I had been non-stop all day and, quite frankly, I was glad of the distraction. My morning had started so beautifully, curled up with the duke, a sense of normality and contentment between us. Only for him to make it clear, it was something he regretted, and it would never happen again. Part of me understood why he had said that. He is due to marry another woman, he could not allow himself to get too emotionally involved with me, it didn’t mean it hurt any less though. It made me wonder, if his father had not agreed to the arranged marriage years ago, would the duke and I even have a chance anyway? Or would our status in society always get in the way of that? If it was not Clara, it would probably be some other wealthy heiress that he was going to marry, not some workhouse orphan.
After Mr
