The Duke's Wife (The Three Mrs #3) - Jess Michaels Page 0,50

every beat of her heart. She didn’t want to be unhappy, and she certainly didn’t want to cause unhappiness in another person. So she would have to do her best, try her best and hope that Nathan would do the same over the years to come.

She realized that Ophelia was now staring between her and Nathan, a contemplative expression on her face. She smoothed her hands against her skirt before she stood up. “You have been very honest, Abigail, and I deeply appreciate it. But I find myself a little tired after travel. I think I shall excuse myself if you don’t mind.”

Abigail followed her to her feet. “Of course not. There will be plenty of time for us to get to know each other better over the next few weeks. I very much look forward to it.”

Ophelia nodded, then squeezed her brother’s hand and slipped from the room. Nathan stared after her for a moment and then let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry she turned the conversation to such delicate topics.”

Abigail shrugged. “I’m not. I’d rather have her be direct like that than to have her secretly hate me and never say a word so I might correct any misconceptions she might have.”

“Well, that’s very kind of you, but that isn’t what I meant.”

She swallowed because his gaze had suddenly become very focused. “What did you mean then?”

He moved to the door and slowly closed it. Her heart began to throb, because a closed door had come to mean a great deal for them. But he stayed there, as if he were trying to respect the distance between them.

“I meant she mentioned your sister. She mentioned Ella.”

She recoiled at the mention of Ella’s name. She knew she’d never given it to him. She rarely spoke of her at all. But he was looking at her like he knew, like he understood. Her hands shook as she clutched them together before her.

“How do you know her name?”

Chapter 14

Nathan could feel the waves of pain coming off of Abigail, and he wanted to rush to her side. To hold her close. To comfort her. But he also felt something else coming from her, something angry and accusatory, something defensive. So he honored that and stayed at the door so as not to crowd her.

“Don’t just stare at me,” she hissed. “Answer me. How do you know about Ella?”

He cleared his throat. Honesty was best here, no matter what it would cause. “I…looked into your past.”

Her nostrils flared, and for a moment he was torn back in time to the first time they’d met. To how she had looked at him with disdain and dislike and it had been genuine. Seeing it again made him realize how far they’d come…and how far they could fall if they weren’t careful with the delicate relationship they were developing.

“Of course you did,” she said, turning away and going to the window. “I’m sure you were trying to find some information you could use to prove I was the villain you wanted me to be.”

He drew in a shaky breath and took a step toward her. “You don’t know how much I want to give you some flippant answer instead of the truth.”

She caught her breath as she faced him again. “I think I understand that, actually. We have never been open with each other, never trusted each other enough to be. But…as uncomfortable as it is, we must now, or we shall both be miserable. I wasn’t lying to your sister when I said I didn’t want that. So please, just tell me everything.”

She was so earnest in those words. He didn’t think he’d ever seen her so open when she looked at him and it was intoxicating. He never wanted it to go away. He wanted to earn that look for the rest of their lives.

He cleared his throat. “I was so angry with Montgomery,” he said. “And I…I couldn’t believe you didn’t know his true nature.”

He watched how those words hit her. Felt the pain of them, felt the wrongness now that he knew her better.

“Just like everyone else,” she said at last, so softly she almost couldn’t be heard.

“Yes,” he admitted. “I was as wrong and foolish as everyone else back then. But I want you to know that the more I grew acquainted with you, both through my intrusive and wrongheaded actions and from the time I spent from you, the more I understood you were not the kind of