Page 110 of An Unwanted Bride for the Duke
Her eyes widened. He dragged a hand through his dark hair.
“I love you,” he repeated, his voice rough with emotion. “And I cannot let harm come your way, don't you understand?”
She froze completely. For the first time since he had met her, Lady Seraphine was entirely speechless.
His heart pounded. Perhaps she would realize she had never truly loved him. Perhaps he had merely been her escape from the Abbey.
Perhaps…
“I love you too,” she whispered, tears shining in her eyes.
Everything inside him stopped. Relief swept through him so fiercely that he almost reached for her.
Almost.
Then she drew a shaky breath.
“But I cannot live in a cage,” she said gently.
His hand fell back to his side.
“The years beneath Father shaped me more than I realized,” she continued, pressing a trembling hand to her heart. “I need freedom, Damien. I need to feel safe.” She looked directly into his eyes. “And right now... I do not feel safe with you.”
Every word cut deeper than the last.
“If nothing changes,” she whispered, “I shall leave with Rosaline and Laurent when they return to Scotland.”
Scotland? Far from London. Far from Lord Pemberley.
Far from every danger surrounding Damien. Perhaps she truly would be safer there. She would not spend every day watched by enemies she did not even know existed. She would not live imprisoned by his fear.
Perhaps loving her means letting her go.
His heart rebelled, but his mind accepted it immediately.
He swallowed hard before forcing himself to nod. “Very well,” he said quietly.
She looked at him in confusion.
“Get your things ready,” he told her, his voice sounding strangely distant even to himself. “You shall leave with your sister in a few days, and you may take your maid with you. I will write to my brother to see that everything you need is covered by the estate.”
The color drained from her face. A broken sob escaped her lips before she turned and fled down the corridor, one trembling hand covering her mouth.
Damien did not move. He listened until the sound of her footsteps disappeared into the silence.
Only then did he brace one hand against the wall and bow his head. It felt as though someone had reached inside his chest and torn his heart from it.
He had finally confessed the one truth he had spent weeks denying.
And in the very next breath...
I have sent away the woman I love.
Seraphine scarcely remembered climbing the staircase. One moment she had fled the corridor, and the next she was inside her bedchamber with the door firmly shut behind her. She stumbled to the bed, buried her face in the embroidered coverlet.
She had wanted freedom. That was all she had asked for.
That's why it hurt so terribly when Damien had taken it from her. But now that he was agreeing she should go to Scotland, that hurt far worse.
