Caught in the Storm of a Duke's - Abby Ayles Page 0,52
did not wait for her to finish. He sprinted for the library.
He found Miss Mitchell there. She looked at him and shook her head.
“She’s not here.”
Stephen looked up at the second floor, “Perhaps she is up there?”
He wasted no time ascending the stairway. His heart was still thudding wildly in his chest when he found her asleep on one of the sofas.
Suddenly, everything in his world felt right. He could finally breathe again.
Slowly, he walked over to her. He simply stood there, watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful.
“Your Grace?”
He looked up as he heard Thomas call out to him. Miss Mitchell was standing beside him and Sarah behind them.
“She’s here. She’s safe,” he replied.
It was easy to see how relieved everyone was. It was clear that Lady Judith had come to mean a lot to his entire household, not merely himself alone.
Just then, Judith stirred and woke, brows furrowed in confusion as she came to.
“Your Grace? Mr. Beauregard, Amy? Sarah? Why are you all here?”
“You fell asleep and did not appear at dinner, my lady. We all got frightened when we could not find you. Thanks to Sarah, we learned she had brought you biscuits sometime in the day.”
She covered her face as it turned red. “Oh … goodness! I’m sorry I caused all of you to worry. I did not … forgive me.”
Stephen smiled at her. “There is nothing to be forgiven, my dear. We are simply happy to see you are well. Come now, we must not let dinner go to waste.”
He gave her his arm, and she took it. Together, they walked to the dining room, the company following behind.
As Stephen fully recovered from the fears that had possessed him, one thing was certain…
He had begun to fall in love with her.
For the life of him, he could not find one reason why he should try to break that fall.
Chapter 20
Dinner passed quietly.
As they ate, Judith tried not to be mortified by the fact that she had caused everyone to worry, only to be found asleep in the library.
She could not believe that she had slept for so long. The last thing she remembered was watching the duke move about. That must have been when the wiles of sleep overcame her.
Amy had a knowing smile on her face. The servants were unusually quiet, and the duke could not seem to take his eyes off her.
He kept watching her as a mother hen would watch her chicks. As though he were afraid she might disappear, or perhaps he simply wanted to reassure himself that she was right there, in front of him.
Judith could not deny that a part of her was thrilled by his obvious concern and care. The butterflies in her belly would not cease fluttering.
Her heart seemed to have forgotten how to beat properly, humming instead, a melodious tune that sounded too much like one of love.
However, while she experienced all these beautiful feelings, she could not help but feel overly self-conscious. She found herself taking great care to lift her spoon in the right manner, to hold the cup as it should be held, to sit with her spine straight.
These would come to her easily, but under his gaze they seemed suddenly very difficult.
As she swallowed her last mouthful of food and returned the spoon to her empty plate, she breathed in relief.
Amy had long finished her meal and so had the duke. Dinner was over and she would finally be able to return to her chambers, where she would spend the entire night pondering the events of that evening.
“Did you enjoy your meal?” the duke asked, breaking the spell of silence as she dabbed at the corners of her mouth.
She waited until she was done and had returned the napkin to the table before responding.
“Hm? Yes. Absolutely. Everything was delicious, as always. Are you certain we cannot come to an agreement concerning Sarah? I would love to take her back to London with me.”
His lips curved and her heart sighed.
Smiling came more easily to him as the days passed. Yet, it was a sight she knew she would never entirely grow accustomed to.
Even in a hundred years, it would still make her heart flutter.
“I would give you anything, my lady. However, I am afraid Sarah is too much of a prized member of this household. Ask me anything else and it shall be yours in a heartbeat,” he ended, his eyes twinkling.