Her Counterfeit Husband (9 page)

“
What’s strange? 
That
you can pick up your own scone
?” she asked, unable to resist teasing him.

“No.” He grinned and ate it.  When he finished, he ad
ded, “That’s a good scone
.  Did I always enjoy them?”

“I think so.” She couldn’t recall her husband ever saying he didn’t like them, so it seemed like a safe answer.

“I don’t like quail lik
e I used to, but I like scones
.  I also still like baked eggs and roast chicken.  So some things I used to like, I still do, but for some reason, my favorite meal—quail—is no longer my meal of choice.  I find that hard to understand.”

She shifted in her chair and shrugged, breaking eye contact with him as she
did so.  “I can’t explain it, Your G
race.” And really, she couldn’t.  Not without causing a lot of problems—problems she’d rather avoid.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter.  What matters is that I still enjoy eating.”

She nodded and finished her tea.  “Eating is a good thing.” She rose to her feet.  “Are you ready for that walk?”

“What about the scones
?  Don’t you want some?  They really are good.”

“I’ll eat a couple when we return.  You won’
t be able to take a long walk, Your G
race.  We won’t be more than a few minutes.”

He took another swallow of tea and set the cup on the tray.
  “Very well.  I will do as you
suggest, Anna.”

She clenched her hands together.  Whenever he said her name, it made her heart speed up, and that was
n’t
something
she want
ed to experience
.
  As he stood up,
he lost his balance
.  She ran over to him and wrapped her arm around his waist to help steady him before h
e tumbled to the floor.  “Your G
race, are you all right?”

“
A bit clumsy, I’m afraid, but I’ll manage,” he said with a wry grin.  “Though this is rather nice, don’t you think?” He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a light squeeze.

Her face grew warm and she hastened to retrieve his cane.  Handing it to him
, she said, “You’ll need this, Your G
race.”

He took the cane.

Ignoring the disappointed look on his face, she turned from him and headed f
or the door, ready to open it
.

“You’re very kind, Anna,” he softly said.

Her hand on the doorknob, she paused, acutely aware that he was watching her.  The heat of his stare made her tingle in excitement as much as it frightened her.  Unable to look back at him, she opened the door and managed to keep her voice surprisingly calm as she replied, “Kindness has nothing to do with it, I assure you.” Then, before he could respond, she slipped out of the room.

She took a deep breath
to settle her nerves as she stood in the hallway
.  It would take him a moment to catch up with her, and she was thankful for the reprieve
from him
, even if it only spanned a few seconds.  He was just a gentleman she found on the side of the road who needed healing as much as she needed a husband to ward off Lord Mason.  She needed to go back to thinking of him as the stranger.  It was the only way she could keep the distance she needed from him.  Maybe Appleton could let him slip into the role of her husband easily, but she couldn’t do it.  She just couldn’t open herself up to him that way.

She closed her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat.  This was necessary.  She had no choice.  Lord Mason must never be the duke, and the stranger was the answer to her prayers.  As soon as he was well enough, he’d start going to the gentleman’s club, hunt, horseback ride, and do other things
gentlemen did
to fill up his days.  She wouldn’t always have to be around him so much.
  And at that time, the distance between them would be sufficient so he could slip into his role as a duke and she could continue being the duchess, much like she and her husband had done before.  The only difference would be that she would be treated well.  Surely, she could handle that.

“Oh good, you’re still here,” the stranger said as he
hobbled out of the room.  “I was afraid you already took of
f running to enjoy the sunny day
.”

Her emotions settled, at least for the time being, she turned to him and offered a polite smile
as the footman approached with their cloaks
.  “The gardener t
akes good care of the grounds, Your G
race. On occasion, the visitors have commented on how beautiful the grounds are.”

“Do they?”

As the footman helped her with her cloak, she nodded. 
“Yes.  It’s a lovely sight.”

“Well, then we’re wasting time standing here talking, aren’t we?”

Just as she was about to
respond, the footman asked her,
“Will you require
a pa
rasol, Your G
race?”

“Surely, you don’t want one of those on a perfectly good day like this,” the stranger told her.

“It’s to
protect my eyes from the sun
,” she informed him and nodded to the footman to indicate she’d take it.

“A hat for you, Your G
race?” the footman asked him.

“No thank you.”
As the footman retrieved the parasol for her, the stranger let out a regretful sigh.  “Don’t you want to feel the sun on your face?”

“I’m not particularly interested in it.”

“That’s a shame.”

She accepted the parasol from the footman when he returned but waited until the strang
er
had his cloak on before she
left the house.  She
opened her parasol and
slowed her steps so he could keep up with her.  “Why is it a shame
that I don’t want the sun on my face
?”

“I was on the veranda outside my bedchamber earlier today, and you know what I discovered?”

Though she suspected he’d tell her even if she didn’t say it, she asked, “What?”

“The sun feels great.”

She shifted her parasol to her other arm and peered up at him, noticing the way he tilted his face back and grinned.
 
She paused and waited as he stood still a
nd soaked up the sun.
 
In all her years of marriage to her husband, he never once smiled the way this man was smiling now.  This man enjoyed li
fe.  She wondered what it was like to embrace life with such abandon.

He opened his eyes and turned his gaze to her.  “Put down the parasol and feel the warmth of the sun.”

“I don’t need to lower my parasol for that. 
Even with the chill in the air,
I can feel how warm
the sun is
.”

Though he sighed, his smile didn’t falter.  “Why do I have a feeling that you’ll fight me every step of the way?”

Her eyebrows furrowed.  “Fight you?  I don’t recall us having an argument.”

He started walking down the path that led to a fountain, so she joined him, allowing him to determine the pace they’d be walking.  “While it’s true we haven’t had an argument,” he began, “you seem reluctant to do what I ask.”

“I don’t understand.  I’ve been eating meals with you
,
and
I’
m walking with you
as we speak
.”

“But you hesitated
when I extended the invitations
, and just now, you hesitate to let the sunlight grac
e your face.  I d
on’t blame you, Anna.  Whatever I was like in the past
, it’s made it difficult for you to trust me.”

“How
do you figure
that?”

“It’s in the way you hesitate.  I had to c
onvince you to eat with me, and i
f I hadn’t come down the stairs today, would you be walking with me right now?”

“We didn’t often eat together
in the past, and we never took walks
.
 
You spent a lot of time detained in London, and I spent a good portion of my time here at Camden.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” she lied.  “It’s not a lady’s place to ask where her husband spends his time.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for.”

He held his hand up to stop her.  “I might not remember what I did, but I’m intelligent enough to see the result of my actions. 
You’re my wife, and you’ve treated me with much kindness.  Kindness, I realize, that I don’t deserve.  I might not be able to change the past, but I’d like to do what I can to give us a good future.”

What could she say to that?  He was innocent of everything her husband had done, and
yet
he was promising her something she’d desperately wanted
for so long.   She did the only thing she could think of to do: she nodded.
 
Seeming content with her
response, his smile widened.

His gaze went to the
fountain which was surr
ounded by
red, orange, and yellow leaves
.  “Ah, I see I’ve stumbled upon the first batch of
leaves
.”

“No, that’s not the first.  If you look
behind us
, you’ll see
we passed by some leaves close to those trees
.”

He glanced in the direction she pointed to
.  “How did I miss those
?”

Because he’d been watching
her
the whole time
, but she didn’t dare tell him that.  Instead, she said, “
In the spring and summer
white flowers surround
the red ones
in front of the manor
, and if you look at them as you come
here from
the road, you’ll see the red ones spell ‘Camden’.”

“Do they?” he asked, looking intrigued.

“They do.”

“I’d like to see that.”

“You will. 
Come spring,
we’ll go for a carriage ride, and I’ll make sure to point them out to you.”

With one of his disarming smiles, he said, “
I look forward to it.”

“In the meantime, do you feel well enough to walk to the fountain and back to the house?”

“Yes.  It feels good to be outside after
being cooped up inside for over a month
.”

“Remember, don’t overdue it
.  You don’t want to regret walking too much when tomorrow comes.”

“I’ll be sure to take it slow.”

Satisfied, she turned to the fountain and enjoyed the rest of her walk with him.

T
wo weeks later, Anna was playing an upbeat tune on her piano when Appleton entered the drawing room with something in his hand.  She stopped the music and focused on him.

“I can’t recall the last time I heard a melody so cheerful in this house,” Appleton commented.

She shrugged and stood up so she could approach him.  “I thought I’d try something different today.  Is that letter for me
?”

“For you and His G
race.   It’s an invitation.”

By the hesitant tone in his voice, she gingerly accepted it, her face going pale when she realized it was from Lord Mason.  As much as she didn’t want to see what the contents of the invi
tation contained, she opened it and read it.

Lowering his voice, Appleton said, “You don’t have t
o accept it, Your G
race.”

“But if I don’t, he’ll get curious and come out here again.” And her newfound peace
would be ruined
.