Page 39 of The Duke’s Defiant Love

Instead, she found herself remembering his expression when she had challenged him. The rare moments when his composure slipped. The way he listened when she spoke, even when he disagreed. The infuriating intelligence behind his arrogance.

And the way her pulse would run wild in his presence.

Amelia closed her eyes.

"Oh, this is a terrible idea."

CHAPTER TWELVE

Julian was waiting with the carriage two streets away from the Hartwell house when Amelia arrived. He looked unsurprised to see her.

"I had begun to wonder whether you would come."

"I nearly didn't."

"Nearly?"

She gave him a pointed look.

"Do not look so pleased with yourself, Your Grace."

"I am not."

"You are."

"Perhaps slightly."

Amelia folded her arms.

"I know what the Circle actually is, Your Grace. I am not entirely unworldly."

"I did not think you were. That is rather why I asked." His expression stayed calm, careful.

"And you expect me simply to trust you?"

Julian's expression became serious.

"No. I expect you to trust yourself."

That caught her off guard.

He continued quietly.

"You may leave whenever you wish. If you dislike the atmosphere, we leave. If someone makes you uncomfortable, you tell me. No one there would press you into anything you have not chosen for yourself. I only thought, given your particular curiosity about the world, you might like to see it rather than hear it filtered through gossip."

"Why would you offer me this."

"I suspect you already know why," Julian said, gently, and did not elaborate further, and did not need to.

Amelia studied him.

"And if I decide not to participate in anything?"

"Then you participate in nothing."

"At all?"

"At all."