Page 96 of The Governess and the Brooding Duke
It was as if something truly heavy had been lifted from her chest, from her shoulders.
She had come to a place where she had not believed that she was the broken one, but the way that he had stated that. So bluntly, so clearly. So undeniably.
The damage was not within her. And it never had been.
The damage was his.
‘I want to make it quite clear that he is a waste of oxygen and of effort to even speak of. But what did become of him?’
‘Lachlan killed him. He made it clear there was no room for those sorts of actions within the clan. He set an example. That they would all know.’
‘He sounds like a good man. A man to be respected.’
‘He is. You will stand shoulder to shoulder with him.’
She could see that he was taken aback by that. That he did not quite know what to say.
‘Thank you,’ she said.
‘For?’
‘You have listened to me. And offered no judgement. My deepest fear is not lying with a man. It was someone other than my mother knowing this truth and finding me to blame as well. You have given me something new.’
‘Stay with me,’ he said.
‘I cannot. The servants...’
‘You will go out the back passage when necessary. Stay with me until the early hours.’
And she found herself unable to do anything more. Because he was there. And he was strong and she could rest. Against that strength, in his arms.
And nothing in the whole world had ever felt so glorious.
She had not been prepared for the Duke.
But she was very glad to have found her way to him.
He was up at first light, and Mary was already gone. He’d known she had to leave, but his bed already felt empty without her. A foolish thought. He and Jane had never shared a bed with one another for the whole night.
He found he wished he could share with her. Hold her. Wake up with her.
He got up and dressed himself, not waiting for his valet.
There was something about her story that created a deep shift within him. That made him question things.
He walked to the children’s wing, and to the nursery. The babe wasn’t crying.
But he still found himself walking into the nursery. It was unoccupied at the moment, as they had found a new wet nurse, but she would not be here until midday.
He went into the room and looked down at the little body.
He could see Jane. Bleeding and pale, the bairn screaming, covered in her blood, lying at the foot of the bed.
The doctor working feverishly to try and save her.
‘Your Grace. Hold the child.’
He hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. He had not.
