The smell was intoxicating. It made him want to bury his face in her neck and breathe in, to let her scent wash over him and consume him. But of course, he couldn’t. Nor did it help that she was always humming everywhere she went, her voice soft and low, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard in his life.
But he couldn’t let it get to him. He couldn’t give in. Soon, she would lose interest, she would accept the reality of their new life together, and then she would be safe from him forever.
Sighing, Dorian glanced up at the portrait above his desk. His father’s face glared back down at him. Except… was he glaring today? The portrait always filled Dorian with a deep feeling of hate, and today was no exception, but for the first time in a long time, he also sensed a smugness to his father’s expression, as if the man were gloating about something.
Turning away, Dorian reached for the whiskey on his desk and poured himself a glass.
He’s not gloating. He’s just an evil bastard,he told himself.
But for the first time, Dorian wondered if, by ensuring Dorian could not enjoy a happy marriage, his father had, in fact, won. Maybe that was what was making him look so smug.
Dorian glanced out the window again, and his heart seemed to stop. In the distance, he could see Leah standing on the edge of the river. She was leaning over it, and although he couldn’t make out the look on her face, he had a very bad feeling that he knew the despair that would be on it.
No! Not her!
But as he watched, Leah fell forward, into the depths of the river.
Dorian was on his feet in a second. His heart was in his throat.I have driven her to end her life with my coldness!Guilt flooded him, but he didn’t have time to linger too long in that feeling. He had to save his wife.
Dorian hurtled across his study, wrenched open the door, and sprang out into the hall. He ran as fast as he possibly could across to the door, flung it open, and then sprinted out into the cool autumn day. His legs were carrying him as fast as they possibly could. They were beginning to burn, but he didn’t care. He was not capable of rational thought. All he could think were the same words, repeated over and over again in his head:Not her! Please! Not her!
And then a few more:please let me arrive in time to save her.
It felt like ages until he reached the river, but in reality, it couldn’t have been more than a minute or two. Still enough time for a person to drown, though.
He skidded to a stop at the riverbank, right where he had seen Leah fall in. Turning wildly, he stared down into the murky depths. She wasn’t there. He scanned further down, and his heart leapt.There she is!She had gone several feet, and she was underwater, her head completely submerged. She seemed to be struggling, and this gave him hope at least: even if she had wanted to end her life, there was still some fight in her; perhaps the closeness to death had brought back her will to live.
“Leah!” He shouted. “Leah, I’m coming!”
He jumped into the water, the cold immediately hitting him with the force of a speeding carriage. His breath caught in his throat, but he ignored this--all that mattered was getting to Leah. Dorian was a strong swimmer; in his travels he had spent months by the sea and been able to practice in the strong ocean currents. His strength surged, and he was able to reach Leah in a matter of moments. Grabbing her around the waste, he seized her and pulled her up out of the water.
“What are you doing?” she shouted, gasping as he forced her head above water. She struggled in his arms, and it took him several confused seconds to realize that she was trying to fight him off. “Let me go!” She shouted. “Have you completely lost your mind?”
“Leah, I saved you!” He shouted, dumbly, as he stood in the shallow river, his arms around his wife’s waste as she kicked at him to let her go.
“Saved me? What are you talking about? Let go of me!”
He released her, but only once he was sure she would be able to stand up on her feet, then turned her by the shoulders to face him.
Leah was soaked all the way through. She was in her undergarments, and as his eyes swept over her, he felt himself starting to redden. The wet clothes had become almost see-through, and he could see far too much of her.
He quickly averted his gaze, looking instead at her face, which was furious.
“What are you doing?” she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
“I--I was saving you,” Dorian stammered. To his surprise, she didn’t look as if she had almost just drowned. Her face wasn’t bloated with water and she wasn’t coughing up river water. She looked… fine. Perhaps a bit cold, but otherwise unharmed.
“Why would I need saving?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “I was just going for a swim.”
“A swim?” he repeated, incredulous. “In this weather?”
“It’s warm today!” She gestured around her, and he glanced around as well. He didn’t agree it waswarm, but it wasn’t raining, at the very least. Still…
“It’s autumn,” he said, frowning. “And anyway, duchesses don’t go swimming in rivers, even when it’s blazing hot out!”
“Oh really?” Leah’s expression was becoming more annoyed by the second. “I didn’t take you for the kind of duke who was a stickler for rules of propriety. I’d think you’d be encouraging me to go against the rules of Society. Oh wait… you don’t want anything to do with me at all. You want us to live our separate lives. Well, if that’s true, then it is none of your business if I decide to go swimming in rivers on my own estate.”
Dorian stared at her dumbly. Far from actually caring about whether or not she went against the rules of propriety, he still couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact she hadn’t been trying to end her own life. That she had purposefully gone swimming in the chilly autumn weather…
