“Perhaps I should take you outside for a breath of fresh air.”

“No!” Christiana said at once, instinct telling her that would be a very bad idea indeed. She was already terribly confused and flustered and it was difficult enough being this close to him in public, but out on the dark terrace, with the sparkly stars overhead and torchlight the only thing chasing back the shadows . . . No, Christiana felt sure the best thing she could do was put some distance between them so that she could start thinking straight again.

Unfortunately, she would have to wait until the end of the waltz to do that.

“Are you sure?” Richard asked, pulling back to look at her. “You are quite pale. Perhaps some air would make you feel better.”

Christiana stared at him silently, her gaze moving over his handsome features with bewilderment. He was like a different person. His expression was kind and concerned instead of the cold mask she was used too, and certainly his behavior was nothing like the man she had been married to this last year. It was more like the man she’d thought she’d married, and was stirring up feelings Christiana had thought long dead.

“Why are you being nice to me?” she asked with confusion. “You are never nice to me. Why are you being nice now?”

Dicky reacted as if she’d struck him, his head jerking back as if under a physical blow, and then anger briefly crossed his face. He said quietly, “I apologize if my behavior has been less than kind this last year. All I can say is I haven’t been myself.” He glanced away, frowned, and then continued, “At the moment, I can’t explain what has been occurring, but I can promise you things will be different from now on and I will do everything I can to protect you and make this last year up to you.”

Christiana stared at him with something like wonder. His words could have been plucked from one of the many hope-filled dreams she’d had this last year. They were words she’d longed to hear ever since the wedding and his horrid change in behavior and she had the sudden urge to pinch herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming now. But before she could, Dicky urged her closer against him to continue the dance. While she allowed him to lead her back into the rhythm of the music, her mind was awhirl with confusion. This was not the man she’d lived with this past year, but it was the man she’d thought she’d married, and his words were making hope rise within her foolish heart. Hope that perhaps there was an explanation for his previous behavior and that whatever had caused it was now over. Perhaps she could have the marriage she’d hoped for.

Or perhaps she was deluding herself, and would get her hopes up, only to have them dashed again, Christiana worried. Unfortunately, it mattered little either way. He was alive and was her husband. That meant that at the moment all she had was the hope that things would be different and her life would not continue as it had been since her wedding.