Lord of the Darkness (Regency Gothic #2) by Arietta Richmond

Author:Arietta Richmond [Richmond, Arietta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamstone Publishing
Published: 2021-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

The moon was high as Benedict rode up to the house, the small bottle tucked into his inner pocket, hard against his chest. Yet again, he had that sense of being watched, as if someone, or something, lurked in the shadows of the pines. He shook off the feeling, and dismounted in front of his stables. A sleepy groom took his horse, and he went in, expecting Ariana to already be abed. Perhaps that was for the best – he still needed time to consider James’ words. But to his surprise, he found Ariana, in her nightrail and a wrap, seated by the fire in their parlour, reading a Gothic novel. He realised that he had ceased trying to prevent her from losing her days in reading, quite some time ago – as he had ceased trying to control most things about her.

Trying to control her had only made things worse.

Now, it was obvious that she had been reading for so long that her eyes were tired from it. As she looked up at him, those hazel eyes were beginning to water, and she gave him a look almost of relief, then closed the book.

“Are you tired?” he asked, concerned. “Would you like some tea?”

He still hadn’t decided whether or not he was actually going to use the potion, and hadn’t expected to have to face that choice until tomorrow – after all, was he mad to even consider believing in such things? Perhaps he would make that decision once he had reached the kitchen – for he had to admit that this would be the perfect time to slip some potion into Ariana’s tea. Tea which would normally have been prepared by one of the servants - but by now it was late enough that they had all gone to bed, apart from the sleepy footman on duty who had greeted him at the door.

In front of him, Ariana hesitated, and he assumed that she was torn between her desire for tea and her reluctance to accept anything from Benedict.

“Not from you,” she said finally. “Dukes do not prepare tea in their own homes. Save your energy. You can offer me all the little gifts you want, but it isn’t going to change things between us.”

Her tone was defensive, full of a frustration which he shared, a frustration for which, he thought, he had only himself to blame. When he had been so dictatorial, why would she want anything to do with him? Especially as she had not chosen any of this to start with.

“Well, if that’s how you feel…” Benedict rose from the chair with a hurt look and turned towards his bedroom door, the hard shape of the little bottle in his pocket reminding him that he still had a choice to make. “I suppose I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Wait.” He froze with his fingers on the door handle. Ariana turned around in her chair, looking almost penitent. “Aren’t you even going to reprimand me?”

“No,

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