Defying the Dashing Duke by Ella Edon

Author:Ella Edon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2020-06-24T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

K enneth breathed a sigh of relief when the coach came to a stop outside of Rutherford Hall. It was beyond strange, he thought, to realize that for the first time in his memory he was glad to be home. It had been even stranger to feel so restless and discontented the whole time he was away and realize that his unsettled mood was due to the fact that he missed his home. It wasn’t the manor itself, he admitted, looking up at the ancient stones gleaming with rain in the lantern light. Really it was Charlotte he had missed, and Charlotte he was relieved to be near. Somehow the knowledge that she was within Rutherford Hall made him immune to the uneasy dread that he had always associated with the place.

What did it mean, he wondered, lingering inside the coach despite the urgency he had felt throughout his return journey, that in such a short time she had all but erased the association of years? What did it mean, indeed, that he had been more restless and miserable than ever during his time away? He had been all but useless in untangled the business he had gone to attend to, and had been unable to sleep for even the briefest span of time. Finally admitting defeat, he had left his Uncle Roger and that ridiculous Jerome Cooper to take care of matters, and ordered the fasted coach for home, that he could find. It had felt like Charlotte was pulling him inexorably to herself, and to the fate that he had fought against for nearly his entire life. Damned if he would fight it anymore, he decided, descending from the coach with sudden decisiveness. Damned if he could fight it.

Charlotte stood by her window, gazing out at the glimmer of the moonlight falling on wet, barren tree branches. She was far too restless to sleep and had given up long ago. She could think of only a few times in her life when she had struggled with sleeplessness – usually she fought to stay awake in order to indulge in fantastical daydreams with no daytime interruptions. Her thoughts had been too troubled for that indulgence, really ever since Kenneth Blackmore had returned to his childhood home, but most especially since their marriage.

Just then her mind and heart were both unbearably filled with him, his intoxicating scent, the feeling of his arms around her and his lips on hers, the gradual return of their wonderful conversations and discussions, the way she could watch the haunted look fade from his eyes if she steered their talks just right. With a sigh, she leaned her forehead against the cool windowpane, praying wordlessly that she could somehow win his heart. She missed him terribly, and he had only been gone a few short days. How would she feel if he decided to carry out his original plan and spend nearly all of his time abroad, away from home and hearth? She would be devastated, Charlotte admitted to herself.

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