The Blind Duke by Emma Brady

Author:Emma Brady
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Victorian, Duke, romance, marriage of convienance
Publisher: Emma Brady
Published: 2018-01-27T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

"HAVE YOU EVER BEEN in love, Your Grace?" Sarah's voice was soft and wistful.

This could be the perfect opportunity for Thomas to declare his intentions to her with the promise of love. He'd done that with more than one woman before and it had never bothered him. They were just words after all. He opened his mouth but the words were caught in his throat. Then he felt her hand come to rest on his arm.

"It's an extremely personal question, I know." She moved closer to him and he could hear her more clearly above the wind. "But you have so much more experience with the world than I do."

"I might have had more experiences but none that have led to falling in love. In that regard, you and I are both inexperienced." He wasn't sure why he would be so honest with her but that was the only answer that felt right.

"You aren't at all what I expected."

"Oh? Am I even better-looking in person?"

Her laughter was soft and bubbly, but didn't compel him like the deeper, richer laughter of Eloisa. Once again his mind wandered into thoughts it shouldn't.

"That wouldn't be possible considering how handsomely you are described." He was happy that she hadn't removed her hand.

"Really? What do they say?"

"Mostly foolish nonsense about you being a golden beauty. It is an outlandish description for a man."

"Perhaps I started such a rumor to feed my own struggling ego."

"I have never seen an ego more robust than yours."

Again she laughed and Thomas began to feel quite pleased with himself. Teasing was a good sign that affection might be growing between them. That was worth the slight sacrifice to his ego.

"You are much easier to get along with than I had expected." Sarah's voice was light. "All those stories painted you in a bad light."

"How so?" now she had caught his interest.

"They made you sound vain and dismissive, which I would never approve of." He forced his face not to flinch as her words came so close to the truth. "I had expected you to be impossible to talk to, but this has been nice."

That should have made him feel happy, but it didn't. Instead he felt something he suspected might be guilt. Having never felt that before, he wasn't sure. This strange feeling made him say things he normally wouldn't.

"The things you've heard about me." He wanted to stop his words but he couldn't. "All those horrible stories are true. I was a cruel man, who was given everything and appreciated nothing. You wouldn't have thought I was nice then."

"Since I didn’t know you then, I can't make a distinction." She removed her hand and he felt a loss. "I can only judge you as you are now.'

"Which is?"

"A mysterious charmer."

"I'm glad you find me charming since you did not have such an opinion of me when we met."

"I'm afraid I judged you too harshly based on what I had heard." His heart leaped as her hand returned to him.

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