Page 35 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

“Here…” She waved for him to follow her. “Follow me.”

“Where are we going?”

She rolled her eyes. “Just trust me.” She laughed to see how nervous he was, and she smiled to herself when she turned to walk across the garden, seeing him follow her out of the corner of her eye.

As they started across the garden together, Rose and Lucy made their way towards the pond. There, Lucy crouched down so that she could splash her hands in the water, while Rose saw them coming and waved before hurrying over.

“It is nice to see the two of you getting along,” Rose said with a smirk as she reached them.

Violet scoffed. “We get along very well, thank you.”

“How is she?” Rhys asked of Lucy. He watched her closely by the edge of the pond, not looking away for even a second.

“Oh, she is slowly starting to find confidence,” Rose said as she turned to watch Lucy also. “I thought she was shy, but that is not it at all. It is more that she does not trust easily… or she does not know who to trust.”

“You are doing well with her,” Violet agreed.

“It is not so hard,” Rose said. “At least not for me,” she added as she raised an eyebrow at Rhys.

Rhys either did not hear her or did not bother with a response. His stare stayed trained on Lucy, a look in his eyes as if she was the center of the world. He did not smile. He did not look upset or nervous. It was more that she was the only thing that mattered to him.

Violet watched him closely, unable to help but smile. Again, it was a reminder of how wrong she was about him. What was more, it made her want to help so that she might see their relationship grow.

“What shall we do after this?” Rose asked. “Something that involves sitting, I think. Lucy has so much energy, and I am thoroughly worn⁠—”

“Lucy!” Rhys cried suddenly.

It happened quickly. Violet started at his sudden exclamation. She turned, thinking to find Rhys beside her. But he was gone from that spot, sprinting across the garden and straight for the pond.

She was barely able to keep up with him, and she certainly did not realize what he was doing until he did it. But it was as he reached the edge of the pond, skirting around it to where Lucy knelt, that she saw what was happening.

Lucy had her eyes on a lily pad that floated across the water. On her knees, she reached out in an effort to snatch it. But it moved away from her, forcing her to reach further… further… just enough that she soon lost her balance and tumbled right into the pond.

At least she would have done, if Rhys had not been there to catch her.

He swept in behind the little girl, scooping her up under the arm pits just as she tumbled forward. He saved her, is what he did, lifting her into the air and then placing her squarely and safely on her feet.

Violet gasped in fright. She thought to rush across and check on Lucy. Guilt swarmed her, because she could not believe that she had been so careless.

“Wait a moment…” Rose touched her on the shoulder to stop her from rushing to Lucy. “Let us see what happens.”

It was good advice, and although Violet wanted nothing more than to check on Lucy, she stayed put and watched an interaction that just one day ago would have been impossible to imagine. It was Rhys, down on one knee, saying something to Lucy. Not in anger, but with concern and worry. Lucy looked more embarrassed than upset, but she did not shy away, and she did not run. In fact, after a few seconds of speaking, she hugged Rhys around the neck.

“Look at that,” Rose said. “I would have never…”

Violet watched the moment with a look of disbelief. And then a smile. And then she felt something in her chest that was not painful but was not exactly comfortable. It was a tightness, as if her heart had literally doubled in size, just as her throat swelled too, forcing her to choke back tears that nearly fell.

When Lucy pulled away, Rhys looked at Violet with a huge smile, unabashedly proud of himself. Violet returned the smile, still fighting back tears.

I really was wrong about him…

Pride was what Violet felt. Some of that was for Lucy, so happy that the young girl was growing in confidence. But much of it was for Rhys, because she knew how much it meant to him. And in her mind, nobody deserved it more.

“Did you see that?” he asked her a few minutes later when he walked back to her. Lucy was with Rose again, walking ahead, pointing out the various flowers that she found pretty.

“I saw it,” Violet said with laughter. They fell in just behind Lucy and Rose, following the garden path which wound back towards the house. “A good thing that I did, or I might not have believed it.”

Rhys chuckled along. “I still do not believe it.”