“That will never happen,” Hugh said. “I mean no offense to Eugenia. I think she’s a lovely person. She’s one of the kindest, most caring ladies I’ve ever met. But you…I believe I’m falling in love with you, Esther.”
The words were out of his mouth before he thought about what he was saying, and now they brought him up short. He hadn’t meant to confide this. Not so soon. Surely it wastoosoon?
And yet—how could he hold onto the things he was feeling? How could he be expected to keep them to himself, when he wanted to shout them from the rooftops?
Esther was looking up at him. “Do you mean that?” she asked.
“I do,” Hugh said. “And I beg your forgiveness, because I wonder now if it was something I shouldn’t have said. But I couldn’t help myself. I think of you all the time, Esther. Whenever something happens—when one of my servants says something that strikes me as funny, you’re the person I want to tell about it. When I struggle with the duties of being Duke, you’re the person I want to confide in. And at the end of a long and tiring day, you’re the only person whose face I want to see.”
He heard Esther’s breath catch in her throat. She turned to face him.
“I feel the same way,” she said, her voice low. “Isn’t that strange? I never thought it would be like this.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I imagined being courted,” she said. “Many times. Of course I did. As I was growing up, as I was getting closer to being of an age to be a part of all this, I thought more and more about what it might be like when my time came. And I did have ideas. But I never pictured all thesefeelings.”
“You didn’t?” Hugh felt a bit sorry for her. “You must have known there would be feelings.”
“Of course,” she said quickly. “Of course, everyone knows that. What I mean to say is that I couldn’timaginethem. Because I’d never felt anything like this before. I had no idea what it would be like.”
“Oh,” Hugh said. “That makes sense.”
Does that make sense, though? It sounds as if she’s saying she didn’t expect to fall in love. But what on earth would she have been daydreaming about, if not that?
He shook the thought off. It must be a part of growing up as a young lady that he couldn’t quite understand. No doubt she had imagined the pretty gowns she would one day wear, the fine foods she would eat at the balls she would attend. And parents like hers would have focused her attention on those aspects. He understood them. They liked to talk about and focus on things they could control.
Love can’t be controlled.
If his short time courting Esther had taught him anything, it was that. He had meant to be cautious with her. He knew he admired her, but he certainly hadn’t meant to hand her his whole heart so quickly.
And he could see in her eyes that he wasn’t alone in his feelings. She cared for him too. She was also falling in love.
“Esther,” he said quietly. “My Lady.”
“Hugh?”
“Would it be all right if I kissed you?”
She drew a sharp breath and looked around.
He waited to see if she was going to pull away from him. If she did, he would not stop her. He would let her go.
But she didn’t draw back. Instead, she stepped forward, closing the distance between them.
“Yes,” she said softly. “That would please me.”
He raised a hand slowly and caressed her cheek, unable to believe his good fortune.
She tipped her head toward him, and Hugh felt as if he could actually feel how fast her heart was beating.
Then again, perhaps that’s my own heartbeat I feel.
It almost didn’t seem to make a difference, so tied up in one another were they.
He lingered another moment, enjoying the preamble to the kiss, enjoying the knowledge that she had given her permission and that it was truly about to happen.
And then he bent and kissed her.
