Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

T he following morning, Phillip was observing Marina in the garden from his study. She had complained of a headache and had not come to breakfast, and the Duke found that he had become accustomed to her presence. He missed her when she was not around, something he knew that he would need to quell if he wished to continue to keep his distance. At least romantically. He had decided that there was nothing wrong with their friendship blooming. It was, after all, friendship on which partnerships could be built.

He watched her as she took a quick walk around the grounds, stopping now and again to look more closely at something. Phillip admired the way the sun made her hair look like gold and the graceful way she moved. Every so often she would turn in his direction, and he would shift to the side, behind the curtain, to keep from being spotted. It was after one of these scares, Phillip peaked back out at her and noticed her looking around frantically for something. She seemed to spot it, walk toward it, and then at once turned and ran, frightened, back toward the house.

Phillip did not take even a moment to determine what had happened before he ran haphazardly downstairs to look for her. He was seized by panic when, at first, he could not find her until at last he saw the corner of her skirt swish past the doorway into the drawing-room. He followed suit and found her gripping the back of a chair and hyperventilating. Phillip went to her at once, placing both of his hands on her shoulders from behind.

"Marina? What is it?"

She only shook her head, shutting her eyes tight, and tried to gain control over her breathing. Phillip remained patient, helping to coach her through her panic. When, at last, she recovered, he helped her to sit down and sat across from her, waiting for her to explain. Instead, her eyes narrowed into accusatory slits in his direction.

"How did you come upon me?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Were you not in your study just now?"

The corner of Phillip's mouth twitched upward, and Marina knew that she had caught him at something, even if she did not know what.

"What makes you think that I was in my study? How could I have heard you run inside from there?"

"Then where were you?"

"I was in the dining room."

"What were you doing in there? It is time for neither breakfast nor lunch."

"When you did not come down to breakfast this morning, I had some of my things brought down there from my study."

Marina only barely stifled a giggle. "Whatever for?"

"Well, at first, my breakfast seemed lonely. I have grown accustomed to your chattering. But then, when I was able to dine alone, I remembered just how much I like the dining room."

"You jest!" Marina insisted, her laugh bouncing off the edge of her words as she continued to try and contain it. "The dining room is quite far from the entrance to the gardens, is it not? How could you have heard me from there? It is not as if I screamed."

"Didn't you? I quite distinctly remember what sounded like a dying cat just before I found you here."

Marina's jaw dropped, but she quickly recovered from her shock at his bold insult. "Very well. You do not have to tell me the truth if you do not wish to, but I will know that you have been watching me somehow. And I will determine how."

Phillip chuckled lightheartedly. "I'm sure that you would, Marina, were there anything to discover. I have a remarkably light workload today. Perhaps I shall follow you around—watch you as you said—and see precisely what it is that you get up to. Maybe then I will understand what led you here."

Marina sighed, rising from her seat and moving to stand behind his. He followed her gaze to the window across from him where they could see the manicured grounds to the left of their home.

"A bee."

"You were scared by a bee?"

"I was."

"Are you positive? Did you see a bee, or did you see a grasshopper and later decide that a bee sounds more threatening?"

Marina hung her head, and Phillip turned to look when he felt her movements from behind him. "I first thought it was a bee and wanted to take a closer look, but I ran away when I discovered that it was a grasshopper. I thought they only flew at night."

Phillip chuckled, stood, and took her hand. "And has my duchess recovered from this dreadful scare?"

"I have," Marina said quietly. They gazed into one another's eyes, each losing themselves in the other. Phillip stepped closer, forcing Marina to tilt her chin up in order to maintain her gaze.

"Then allow me to make you this promise." Phillip bent his head down, his lips hovering just a few inches away from her ear. "The very next time you see a grasshopper, you need not panic. Know that I am around, somewhere nearby, likely watching—or within earshot of your call—and I will come to your rescue once more."

"Will you?"

"I will."

Phillip moved his head up slightly, so he could gaze into Marina's jewel-toned eyes, but he found himself stuck there, so close that if he just moved a bit, their lips would be touching. Something about the way she looked at him made him want to abandon all principles, and he was just about to do so when someone cleared their throat in the doorway. The couple all but jumped away from each other and turned to face Mathilde.

"I do not mean to interrupt, Your Graces," she said wryly, staring straight ahead and not looking at either of them, "but the Duchess has an early caller. Her sister is here."