“I have just arrived, Duchess,” he replied.
Hector eyed him warily then.
“No. You have done enough. When you offered marriage to my sister, I was skeptical. After all, what kind of rake would simply do that? You didn’t express any interest in her as a wife, but you said you’d protect her. It seemed perfect on the surface given what my sister was going through with Briarwood. But Briarwood is gone!”
Wilhelmina was panting after the rant, her eyes wide and blazing. Adrian had done this. If the Duchess of Talleystone was this affected and enraged, what did Daphne feel?
“Leave, Wolfcrest,” Gerard declared, suddenly materializing behind his wife. “Go back to your world or I’ll be forced to do something I will not speak of in front of my wife and child.”
The Duke of Talleystone had often been friendly enough, cautious but not judgmental. This time, his face was set in stone.He was unhappy to say the least and looked like he would do anything for Wilhelmina.
Adrian had never been a stranger to threats. He would have just laughed at them and retaliated with his own. However, he was in the wrong here. He knew it in his heart. He also didn’t want to lose Daphne forever. Seeing their stony faces, he sensed she was slipping away.
“I want to apologize. I won’t take long. Just give me a chance to see her,” he begged, like a man who had lost his home.
The Wolf felt more like a mangy pup, wet and battered and starving. He needed to see Daphne. Not wanted. Needed.
“Just a few moments,” he promised.
Gerard shook his head sadly. “The answer is no and will always be no. You have hurt her enough. She is my wife’s sister, and therefore, my sister, too. Leave this home. Leave us be.”
Adrian’s heart sank further, as the latch clicked. There was a finality to the door shutting down in front of him. Gerard was gentleman enough not to make it slam.
But that was something that he could not accept. The Wolf remained outside, ready to blow the house down. His chest heaved even as his bare hands were shoved in his trouser pockets. He became more fully aware of the frigid air, with a few flakes of snow drifting down to his hair and shoulders. Heshivered, but he did not want to leave the steps. It might just be his last chance to catch a glimpse of her, have a connection.
Adrian waited.
He had never been this patient before. He was fully aware of that. He stayed there on the steps even though the snowfall was becoming stronger.
The white specks were blanketing the steps and the street beyond. The weather seemed to feel the same as he did.
Dwindling hope flickered some fire in his chest, the only warmth left during that moment. His eyes soared up, and he seemed to have seen a shadow pass across the translucent pane. He swore it was her shape, but the glass prevented him from truly seeing. The fleeting shadow did remind him of that first night he met her, when he waited for her silhouette to drift away from the window of the vicar’s cottage.
“She’s haunting me,” he muttered, his tone bittersweet. “But I will wait for her. I will haunt her if need be.”
Hours passed. It was hard to truly know the time, but he guessed it had reached midnight by the sound of the grandfather clock announcing his doom.
The snow had somehow stopped, but it did not matter at that point. He was chilled to the bone, covered in little white flecks. He thought he was going to die there, and he was willing to wait for that to happen when the door finally opened.
Daphne stood there in the doorway, looking pale and wan. She hugged herself even as a thick shawl covered her shoulders. Her eyes were a mirror of his, dark circles dimming the light that was once there. Even through the limited light, he could see the red-rimmed eyes against the backdrop of dark eyelids.
Still, she was the most beautiful woman in the world. There was a fire in her that still blazed, often neglected by others who thought she was too meek. Too obedient. They thought she could be molded into something they wanted, when she had made her choices according to what she deemed right.
Choices.
She could choose to end all his hopes now.
“You will freeze to death, Your Grace, if you have not already lost the sensation in your toes and fingers. Hopefully, they have not fallen off yet.”
The words were in jest, but her voice was flat and emotionless. It all sounded so strange and heartbreaking, and he was the cause of it.
“Come inside,” she continued, gesturing with an arm as she walked back into the warmth of her sister’s house.
Adrian entered, his knees weak with relief and emotion. He nearly wished to return to the numbing snow, but inside, every feeling was amplified.
Daphne kept her distance, but she walked through the dark house toward the parlor. He knew without a word between them that he must follow.
It was his last chance.
