Page 39 of The Duke Who Claimed Her

Caspian looked at his wife, really looked at her. She did not glare. She did not scowl. She pleaded silently, hopefully, willing to do what he said, while praying that he might change his mind.

He was not his father… He had to be better.

“I have changed my mind,” Caspian found himself saying as he turned away.

“You have?” Arabella perked up.

“You are correct,” he continued, unable to look at his wife. “To come between you and Timothy would be reductive and… and the opposite of why we married. I will leave you to find him, and to instruct him to come and see me at once.”

“Thank you,” she said with a sigh of relief. “I will. As I will tell him that he cannot hide when you ask for him. I will make sure he knows it.” She smiled, a subtle one, but bright enough that it lit up the room.

“Good,” he said, firming himself, trying his best not to smile with relief and pride. “I will be in my study. Good night.” With that, he stormed away.

Caspian had undoubtedly lost whatever point he was trying to make, and once that might have upset him. But as he walked away, he could still feel Arabella’s smile, the radiance of it, and how grateful she was for the small thing he had done.

She had changed so much in such a short time, proving that such changes were possible. And while Caspian told himself that he desired no such changes for himself, while he claimed to like things the way they were, he knew it was nowhere near that simple.

He was married now. He had come dangerously close to being just like his father. To disprove that, he knew he would need to change. He would have to become a better man, someone that even people like Arabella could come to respect.

I need to do better…

Chapter Fourteen

“Inever had a chance to thank you.” Arabella broke the silence that had sat with her and Caspian since they climbed into the carriage twenty minutes earlier. Her desire to do so had built steadily across that time, and more than once she considered saying nothing.

But as she tried to decide what to do, what to say, she knew too that things could not go on as they were.

It was two days ago that Caspian returned from his trip to London, during which they had spoken only once. That was when he had demanded that she tell him where Timothy was hiding, a petty request, as she had known exactly what he was doing and why. Oh, how angry she had been, as well as devastated, because she knew that there was nothing she could do.

Once again, she was back where she had started, a life that was not her own, told what to do and how to do it, by men who only wanted to control her. For a moment there, she had broken completely, cursing herself for daring to dream that things might be different.

But then Caspian surprised her. He changed his mind, proving something that she had not thought possible: that he was capable of change.

Now, two days later and without having said a word to one another, she realized that she needed to change, too. Their marriage might never be truly happy, but that did not mean it had to be miserable. If Caspian was willing to give her the freedom that she desired, then why could they not find a way to be companionable?

Surely, that is preferable to the loneliness that I know he feels? I certainly feel it.

And if that kiss they had shared was any indication, there was a good chance that he wanted more from this marriage, even if he refused to admit it.

“Thank me?” Caspian sat across from her in the carriage, throughout which he had stared out the window as if determined not to look at her. “For what?”

“For what you did the other night,” she said gently. “With Timothy. I know you wanted to reprimand him for hiding, but I think you made the right decision.”

“Oh.” His expression hardened in the darkness of the carriage. “I… I know he is not a bad child, so I saw no need to punish him.”

“It helped me quite a bit, too,” she continued, sure to smile just a little. “We have grown close these past few days, and if he knew that I had betrayed him…” She shook her head. “I am glad it did not come to that.”

“Good,” he said awkwardly, as if he did not know how to respond. “I wish for you to become close, and that you have managed such a thing…” He bit into his lip. “Hopefully, it continues.”

“What of you and him?” she asked.

“Excuse me?”

“It is one thing for Timothy and me to grow close, but a boy needs a father, just as he needs a mother. If you like, I can help…” She held her smile. “It might be nice if the three of us spend time together, yes? So that Timothy can see us as a family. Is that not what you want?”

His frown deepened. He looked confused. And while Arabella was certain that she was on the right path, she was just as certain that Caspian was not ready to walk it.

What happened to him that he is so resistant to being a good father? Why does he fight it so?