FromNowOn Read Free

expected she
would read it and then fly into his arms? No.
    But he had hoped she would at least talk to him. Their
friendship had been real.
    Some moments passed as he contemplated finding his bed and
starting over in his quest first thing in the morning. The clock struck one but
he hadn’t the motivation or desire to move.
    An apparition walked through the library door. There was
barely a whisper of sound but something alerted him to her presence.
    Grace.
    He opened his eyes wider, his gaze searching past the
luminescence of her nightgown. Frozen in the chair, he dared not make a sound,
even his breathing seemed to slow. Where he sat at the far end of the room he
was hidden and protected by the darkness.
    She fumbled for a moment. The grating of metal preceded the
quick burst of light as the char cloth flamed.
    The glow exposed the right side of her face. Warmth cascaded
through his body. He curled his fingers, digging into the cool leather of the
chair. All of his urges would come to naught if he frightened her, if he came
upon her unawares.
    She appeared golden and unblemished in the light. From where
he sat, he could not see a single scar, only the angelic perfection of which he
had always dreamt.
    Surging desire pulsed through him. Yes, he loved Grace, but
he had always— always —wanted her. She might have been the one woman in
all of London he had wanted and had not seduced into wanting him . Well,
hardly.
    There had been a few chaste kisses. And then an offer from a
duke. Sebastian knew his insincere suit was doomed. And the truth of the
situation was, he had been of an age when he had not really wanted to
marry.
    Sebastian would like to go back in time and beat that bloody
young fool to a pulp.
    He wanted to give her ample opportunity to come to him of
her own accord, but he knew there was a limit to his patience. He had not
agonized about this decision for nothing.
    As she set her foot to the ladder, she smiled.
    Sebastian felt a moment of peace—and relief—that she had
some small joy.
    He could not imagine her without a smile. Great beauties
abounded, but a weak smile, a lack of warmth and a dull gleam in the eye could
ruin a truly beautiful countenance.
    Grace exuded affection and joy. Her teeth were perfect
pearls, her eyes twinkled with the radiance of a thousand stars. Who could get
past her eyes? Deep green with the thickest, blackest lashes.
    Hell, he was no poet.
    He was a damned fool who didn’t know if his greatest mistake
could be made right.
    From now on, he would be the man she needed until she said
she didn’t need him and never would.
    Her luminescence trailed out the door and into the hallway.
Tempted as he was to follow her, he held back, allowing his body to relax into
the soft chair.
    Lust he could manage.
    Love was a damn nuisance.
    * * * * *
    Cook hurried to prepare a picnic lunch for Grace. Cook, who
was elbow-deep in flour and dough at the time, seemed a bit confused because it
was five o’clock in the morning when the duchess requested the meal.
    “And some cider,” she said.
    “If you are going out, Your Grace, best wear a coat and
boots. Old Madge was through yesterday and said rain is on the horizon.”
    “Thank you. I mostly certainly will.”
    Sebastian would leave today but Grace did not have the
courage to watch his carriage taking him away, nor did she have the courage to
see him again.
    The picnic lunch was partly a ruse and partly a necessity
since she would make herself disappear until he was gone. She knew Sebastian
well enough to know if he had made the effort to find her in Cornwall he would
not leave unless she was abundantly clear about her wishes.
    If she saw him, she could see herself bending to his will.
She had to protect herself, as cowardly as it made her. Ridgley’s reputation
was well-earned—her ability to resist his charm was difficult when she was
beautiful and his only intent was to flirt. Now? She was susceptible to the
least of his actions.
    Once