Page 66 of The Duchess’ Little Miracle

William’s expression softened. “No. I did not know that. The authorities merely reported that the child was found wandering in the village.”

“She was with her for days,” Seraphina said quietly, her eyes dropping to the pattern of the rug beneath her feet. “Trapped in a... cold room before anyone realized what had happened. She suffered horrors we cannot even begin to comprehend.”

She glanced back up at him, caught off guard by the sorrow that washed over William’s features. His eyes held an empathy that made her heart ache in an entirely new, but still dangerous, way. She looked away quickly, terrified that if she looked at his sorrow for a moment longer, her carefully constructed emotional walls would crumble entirely.

“But... but she is healing,” Seraphina added quickly. “We are reading together. We are doing activities in the garden. She is getting happier by the day, William. She is reclaiming her life.”

She took a breath, driving the point home. “Which means... which means our agreement is working. She will be well soon. We can seek the annulment on schedule, just as we planned. Everything is moving forward precisely as it ought to.”

She stared at him, desperately searching his face for agreement, for validation, for anything that would restore the comfortable, orderly reality they had established before he had pulled her against his chest.

William said nothing. He simply stared at her.

It was too much. The heat of the room, the lingering taste of him on her lips, the weight of his gaze. It was suffocating her.

“I must go,” she whispered abruptly.

She turned on her heel and practically fled toward the entrance. She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, desperate to plunge back into the hallway.

Then, she stopped again.

She needed what just happened between them categorized. She needed to put a label on it so she could file it away and regain her composure.

Seraphina turned back slowly, keeping one hand firm against the doorframe as if it were the only thing holding her upright. She looked across the room at him, her chest still heaving, her chin tucked slightly low.

“That...” Her voice cracked, and she cleared her throat. “What just happened... That... does not count as consummating the marriage, does it? It does not legally or... biologically alter the parameters of our arrangement, right? We can still proceed with the annulment?”

William went entirely still. Then slowly, his features softened. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, a warmth coming into his eyes as he looked across the room at her.

“Is that what it felt like?” He tilted his head, his gaze trailing down to her flushed cheeks before resting back on her eyes. “Did it feel as though we just consummated our marriage?”

Yes. It felt entirely like that. Yes, absolutely, terrifyingly yes.

“No,” she blurted out aloud, the word rushing out of her mouth far too fast, far too shrill. “No, of course not. That would be... absurd. I was just... I don’t know why I asked.”

She couldn’t stay a second longer. If she stayed, her mouth would continue to betray her shattered logical defenses.

“Good night,” she stammered, backing up hastily into the corridor. “Good night, Your Grace.”

Before he could offer another word, or another look, Seraphina pulled the door shut and ran all the way back to her wing, ready to bury her face in a pillow and never lift it again.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

“We leave within the hour,” William said.

Seraphina held her breath as she nodded. William was already dressed for the road in a black traveling cloak, his boots polished, his hair damp from the morning wash.

“You really think this is it?” she repeated. “You have found the blackmailer?”

“The address Anthony located is on the outskirts, past the marshes,” William said, stepping just inside the threshold, his posture rigid, his hands resting on his riding gloves. “It is a full day’s ride if we push the horses, longer if the weather turns. If we leave now, we can reach the village before nightfall, secure quarters at the inn, and confront the woman at first light tomorrow.”

“The woman...” Seraphina murmured. “You are certain it is a woman?”

“As certain as we can be without putting the signet ring in her hand ourselves,” he replied. “As I suspected, she was one of my father’s later... acquaintances. Does the name Amada Higgins ring any bells?”

Seraphina thought for a moment. “None at all.”

William nodded. “That is her name. She has the background, and she had access to my father’s estate. We have ruled out everyone else. It is her. I have also confirmed that she still possesses one of my father’s rings.”