The Duke's Forbidden Lover (Forbidden #1)

Chapter 31.

Love.

The word echoed in her head.

She wasn't entirely sure, but it made sense to her. The urge to see him every day, the flutters she would feel when his eyes were on her, the gawking, the jealousy towards just seeing and hearing about Elinor.

It all made sense.

The corners of Nalini's mouth curved downwards, her heart heavy. Though it was the case of love, it would never work out between them. The Duke wouldn't and couldn't ever love her back.

He was the Duke after all, and she knew what the society thought about 'coloured' people like her in the time she was in.

The only thing she could do for now about her feelings was to push them aside. Nothing good would arise from them, she knew, so there was no point in doing anything about it.

But, even as she tried to think about other things, such as her meeting with Edward, her chest tightened painfully at the thought of never being loved by the Duke.

A soft sigh escaped Nalini's lips just as tears pricked her eyes. She shook her head, trying to get rid of all the depressing thoughts that had crawled its way into existence just as the carriage jerked to a stop.

Nalini reluctantly tore her eyes away from her lap in order to peer out the window and saw Edward stepping down the front steps of his house, a grin on his face.

Just seeing his face took her back to the note she wasn't ever supposed to find, but had read.

He knew about Adelia...what else does he know?

Nalini shook her head furiously. She really needed to stop prying.

Forcing a smile, she pushed open the carriage door just as Byron came rushing to help her out. As Edward came closer, he put up his hand to stop him and held out his hand toward Nalini.

She, hesitant at first, reached out and placed her hand in his warm ones.

Immediately, her thoughts drifted towards the Duke. Edward's were larger than hers, that was for sure, but not as large as the Duke's and it definitely did not feel as protective when they encased her own.

Nalini cleared her throat when she realised what she was doing, and shook her head.

She didn't want to think about the Duke or compare anyone to him when it was a time to relax with Edward.

It wouldn't be fair to him, otherwise.

Edward led her down the carriage carefully, before offering her his elbow.

"Shall we?" he asked with a tender smile.

She nodded with a smile of her own as she slowly placed her hand in the crook of his elbow. As they began to walk past the front yard and towards the back where his horses were, she bit her lip.

After that incident the other day with the horse, she wasn't feeling too confident about getting on another one.

Her palms were sweaty as they neared the stables and she could feel Edward's gaze on the side of her head.

She turned and offered him a crooked, wobbly smile. She didn't want him to find out that she was now slightly afraid of horses, even his poor Daisy.

"Are you alright? You look quite pale," he said, bending his head down to peer into her eyes.

The sudden attention only served to embarrass her further as if he could see through to her innermost feelings. She cleared her throat and let out a scratchy laugh.