The Solitude of the Duke by Dama Beltrán

Author:Dama Beltrán
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Babelcube Inc.
Published: 2019-02-03T00:00:00+00:00

XVII

William took the second glass of liquor sitting in the armchair of the room while he waited for the unfortunate visit of Mr. and Mrs. Brace. He meditated uneasily how to channel the conversation he was about to face without having to harm Ms. Brown’s honor. It wasn’t fair that his father’s misdeeds rebounded on her. Wasn’t it enough to have him as the only focus of humiliation? The rumors that his title entailed amongst the high society didn’t worry him, but he was angry if these harmed a defenseless and alien girl of that past.

The Duke stared once again at the fire and contemplated it thoroughly. As in previous times, the flames danced at their own rhythm, free, rising on the chimney with nothing that would stop them. He frowned and pondered if he had some guilt in what happened with Beatrice. Maybe if he hadn’t left her unprotected in that place, if he had urged her to abandon the piece of land that didn’t belong to her, if he hadn’t ridden his horse that afternoon, if she hadn’t looked at him tenderly... But then a strong pain emerged from his chest. Making her disappear from his life wasn’t the right option and he also didn’t regret his choices after meeting her, even though he kept taking the blame for the harm done by the wolves.

Without knowing the reason why, he felt so attracted to the girl, he sentenced that, even though he disapproved marriage, the girl would stay in Haddon Hall as long as he sensed possible. Something in his head screamed that he couldn’t let her leave until he found out a little bit more about the reason why she made him so happy simply watching her sleep; the reason why she, listening to his voice, calm her restless dreams and overall he wanted to learn why, until that morning in which she appeared next to him in her nightgown, his sexual desires haven’t woken up as it happened in the past when he had a woman by his side.

William got up from his armchair and walked slowly the magnitude of the room. This last thought has hit him since he got out of his bedroom. It was true that he had avoided to desire Ms. Brown with the same anxiety as he had desired his other mistresses, but certain nervousness grew when she was by his side, when he felt her next to his body, when she looked at him with those eyes filled with childish malice. However, were those feelings the beginning of what Federith called love? He also wasn’t able to answer himself in a concrete way. The only thing he dared to explain was that each time Beatrice was by his side, a warm, tender and intense feeling bloomed without being able to avoid it, something he hadn’t felt before. If he remembered correctly, when a woman fell in his arms, he treated her delicately, as every man that called himself a gentleman should.

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