
“If he does not see it,” she murmured, pausing near the mantel, “then I shall make him.”
The words surprised her not in their boldness, but in their certainty. And then suddenly a knock sounded at the door.
She turned, the moment breaking cleanly. “Yes?”
The door opened just enough for the footman to step inside, his posture precise. “Your Grace, the post has arrived.”
Arabella extended her hand.
“One from Miss Jane Whitmore and one from His Grace,” he added, placing it carefully into her grasp.
Arabella’s brow lifted slightly.
“How efficient,” she murmured.
She had written to him two days prior—longer than she had intended, and far less measured than she had meant to be. What had begun as a simple reply had turned, line by line, into something far more curious in tone than she would have admitted aloud. Questions where there had been none before. Observations that bordered on teasing.
She had half expected no answer at all.
Or, at most, something brief enough to correct the imbalance she had created.
Arabella—
Your letter was received.
You appear to have discovered a number of questions in my absence. I will address them in the order presented, as I suspect any deviation would be noted.
No, I did not find your earlier account of the drawing room excessive. You underestimate your ability to describe a space with precision.
Yes, I am aware that you included details I was not expected to remember. I did.
No, I will not confirm whether I prefer your letters when they are less… restrained. That would encourage you.
