The footman left within the hour. Clarara found the Duke in the observatory, staring at the Seven Sisters through the telescope.
“Three thousand eight hundred dollars,” she said, sitting beside him. “It seems so small compared to everything else.”
“It was never about the money,” he replied. “It was about trust.”
“Did you trust him?”
“I trusted everyone. That was my mistake.”
She took his hand. “Not everyone. You trusted me.”
He turned to look at her, his storm-blue eyes unreadable. “Did I? Or did I simply run out of reasons to be afraid?”
—
Winter came to Aldderon Hall. The first snow fell on a Tuesday, dusting the gardens in white, and Clarara woke to find the world outside her window transformed. She dressed quickly and walked through the silent corridors until she reached the great hall, where a massive fireplace crackled with heat.
The Duke stood by the fire, a book in his hand.
“You’re up early,” he said without looking up.
“So are you.”
“I rarely sleep.”
“Because of the debts?”
“Because of everything.”
She moved to stand beside him. The fire warmed her face. “Tell me about your first wife.”
He closed the book. “Her name was Margaret. She was nineteen. I was thirty-two. Her father wanted the connection to my title, and I wanted—” He stopped.
“What did you want?”
“I wanted to be enough for someone.” He stared into the flames. “She was kind. But she was never happy. The house was too big, the winters too long, the neighbors too old. She missed London. She missed dancing. She missed being young.”
“And then she died.”
“And then she died.” His voice hardened. “And everyone whispered that she had died of a broken heart. That I had trapped her in a gilded cage and she had faded away like a flower without sun.”
Clarara felt tears prick her eyes. “That wasn’t true.”
“It didn’t matter what was true. It only mattered what they believed.” He finally looked at her. “When they told me I would marry again—that a young bride had been arranged, someone fresh and hopeful—I almost refused. But then I thought: perhaps this time, I can do better. Perhaps this time, I can be what she needs.”
“And have you?” Clarara asked. “Been what I need?”
