‘No doubt the young ladies in the area are also delighted at your return,’ the older man added dryly.
Griffin did not dispute or agree with the statement as Pelham arrived to escort Sir Walter out, knowing it was his title the young ladies coveted. And he had learnt his lesson the hard way, in that regard!
* * *
‘You did not return to the library earlier, once your guest had departed?’ Bea prompted curiously as she and Griffin once again enjoyed a quiet dinner together in the small family dining room, Pelham having just left the room to go to the kitchen to collect their main course.
Griffin had been feeling too restless, too impatient with his current circumstances, to return to his work in the library.
And Bea.
Because he had realised, as he’d refused Sir Walter’s dinner invitation on behalf of Bea as well as himself, that his protectiveness where Bea was concerned, his possessiveness towards her, the desire he felt for her, were growing deeper as each day passed.
And it was fast becoming an intolerable situation.
One that surely could not continue for much longer, without the danger of doing something he would sorely regret!
It certainly did not help that several more gowns had been delivered to Bea just yesterday, and that she wore one of those new gowns this evening.
Now that most of her visible bruises had faded, the pale peach colour of her new gown gave her face the appearance of warm and delectable cream, and her throat was a delicate arch, the bareness of her arms long and elegant. The darkness of her hair was swept up in a sophisticated cluster at her crown, with several loose wisps at her temples and nape.
She looked, in fact, every inch the beautiful and composed young lady of society that these past three days had convinced Griffin she truly must be.
A unprotected young lady of society, whom Griffin was finding it more and more difficult to resist taking in his arms and making love to!
‘I do have other ducal responsibilities besides you, Bea,’ he answered her with harsh dismissal. ‘I cannot spend all of my time babysitting and mollycoddling you!’
‘Of course.’ It was impossible for Bea not to hear and inwardly flinch at the impatience in Griffin’s tone. Or to feel hurt at being referred to as a responsibility. Even if that was what she so obviously meant to him.
It had been very silly of her to allow herself to grow so comfortable in Griffin’s company these past few days. So comfortable, in fact, she had hoped that their time together might continue indefinitely.
Griffin was a duke, and, more importantly, he was a very handsome and eligible one. Her presence here, her unknown origins, must also be curtailing his own movements. Was it so surprising he did not wish to be burdened indefinitely with the responsibility of a young woman he did not even know, and, moreover, one who might very well turn out to be anything, from a thief to a murderess!
Bea carefully placed her napkin on the table beside her plate before standing up. ‘I hope you will excuse me. I believe I have eaten enough for tonight.’
Griffin looked at her through narrowed lids as he stood up slowly, easily noting the pallor of her cheeks. ‘You are unwell?’
‘Not in the least.’ Her chin rose. ‘I am merely feeling a little fatigued.’
Griffin sighed at the distance he heard in her tone. ‘I did not mean to be harsh with you just now.’
‘You were not in the least harsh,’ she assured him with that continued coolness. ‘My presence here is a responsibility for you. And moreover it is one you did not wish or ask for.’
‘Bea...’
‘Please do not say any more just now, Griffin.’ Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked up at him. ‘Please allow me some dignity.’ Bea turned and fled the room rather than finishing the sentence.
Griffin was once again left standing alone in a room after Bea had fled it in tears. And feeling just as impotent as to know what to do as he had the last time. As he had done in the past on those occasions when Felicity had chosen to remove herself from his company after he had said or done something she did not like. Admittedly she had rarely been in tears, but always with an air of coldness that had told him quite clearly she could no longer tolerate his company.
What was a man expected to do in such circumstances as these?
Bea was not his wife, nor was she related to him in any way, but for the moment she was his ward, and those tears glistening in her eyes indicated that, even if she was not crying, she was at the least very upset.
Should he follow Bea, and once again offer his apologies for his harshness? Or should he leave her to the solitude she was so obviously in need of?
He had respected Bea’s need for solitude last time. Just as in the past Griffin had always respected Felicity’s obvious aversion to his company, and his apologies for having offended her in some inexplicab
le way, by choosing not to intrude upon her solitude. But Bea was nothing like Felicity, and furthermore Griffin was well aware that it was he who was now responsible for her upset.