Chapter 6

CHAPTER6

“Morning, Anne,” Gerald grumbled as he walked past the maid, who had been dusting all the vases in the hallway. Empty vases.

Nobody in the household ever brought or even bothered to pick flowers. Or so Gerald had thought.

As he walked into his study, he was met with a large bunch of dahlias in the vase near the entrance. He stared at them in silence.

“Good morning, Your Grace,” Anne returned, but quickly noticed his gaze fixed on the flowers. “The Duchess had picked them early this morning, and together we had decided they might add some vibrancy to your study.”

“Is that so,” Gerald huffed.

He couldn’t deny that the flowers did add a sprig of lightness to his rather gloomy study, but that wasn’t what bothered him. The gesture from Katherine was kind, and he couldn’t help but feel more guilty about his behavior. He hadn’t even thought of giving her flowers, nor would he. She was making his endeavor to keep some distance between them increasingly difficult.

Anne had returned to dusting the vases in the hallway, a small hum escaping her lips. It annoyed him, but he refused to chide her for it. After all, besides Katherine, Anne was the only light soul Powell Manor ever got to see.

Thus, he felt protective of Anne. An attempt to preserve her happiness before his family squashes it.

“Anne,” he eventually called from behind his desk.

Anne spun around nervously, cupping her hand over her mouth as she became aware of her humming. She smiled at him as if nothing had happened.

“Yes, Your Grace?” she asked, placing down a rose-embellished vase before focusing her full attention on him. “Might I be of any service to you?”

“Uhm, yes. Would you be so kind as to thank the Duchess for the flowers?” Gerald requested, thinking that might slightly alleviate the lingering guilt.

“Might I call her to your study, Your Grace?” Anne said as she looked away for a brief second, before turning back to him.

Why couldn’t she simply do as she was asked?

“No, thank you. Just be so kind as to give her my thanks,” Gerald replied, before returning to the paperwork on his desk and dipping his quill into the inkpot.

“His Grace thanks you for the flowers you had placed in his study, Your Grace,” he heard her say.

He looked up to find her standing at the exact same spot and frowned at her. Had Anne started to go mad? Was she seeing things no one else could? Why would she be thanking an invisible duchess?

“Thank you for the kind message, Anne,” Katherine’s voice echoed from nearby, causing him to start in his seat.

Wait, had he been the one going mad?

Katherine emerged from around the corner. Gerald spotted Anne bobbing a slight curtsy before picking up her cleaning supplies and moving away. He inwardly sighed.

“Thank you for the compliment, Your Grace. Anne had carried it over quite nicely,” Katherine said quite sarcastically as she entered his study.

He didn’t like that. No one ever entered his study except him. But he didn’t chase her away.

“I was unaware of your presence around the corner,” Gerald replied as he continued to busy himself with his quill and ink.

He was writing strange words with no context, but he just wanted to appear busy. A man always had work that needed to be done, Gerald just couldn’t figure out what it might be for the day.

Katherine looked at him for a brief second before turning around and stomping away. Had he upset her? He hadn’t meant to chase her away…

But Katherine had merely walked to the door to slam it shut, while staying inside the study. She turned toward him, her hands on her hips. Gerald held her gaze.

“All right, Your Grace,” she huffed as she walked over to his desk. She placed both her gloved hands firmly on his surface, covering some of the papers he had pretended to be busy with.

“You are smudging my ink, Duchess,” Gerald warned as he raised a displeased eyebrow at her.

She pressed her palms down on the papers even harder.

Gerald didn’t like any of this, not in the slightest bit. He was supposed to be in control, not the damsel waltzing into his study unannounced.

“I need a thorough explanation, or else I might just toss the inkpot over your papers.” Katherine put a finger over the top of the ink bottle.

Gerald stared up at her, intrigued. The parchment on his desk was mere scraps that he had pulled out to create the illusion of a busy schedule, but her warning had intrigued him, so he decided to play along.

“Please don’t,” he murmured, curious as to where she was planning to go with her accusations and questions. Nowhere good, he could tell. “These are important documents.”

“Then start to explain yourself and your actions, Your Grace. I have never in my life felt so cold. I might as well be a dog sleeping outside in the winter due to your cold attitude toward me,” Katherine spat. She fixed him with a piercing look that, for a moment, might have rattled him.

“I am this way with everybody,” Gerald replied, moving away from the desk to create a bit more distance between them.

Of course, he did it to prevent a serious fight, and to breathe in air not filled with the scent of her perfume. He couldn’t help but find it strangely intoxicating and welcoming.

“I am not everybody. I am your wife and now the Duchess of Powell!” Katherine hissed, not wanting to alarm any of the workers outside the study.

Gerald took a moment to glare at her, hoping to intimidate her, but she didn’t flinch. She held his gaze stubbornly.

“Well, Duchess, if you do insist,” Gerald drawled as he pulled out a chair for her, motioning for her to sit down.

She looked at him, not daring to move or follow his request.

“If you must, you may stand.” Gerald sighed as he sat back in the chair behind his desk. He rubbed his temples with his thumbs before facing her. “Do you know what you are asking for?” he said quietly, yet Katherine sat down at his words, her full attention fixed on him. “I am a dangerous man,” he added, then paused to create more tension. He had mastered this skill in his youth. One of the best ways to assert one’s power, in his opinion. “Getting closer to me is no laughing matter.”

“Oh, you’re not that special, Your Grace,” Katherine huffed.

Typical woman. Speaking from pure emotion, and now she is angry with me.

“I doubt you would do any more harm to me than any other man.”

“I suggest you swallow those words, Duchess, since you truly have no idea who I truly am,” Gerald warned, making sure to stay calm and collected.

Katherine stood up from her seat and paced the study for a while, her back turned to him. Gerald followed suit.

He would allow her time to think. He wouldn’t speak another word until she asked him.

Katherine turned back around. She was trying to appear strong in front of him, he thought. He felt another pang of guilt.

“I simply don’t know what to say anymore, Your Grace.” She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I have tried every method possible to engage with you, but you never seem to want to talk unless we fight.”

“My silence is a barrier, for your own safety,” Gerald said sternly, yet he had never felt so guilty in his life. He thought he had been protecting her this way.

“Just allow me an option, Your Grace,” Katherine pleaded.

Gerald waited for an explanation, but none followed. “An option of what?” he asked, taking a couple of steps toward her.

Her bottom lip was quivering.

“You have hurt me with your cold silence, but hurt me with your true self as well. Allow me to know the so-called ‘dangerous man’ before deciding what would hurt me less. I want to make that decision myself,” she said, the tears in her dark green eyes making them shine like emeralds.

Gerald fell quiet at her plea, the only thing audible being the sound of her heaving breaths. She was trying her utmost best to compose herself.

Slowly, her breaths grew steadier, but her eyes remained fixed on the man in front of her. Gerald held her gaze, and for the first time, he didn’t feel too hesitant. He actually enjoyed her presence. A bit too much, he feared. Because he had found himself steadily moving closer and closer to her lips, as if he were bound to her.

She mirrored his slow movement, her eyes gently fluttering shut as they both leaned in for a kiss. But then Gerald panicked.

He quickly took one big step backward, which felt like a mile due to his long legs. Katherine’s eyes remained fixed on his, her breaths shallow and audible. They looked at one another for a second, until he could no longer bear the hurt look on her face.

“Good day to you, Duchess,” Gerald muttered under his breath as he started to turn toward the door.

“It’s all right, Your Grace. I’ll leave you alone in your study,” Katherine mumbled as she straightened herself, then she made for the door.

* * *

Stupid!

The words rang in Katherine’s mind as she rushed up the stairs. Her limp made the endeavor harder, but she persisted nonetheless. How could she have been so stupid to have thought he might actually kiss her?

She shook her head in an attempt to banish her thoughts, but they stuck to her like fleas on a stray dog’s coat. She had fallen over the same rock too many times by now that she could simply conclude that she had low intelligence.

After all, he had clearly shown his disinterestseveral times, and yet she continued to poke at him with a stick. Indeed, she was nothing less than a fool with false hopes. False hopes she couldn’t even blame on Gerald.

“Foolish, foolish man!” Katherine growled once she closed the door behind her, shutting herself in the bedroom she didn’t even share with her own husband.

She couldn’t help but voice her thoughts, the intense feelings inside her clamoring for release.

“Acting as if he were to kiss me just to back away! Cold-hearted, foolish man!” she continued to shout, throwing one of her pillows against the wall.

She picked up another pillow, only to sob into it.

“Your Grace?” a voice called from within the room.