Chapter 4

CHAPTER4

Katherine felt her body jerk involuntarily. She was afloat. For a moment, she thought she had finally ascended to the heavens, but she didn’t think the angel carrying her there would resemble Gerald.

“You fainted,” Gerald said, still as calm as one could ever be. “I believe you had such a fright that your blood pressure dropped.”

“Goodness me, my head,” Katherine grumbled as she gently touched a palm to her forehead.

No blood, at least, but a dull pain. Had she fallen that hard?

“You bumped your head on the cobblestone, Duchess. I was but a second too late to catch you. I’ll carry you inside, however,” Gerald explained.

Still, he showed few emotions. Not even the slightest hint of distress after she was nearly ambushed by a strange man and fainted. It bothered her.

Katherine kicked her feet into the air a couple of times, a signal for Gerald to put her down, but he ignored her silent request. He just shook his head to indicate his disagreement.

“I can walk,” Katherine insisted. “You may put me down, Your Grace.”

“I believe dinner will be ready once we are back,” he said as he stared over the open flower fields on the estate.

Katherine looked at him sadly. Inside, however unfortunate the walk may have been, she had hoped it might bring them closer. She had hoped that he would’ve been a bit more caring toward her, even it was just a small, kind word.

“Thank you for saving me, Your Grace,” she murmured as she stared up into his face. He continued to survey the gardens about them.

“I can’t say I had saved you, Duchess. I doubt the man could’ve harmed you anyway, his figure appeared rather scrawny to me,” Gerald huffed.

Katherine averted her eyes and remained silent the rest of the way back home.

Though the act of being carried by one’s husband appeared romantic in some sense, this action was merely performed due to it being more practical. Yet, deep down, Katherine enjoyed pretending that he had actually intended for it to be slightly romantic, even if she knew well that it wasn’t true.

No words were exchanged as Gerald entered the entrance hall and gently laid Katherine down on a sofa. She caught a glimpse of herself in a nearby mirror, seeing a large red spot forming on her forehead. The injury would undoubtedly become a bump the following day. How suiting for a honeymoon.

“Dinner is to be served in five minutes,” Gerald curtly said.

This caused Katherine to force herself to sit up, but she quickly leaned back as she started to feel dizzy again.

“You must rise much slower,” Gerald advised before disappearing into the dining room.

Katherine continued to stare at her reflection in the mirror for a few seconds, seeing a different woman. She couldn’t help but feel so distant from not only Gerald but herself as well.

Steeling herself, she finally rose from the sofa and slowly proceeded to the dining table, where Gerald was already sitting, awaiting her.

After she took her seat, she saw that he had already dug into his meal. She, however, found herself looking at him for a brief moment. She awaited something, but what that something was, she didn’t know.

“Thank you for arranging the great dinner tonight, Your Grace,” Katherine murmured as she took the tiniest bite of meat.

Gerald’s eyes briefly flicked to her, before returning to his dish. “I didn’t cook it,” he said bluntly after swallowing his food.

“Still, Your Grace, it’s a kind gesture,” Katherine insisted in a desperate attempt to engage him in a conversation.

But her attempt was futile, again, for this time, the only response she got was a slightly confused look.

“Your Grace, forgive my frank question, but is this how our marriage is going to be like moving forward?” Katherine finally mustered the courage to ask, though her tone was still slightly quavered with nerves.

“What do you mean by that, Duchess?” Gerald asked, finally looking up at her, which made her squirm in her seat.

He had barely laid his eyes on her all day that now it felt so strange and unfamiliar.

“I’d equate it to the North Pole,” Katherine replied.

“White?” Gerald asked, and she thought he had to be jesting. He smiled at his own response.

“No, rather cold, I would say,” Katherine corrected him.

She felt slightly proud of the stern voice she had used.

“I’m guessing you find issue with the way we act toward one another,” Gerald said as he took another bite from his meal and raised an eyebrow at her.

Katherine scoffed loudly. “Not toward one another, Your Grace. I find trouble with how you act toward me. I find you to be largely distant and cold, but I am your wife now,” she responded with a look of disbelief, wringing her hands under the table.

“All right. I have one question for you, Duchess. Did you ever want to marry me?” Gerald asked, finally placing down his cutlery in order to give her his full attention.

Katherine couldn’t help to be angered by that. The fact that she had to engage in a fight so he would pay attention to her. But if that was the only way to catch his attention, then so be it.

“Well… I found it fitting. We were both unmarried, and the marriage would benefit us both,” Katherine replied hesitantly. “Yes, I did want to marry you.”

“No, you didn’t,” Gerald countered, shaking his head. “You admitted it to me yourself the night I found you in the garden.”

“How so?” Katherine asked as she tried to recall what she told him that night.

“You admitted to me that you wereavoiding ‘the horrible man’ that you were to marry,” he pointed out.

Katherine was unsure if she mistook his expression as one of sadness, but it made her heart lurch slightly.

“I didn’t know you then, Your Grace. I apologize for the awful statement I made that night.” She gave a sheepish smile.

But inwardly, she chastised herself. She had completely forgotten that she had said that in the first place.

“Well, one last question for you, Duchess. Do you know me now?” Gerald asked, leaning over the dining table.

Katherine feared that his shirt would touch the food on his plate. Yet, he managed to hover perfectly above it, not even his breaths moving his figure.

“No, Your Grace, I do not. Because you do not allow me to,” she spat, conviction in her eyes. “And you cannot deny the fact that you were much kinder to me that night. You had nearly kissed me, and I believe you to be well aware of that fact.”

“You don’t know me. And I don’t want you to. Also, the kiss was a foolish, flirtatious tactic. I had no serious intentions,” Gerald said.

His jaw ticked. His temper had flared, but Katherine could see that he was desperately trying to suppress it.

“So, this is how our marriage is going to be?” Katherine asked again.

“Yes, Duchess. What else do you expect from an arranged marriage?” Gerald replied, picking up his cutlery again and continuing his meal as if nothing had happened.

He shoved a couple of bites into his mouth, before standing up and walking out of the room.

Katherine didn’t move, she merely looked at his retreating back.

* * *

Gerald couldn’t help but swallow past the lump in his throat. He felt guilty, and he knew it, but he might never admit it in this lifetime.

A part of him even wanted to get close to Katherine, know more about her likes, her dislikes, and her past. But he simply cannot allow that. They cannot get close. This way, he could protect her, even if she wouldn’t understand.

He had cut their conversation at the table short so it wouldn’t turn nasty. But now, he was wandering around aimlessly and decided that it was his turn to go for a walk.

The sun was starting to set, and the weather outside was just perfect for a walk. A part of him wanted to invite Katherine along, but that opened the doors for conversations that he promised himself not to have with her—heartfelt conversations.

As Gerald wandered down the pathway, he saw the strange man who had cornered Katherine earlier. He knew exactly who it was. He felt rage bubble up his chest, but he made sure not to show it.

In the public eye, no emotion was felt if no emotion was shown.

“You there!” Gerald shouted as he stomped through the rows of flowers on his way to the man. He made sure not to trample the blooms, but some leaves were damaged during the process.

The man turned around in confusion, a shovel in his hand. Due to the sunlight, Gerald wasn’t as visible to the man as the man was visible to him, which allowed Gerald to catch up to him before he could run away.

By the time it was too late for the man to run away, he had finally recognized who the approaching figure was.

“I’m just the gardener! Just the gardener!” the man yelled as he tensed.

A lot of people tensed in Gerald’s presence, yet he couldn’t decide if it was due to his height or his grave demeanor. Either way, it played in his favor.

“I won’t hurt you,” Gerald said.

It was true, he wasn’t planning on hurting the man, but he still raised his voice to show his displeasure with him. They were just going to have… a talk.

The man huffed in anxiety, sweat steadily dripping down his forehead.

Gerald said as he folded his arms over his chest. “I am here to ask about your intentions this afternoon.”

The man looked up at him, wide-eyed. “None bad, Sir,” he muttered.

But they both knew that was a lie. Gerald cocked his head to the side with a blank expression.

“I just don’t think ladies should be stumblin’ out here by ‘emselves.”

“Is that so?” Gerald asked with a false shocked look. He could tell the man had no idea who he was, barely having worked on the estate for a month. “So, you took it upon yourself—a complete stranger—to accompany her?”

“A man’s duty!” the man replied, beating his chest once as if it were some chant Gerald was supposed to be aware of. “I just made sure she was safe till you came, Sir.”

“Then why had you continued to corner her near a hedge even after she had asked you to leave her alone?” Gerald pressed, taking a small step toward him.

The man stumbled backward in fear. He no longer had any excuses. They both knew well that he was intending to harm Katherine in some way or another, and Gerald simply wouldn’t allow that. If he weren’t a duke with a reputation to uphold, he would have already hit the man so hard that he wouldn’t know which way was up or down. But he was, so he was going to use a different tactic.

“If you will ever step foot on this property again, you will face much worse consequences than just a talk. You’re dismissed from your duties,” He spat, before swiftly turning on his heel and walking back toward the manor, calm as ever.

“Ye can’t fire me!” the man yelled as he started to run after Gerald.

Gerald spun around suddenly and grabbed the man by the collar. He nearly lifted him off the ground.

“I can, indeed. I am the Duke of Powell, and the woman you happened to bother is my wife,” he said in a low voice, yet it was more powerful than ever.

The man’s eyes widened, and his bottom lip started to quiver. Gerald released him before continuing down the path he had come from.

A smile spread across his face as the sound of the man’s footsteps faded into the fields.