Page 69 of The Duke’s Wager

“Something is wrong, Edward. I can see it.”

Alfred seemed sincere enough, and Edward sighed deeply, the crease between his brows deepening further.

“You are right… and I need to speak to someone, or else I will go absolutely mad.”

Edward waited anxiously, whilst Alfred merely looked at him. He spoke, after a long silence, in which Alfred did not say a single word to encourage him to do so.

“I am in love,” Edward declared. “With Lady Lucy Beaumont.”

Alfred’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “You are in love… with the Ice Queen?”

“Do not call her that!”

He snapped without even thinking about it, and Alfred sighed deeply.

“I feared that this would happen.”

“You feared that I would fall in love with her?”

Alfred nodded, his face contorted in a concerned mask. “Indeed. I had hoped I was wrong, that you would not…”

Edward closed his eyes, unable to listen to Alfred for a second longer. He had to speak – he had to admit all that weighed so heavily on his heart.

“She consumes me, Alfred. She consumes my very being, my every thought. In my waking hours, she is all I think of, and when I sleep she haunts my dreams. I see her in everything I do. I am unable to stop thinking about her. She is all I want.”

“You, my friend…” Alfred spoke slowly, his eyes filled with concern, “are in big trouble.”

Edward sighed deeply and rubbed at his forehead with his thumbs – desperate to ease the growing headache that had started to build.

“You are right. I am. And to make matters worse, I have absolutely no idea how I am going to get out of it. What do I do, Alfred?”

“Oh, Edward…” Alfred shook his head with a curious expression. Though he carried a smile, it almost looked forlorn. “I cannot tell you what to do. You need to decide what you want to do with these feelings.”

“I want to be with her.”

The answer came quickly – without Edward truly thinking about it – and Alfred smiled.

“Then the decision has been made. But I do have to ask… What do you intend to do about the wager?”

The wager. This unbearable burden. He knew now that agreeing to that wager with Julian had been a grave mistake. He ought to have realized it earlier, but then, he knew, he never would have gotten to know Lucy as well as he had; he might not have discovered his love for her.

As it was, however, he knew he had to fix it – soon. Lucy would be crushed if she found out by any other means.

“I have to tell Lucy everything. I have no other choice.”

“She will not be amused.”

“I know.” This was what he feared above all. Not only would Lucy certainly not be amused, but he feared that she would be livid. She would not forgive him, and he craved – no, he needed – her forgiveness if they had any chance of making their courtship real.

“I do fear her reaction, but I know that I do not have a choice. I simply must tell her.”

“Perhaps you are right, but this is something you ought to think about, Edward. What if she refuses to forgive you?”

Edward closed his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. He had thought about it. He feared all that Alfred had said, yet he knew that he did not have a choice.

“You are right… And this is not something I am doing on a whim. I have no choice, Alfred. I must tell her the truth, I must tell her everything. Even if she chooses not to forgive me, even if I lose her, I need to be honest with her, or I will never be able to forgive myself.”

“What if you do lose her?”