Isabella had tensed when he first started talking. Then she turned and fixed him with a hard look. One that had North taking a step back. There was so much anger blazing away in her eyes. North had never seen anything like it.
“I don’t think that’s a very good idea, Your Grace,” she said stiffly. “Do not bother me again.”
She turned away and essentially ignored him. North was thrown. No one had done that to him before. He was a duke! You didn’t ignore a duke.
Chapter 8
Beauty Turns
Beast Down
There was a passageway to their right. The crowd was picking up and nobody was paying him any attention as they stood around talking. Nobody would notice. North grabbed Isabella’s arm and yanked her towards the passageway, pulling her down the hall.
***
Seeing the duke again had made Isabella’s heart stop beating for a moment. She had been trying so hard not to think about him. Any type of memory was painful even though she couldn’t bring herself to rip the most painful memory of all from her neck. The pendant hung around her neck like a physical reminder, a painful reminder.
She was a fool. But Isabella couldn’t bring herself to get rid of it.
And now the man himself was here, demanding to speak with her. Isabella wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t.
But North didn’t give her a choice, grabbing her arm and dragging her down a side passage before she could react. Isabella didn’t have time to scream as North pulled her along behind him, urging her into a room further down the hall and out of sight of everyone else. It was dark in there, the only thing illuminating the room being the fire burning brightly in the hearth.
Isabella pulled away from him and scowled.
“What part of what I said just now did you not understand?” she snapped.
“Forgive me.”
North stood staring at the fire, his face half-bathed in the firelight. He looked so forlorn, so alone, that Isabella almost went over to him and touched him, just to comfort him. She held herself back. He didn’t remember her; he didn’t deserve anything she gave.
Finally, North turned to her, his expression solemn. He looked haggard.
“Forgive me, Miss Eliot, but I didn’t know what to do. I need to speak with you.”
He needed to speak with her? Isabella didn’t believe that unless it was telling her to leave him in peace. She could do that. She folded her hands in front of her, clutching tightly onto her fan.
“I have nothing to say to you,” she said woodenly.
“Maybe you do.”
North advanced on her. Isabella had to stop herself from backing away. He was far too imposing for her. North stopped in front of her, his expression pained.
“I know there’s something between us but I don’t know what,” he whispered. “It’s been tugging at my mind for weeks now. My mind says I know you. But I don’t know how and it’s driving me mad. I need you to tell me.”
Was he starting to remember? Isabella didn’t know if she should feel relieved about that. It wouldn’t change the pain she was currently feeling. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“There’s nothing to tell, Your Grace.”
North groaned and turned away, shaking his head.
“Don’t you start as well.”
“Start with what?”
“Trying to save my feelings. Everyone else is lying to me. I keep asking them what they’re keeping back but they’re telling me it’s for my own good.” He ran his hands through his hair with a frustrated sigh. “I don’t want that anymore and I thought you could speak more plainly. You wouldn’t sugar-coat the truth for me.”
No, she wouldn’t. Isabella didn’t do that to him. North admired honesty in a person. But she couldn’t give him that now. Not without opening old wounds.
“If I tell you, I will just break my heart again.”
That got the duke’s attention. He spun around and stared at her.
“Break your heart?” Realization seemed to be dawning. “Did I hurt you?”
Isabella wanted to tell him but she couldn’t. If she told him the truth, and he still rejected her, she would be broken. She couldn’t recover from that.
“You hurt me by forgetting who I was. What we shared.” She was going to burst into tears again and lose her composure if she said anything more. “But that’s over now, Your Grace. There’s nothing.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Please, Your Grace,” Isabella turned away and hurried towards the door, “I can’t say any more than that.”
North as across the room before she realized it and grabbed her arm again.
“Miss Eliot, please…” Then his voice trailed off and Isabella looked up to see him staring at the pendant. His face had gone white. For a moment, she looked like he was going to pass out. “Where did you get that pendant?”
Isabella couldn’t say. She took a deep breath and pulled her arm away.
“I got it from someone I love. But they’re dead to me now.” She stepped out of his reach and grabbed the door handle. “I have to go now, Your Grace. Do not try to follow me.”
Isabella managed to duck out before North could respond and hurried back to the main foyer. Nobody seemed to notice she had gone and, for a split second, Isabella was relieved. Then she was disappointed. No one had worried about where she had gone.
As far as she was aware, the Duke of Northampton didn’t follow her out.
***
North didn’t go into the hall. He knew if he followed Isabella Eliot there was going to be a public scene and that he didn’t want for her. And it also meant seeing Emma Hughes, who would be impatiently waiting for him. North didn’t want to talk to her at all, not after the heavy feeling after talking to Isabella had settled in his gut. It told him Lady Emma wasn’t to be trusted at all.
Instead, he told his coachman to take him to his London house. Lady Emma could get a coach home with somebody else. He sat stewing all the way back, wishing he could piece things together. Was his memory coming back? North wasn’t entirely sure.
But he had a feeling his butler knew more than he was letting on and he was going to tell him the truth. North wasn’t going to settle for anything less, not right now.
North stormed through the house and into his study, tugging off his coat and tossing it onto the couch. Then he tugged hard on the bell-pull, unbuttoning his waistcoat and loosening his cravat. It felt like he was struggling to breathe. His head was tightening and squeezing hard. It was getting hard to see.
That pendant. It had set something off in his mind. North had an image of him giving it to Isabella and there was a moment of them embracing intimately. He had given her the pendant? Was he previously in love with her?
He needed to know.
The door opened and Wilson came in, his expression blank. He gave North a stiff bow.
“You sent for me, Your Grace?”
North’s instincts were telling him Wilson’s coldness towards him had something to do with Isabella. He didn’t change until her sudden arrival at the estate. That had to be it. North advanced on him.
“You need to be straight with me, Wilson.”
“Beg pardon, Your Grace?”
“You and Mrs. Wilson have always been warm and kind to me. But for weeks now you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder. And it’s ever since Miss Eliot came here to see me. I’m getting fed up with everyone ignoring my request to know what happened in those months I’m missing.” North gripped Wilson’s shoulders and squeezed. “You’ve never lied to me before. I need your straight-talking right now. Don’t lie to me.”
Wilson’s lips tightened. But he didn’t hesitate.
“I thought you didn’t want anything more to do with Miss Eliot, Your Grace. When we saw you had rejected her, and Miss Eliot had left here crying, Mrs. Wilson and I guessed you had ended the relationship. We weren’t going to dissuade you if that was what you wanted. And then when you went back to La
dy Emma after what you’d said to her…”
“You need to slow down there.” North indicated for Wilson to sit. “What exactly did I say to her?”
Wilson looked shocked that he was being urged to sit. But he did, sitting on the edge of the couch like he was sitting on a mine as North paced in front of him.
“She was almost hanging off you during a social engagement, to the point of embarrassment, making everyone believe you two were courting. You told her off in front of everyone and she left in a fury after slapping your face.”
North stopped. Something came back to him then. Emma’s angry expression and a rush of satisfaction telling her the truth. His cheek started to sting as Emma’s image slapped him. He touched his jaw and was sure he could still feel her fingers connecting with his face.
“When did this happen?”
“About two days before you went to France.”
“And what about Miss Eliot?” North turned to Wilson. “What was she to me? I need to know.”
Wilson let out a heavy sigh.
“You and she were courting in secret. You’d literally bumped into her outside a hat shop and both of you felt an attraction. Because of the social differences and your understanding with Lady Emma, you both kept it quiet. Most of your time was spent here so no one could see you other than us.”
Chapter 9
Beast Remembers
So, they had been together. North remembered why the lake was so important. He used to take Isabella out there and they would simply sit and talk under the huge tree by the water. That was why he was constantly drawn back to it.
“Was I in love with her?”
“Your Grace…”
“Just tell me, Wilson. I need to know.”
Wilson nodded.
“Yes. Very much so. And Miss Eliot was in love with you. You were a different man when you were with her. Miss Eliot brought out the best in you. She loved you intensely.”
“Belle.” North murmured. “That was her pet name.”
“A name only a few select people were allowed to call her.”
Now North knew why the name Belle had made something flicker when he first heard it. It gave him a warm feeling in his chest knowing Isabella had given him that privilege. But not anymore.
Now all the memories were flooding back. He could now remember his last meeting with Isabella before he went overseas. They were in this very room, Isabella scared about him leaving, but North promised he would take care of himself. Then North remembered the pendant.
“I gave her a pendant, didn’t I?”
“The night before you left. You told her to keep it by her heart; that the two of you would marry once you returned. When she heard you were back, Miss Eliot came here, expecting a joyful reunion.” Wilson sighed. “Instead…”
“Instead, she found me with no memory of her and I pushed her away without realizing it.” North closed his eyes. “That’s why you and Mrs. Wilson have been angry with me.”
“We liked the man you were when she was around,” Wilson said. “No matter what her upbringing is, we believed she would be a better duchess for you than Lady Emma.”
North couldn’t agree more heartily. Now some of his memory was coming back, he could see Isabella more clearly. Things were becoming brighter. He had loved Isabella. With a passion North didn’t realize he could possess. She was much younger than him but she was wise, sensible and kind. Isabella didn’t see the title. She saw him.
And now he was due to marry Lady Emma in a few days. North groaned and sagged onto a chair, burying his face in his hands.
“What have I done? I’m about to be married to a woman I abhor.”
“If I can give my advice, Your Grace, if you want Miss Eliot, you need to set things right.”
“I’m beginning to remember things, but not much.” North looked up at his faithful servant. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Do you want to marry Lady Emma?”
“No.” The certainty was immediate. “That much I am certain about.”
Then Wilson started to smile. North realized he had missed that smile from the older man. His butler was warming to him again.
“Shall I send for her and Miss Eliot?”
“Lady Emma, yes. But Miss Eliot won’t come.” North tapped his fingers together as a plan formed in his mind. “I will need your help on that.”
***
North knew things needed to change, or he was going to get stuck on a course that he didn’t want to be on. He went to bed fuming but determined.
How dare Lady Emma take advantage of his state? How dare none of his family let him know what was going on? How many people had been in on this? North didn’t know if he could trust anyone anymore.
As he slept, North found some memories he had never seen before. Isabella was in them. They showed him smiling and laughing with her, turning away engagements with Lady Emma so he could be with her. His heart felt lighter as he saw scenes with Isabella, looking up at him with such adoration in her eyes.
How could he have forgotten someone like her? North felt like a fool.
When he woke up the next morning, North lay in bed watching the sunlight through the curtains. That jog of the memory the night before had worked. He could remember now. And he remembered the promise he had given Isabella the night before he left, promising to never forget her.
He had to go to hell after how he had treated her.
Washing and dressing quickly without calling for his valet, North hurried downstairs. He was in the middle of breakfast, wolfing down food like he hadn’t eaten in months, when Wilson came in.
“Lady Emma has arrived early, Your Grace. She said she wanted to see you right away.”
Normally, North would be jumping up to run to Lady Emma. But that was when he thought she was his intended. Now, he didn’t care. North gave Wilson a smirk as he reached for his teacup.
“Put her in my study, Wilson. I’ll go to her when I’ve had breakfast.”
“Very good, Your Grace.”
Wilson turned to leave before North called him back.
“And Wilson?”
“Yes, Your Grace?”
“This is going to get a little harsh and there will be some shouting, so don’t stow any of Lady Emma’s belongings.”
Wilson grinned, his eyes glinting.
“Very well, Your Grace. That will be most satisfying considering she’s brought a trunk with her.”
North groaned. Lady Emma was assuming he would let her stay. That had stopped months before Isabella came into his life but had started up again when he came back from France, Lady Emma saying she needed to take care of him.
Not anymore.
“It’s not been taken upstairs, has it?”
“Not yet.”
“Put it out on the terrace and tell her coachman that Lady Emma’s going straight back so don’t leave without her.”
Wilson looked positively gleeful, but he said nothing as he left. North could feel himself grinning as he finished his breakfast. This was going to be immensely satisfying. Lady Emma wouldn’t know what had hit her.
Finally, at a leisurely pace, North finished his breakfast and strolled to his study, taking the long way around via the library. Lady Emma could sit and stew; she had played with him, so she could have a taste of her own medicine.
Selecting a book, North finally went to the study. Lady Emma was pacing furiously in front of the empty fire. She looked like she was about to burst into flames in her anger. North would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so bad. She saw him and huffed loudly.
“North, thank God! I was beginning to wonder where you were.”
“I was having breakfast, Lady Emma.” North strolled over to his desk, reading the spine of the book. “I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Why wouldn’t you let me sit with you?”
North gave her a hard look.
“Because I didn’t want to be disturbed. I don’t run on your orders, Lady
Emma.”
Lady Emma faltered. North could see the confusion overtaking her anger. He hadn’t spoken to her like this before. When he had amnesia. Not anymore.
“I…” Lady Emma stared at him. “Are you well?”
“What makes you think I’m unwell?”
“You ran out of the carriage like the devil himself was chasing you. Then you went straight home and now…” Lady Emma gestured at him. “You’re acting strangely. I’ve never seen you act like that.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really.” Lady Emma looked as though she was grasping at straws. “Well, the doctor did say you were going to suffer from mood swings from time to time.”
North wondered if the doctor was in on this as well. He let out a harsh laugh that made Lady Emma jump.
“Trust me, Lady Emma, this is not a mood swing. This is me coming to my senses. The wedding’s off.”
“What?”
“I will not be marrying you. At all.”
Lady Emma looked like she had been slapped in the face.
“Why on earth not?” she demanded. “The wedding’s in four days.”
North dropped the book on the desk and advanced on the woman, Lady Emma backing into the couch with a sudden gasp.
“Because I’m not about to marry a spiteful, heartless woman who thinks she can treat other women with such distaste.” He could remember what he had said to her that day in public word for word. “You are not the same person I knew when we were children. You were much different and much likeable as a little girl, but as a woman, I would rather have you on the other side of the world.”
It was like it had been yesterday that North had given that speech. From the paling look on her face, the penny was dropping with Lady Emma.
“You remember,” she said weakly.
“I do. I remember everything.” North scowled. “And not for the want of trying. All it needed was for things to probe my memory. And all it took was a pendant.”
Chapter 10
Beast Fixes the Mess
“A pendant?”
North folded his arms, feeling some satisfaction as Lady Emma began to panic.
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