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Twigs snapped under Theo’s boots as she ambled through the woods bordering the Ironcrest estate. She was…agitated and needed to stretch her legs. Go to a place that never failed to bring her calm and clarity.

Things were moving forward well. Limestone rights and felled timber had been sold. Their farming diversification was well underway. Slowly but surely, they were recovering and setting themselves up for a more secure future, one with far more contingencies if catastrophe were to ever strike again.

Everything was falling into place.

So she should be anything but unsettled.

But there were things happening in her chest. And she knew exactly what they were. Things she didn’t like.

The thrum of rushing water grew louder, swallowing her resigned sigh. She hadn’t exactly been careful; she hadn’t held back with him at all. But she hadn’t thought she needed to. Theodora Dawson didn’t catch feelings. She’d been sleeping with Mr. Turner on and off for years and never developed any sort of tendre for him. A fortnight with His Grace—with Rafe—and there was no denying the tight pressure in her chest.

Feelings.

For a bloody duke.

She stepped into the clearing, a waft of mist hitting her. She paused by the pond’s edge and let her eyes fall shut. Breathed in the calming woodsy scent. Foliage. Earth. Water.

She approached the stone cliff the waterfall streamed over. A small cave hid behind the falls. It was where she’d hidden when she’d run from the late duke all those years ago. It’s where she’d met him. Theo rubbed her chest, a delirious laugh falling from her. The feeling behind her breastbone was exactly like it’d been with that boy. Heavens, she was foolish. She’d reverted back to that silly young girl, once again developing a fancy for a boy with a haunted expression and lonely eyes.

Theo rested her coat on a nearby rock, then scaled the wall, shifting from rock to rock toward the entrance of the cave. It was curious how some people left such lasting impressions on a person. She’d only known the boy for a few years before she’d had to stop coming here. But from the moment she’d met him, it was like those lonely grey eyes had latched onto her, sank right inside with the intention of taking up permanent residence.

She stepped into the cave. He’d been so thin, so frail. So scared. She’d often found herself wondering whatever became of him. She hoped he was faring better now. Sometimes…sometimes she worried he may not have survived whatever adversities he’d faced.

Her attention fell to the floor, and she abruptly stopped. She blinked. There was a makeshift bed. In her cave. Just a few saddle pads, but clearly someone had been sleeping here.

She glanced around as though she’d find the culprit. And then immediately laughed at herself. The cave was small. She’d have come face-to-face with the individual as soon as she’d slipped inside.

She approached the blankets and knelt by them. Her fingers drifted over the rough fabric, a strange thought tugging at her mind. It couldn’t possibly be…

She lifted the blanket to her face and inhaled. A faint scent of horse, but also the unmistakable scent of man. Of a very specific man. One whose scent she’d become well acquainted with over the last fortnight.

This is where he’d been sleeping before he’d begun spending his nights with her.

She sat back on her heels.

He knew about her cave.

She shuffled over until she leaned against the cave’s back wall. Cold seeped through her lawn shirt. She pulled the blanket into her lap, picking absently at it. Another broken soul hiding out in her cave.

All those thoughts and feelings she was hoping to make sense of, to gain clarity on, only grew.

Louder.

Messier.

More erratic.

And she didn’t understand why.

What she did know was her time with His Grace was almost up. There were fewer and fewer reasons for him to remain here and not return to London.

Perry’s ominous warning whispered through her mind.

Be careful.

As much as she wished they could hide away in this bubble they’d somehow formed, she would be better off once things returned to normal.