Page 63 of The Duke Who Claimed Her

“I am not late, am I?” he asked as he strode into the room.

“Just on time,” she assured him.

He beamed as he walked down the table. As he passed Timothy’s chair, he stroked the boy on the head lovingly. Timothy accepted it, seeming to sit a little bit taller even.

How has he changed so much? Perhaps this is who he always has been, and he just needed to prove it to himself?

“So, what are your plans today?” Caspian asked as he sat down. “Or do you need me to make them for us?”

Indeed, he had changed so much. He no longer seemed unsure of himself, awkward at the idea of being open and emotionally available. He did not glower. He did not sneer or snarl. He was happy, Arabella realized, and truly proud of what he was becoming.

Arabella was much the same.

She had spent much of last evening thinking about what she had done with her father’s letter. There was still a small part of her that worried about it, knowing too well how furious her father would be. But whenever the fear threatened to take her, she thought of her husband, and that pushed the fear away.

It was late last evening when Arabella came to a realization that changed everything, or perhaps just confirmed what she had already known.

Yes, she wanted to be independent and free, and yes, she hated the idea of being controlled. For a time, she had assumed that marriage itself was the antithesis of this, and that she could not have both: freedom and marriage. She knew now how wrong she had been.

A marriage was a partnership. She was free, and she knew that Caspian would never try to control her or tell her what to do. But he was also there to help and protect her when she needed it. This did not mean that she was under his control, more that she had him by her side; an equal, not a master.

It was what her father never had; he viewed his wife and daughter as possessions to be owned. The same was true for Caspian’s father, who did not see marriage as a union of equals. Recognizing this difference was what would set her marriage apart from those they both grew up with, and that was why it would succeed.

So, she looked at him as he sat down. She studied her husband, reveling in their newfound companionship. And as she smiled at his son down the table, laughing at the faces that Timothy pulled, she began to realize that companionship and compatibility were not enough. There was a fluttering in her heart, a swelling in her chest, and she knew then what it meant.

Am I… is it possible that I am falling for my husband?

Stranger still, such a realization did not strike fear or reservation into her. Rather, she was excited about it and excited to see where it might lead.

What was more, she was excited to find out if Caspian might one day feel the same way about her.

“No plans today,” she told him once he turned back from Timothy. “Which means…” She grinned. “That you get to spend the day with us.”

He frowned as if confused. “That is assuming I want such a thing.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, I am sure that you are so busy.”

“No!” Timothy exclaimed. “You are not busy.” He glowered at Caspian as if daring him to say differently.

Caspian just laughed. “Well, perhaps I can move a few things around. In fact, I plan on it.”

It was at that moment that a footman hurried into the room.

“Your Grace,” he announced as he came to a stop by the end of the table. “Your carriage has just arrived.” He looked right at Arabella, so there could be no doubt who he spoke to.

She blinked. “My carriage?”

“Yes, Your Grace,” he said. “Send by the Dowager Duchess. Its driver claims that the two of you had plans today.”

Caspian scoffed. “And she accuses me of being busy.”

“Plans…” Arabella’s frown deepened. “I… I do not remember having plans.”

Did she? She tried her best to recall if the Dowager had asked her to spend the day, but she could not remember such an invitation. And it was so unlike Arabella to be forgetful like that.

Caspian laughed, and when she looked at him, he raised a knowing eyebrow. “Perhaps she wrote to you, and such a letter became lost…”

“Lost? How would that happen?”