William knew he shouldn't be kissing Elizabeth. He should be doing anything besides kissing Elizabeth. But when she looked up at him with all that emotion in her eyes, and begged him for the truth, he couldn't restrain himself.

He moved his hands to her waist and pulled her body against his. She gasped in surprise and he took the opportunity to slid his tongue inside her warm mouth. He felt her hands on his shoulders before she wrapped them around his neck.

When William deepened the kiss, she moaned into his mouth. God, that sound...He never realized he had been waiting his whole life to hear that. From her.

His body started to respond to her, his pants growing tight. He knew she felt it too when she pulled away with a surprised expression.

She took a step back and put her hand to her lips. She had an odd expression on her face and it worried him.

"I feel I should apologize for that...but, Elizabeth, I am not sorry."

When she dropped her hand and stepped closer to him, his voice got deeper when he said, "Don't."

She paused with a frown. "Why not?"

Overwhelmed with desire for her, he couldn't find words to speak. If she came any closer, he was going to be tempted to do more than just kiss her.

"William, please. Tell me what your thinking."

"I can't," he managed to say. He would probably scare her with his wicked thoughts.

She took another step towards him and reached out to stroke his face. He didn't move this time, surprisingly.

"Elizabeth, I--"

"Well, this looks...interesting."

Elijah crossed his arms over his chest as he took in the sight in front of him. He wasn't surprised to find William and Lady Elizabeth kissing. Well, it was out of character for William. Especially since she was engaged to Elijah. Elijah knew if he were engaged to Katherine, William wouldn't even look at her.

When they turned and saw him there, Elizabeth stepped away from William and looked down at her feet. Elijah knew she felt ashamed and embarrassed.

William's expression told Elijah that he was feeling guilty about the act.

"How did you find us?" William asked when Elijah walked up to him, meeting his gaze.

"How many times have you run off on me growing up, William? You still can't hide from me."

Elijah looked to Elizabeth who still wouldn't meet his gaze. "Lady Elizabeth, may I speak to William privately for a moment?"

"Of course, Your Grace," she said as she stepped away from them.

Elijah looked to his best friend and wanted to put his mind at ease. "William, my friend, I believe we found ourselves in a bit of a predicament."

"Yes, I'm sorry, Elijah. I shouldn't have kissed her."

Elijah placed his hand on William's shoulder. "William, you know that I am in love with Katherine. Madly, wildly, out of control in love with her. So, why on Earth, are you apologizing?"

William looked at him with a baffled expression. "She's your betrothed."

She doesn't feel like it, Elijah thought. "No, she isn't. I mean, yes, my mother wants me to marry her. But I don't see her as that. I can't. The only one I want is Katherine. Just as I'm sure you long for Lady Elizabeth."

William closed his eyes as if in pain. "Yes. I love her. I don't even understand it."

Elijah smiled. "Love is not meant to be understood, brother. It just is."

"What are we going to do, Elijah? Even if there was a way for you and Katherine to be together, Elizabeth can't marry me. I'm just a commoner."

Even though Elijah never saw him as such, what he said was true. Lady Elizabeth was meant to marry someone titled. If she married William, she would be stripped of her title and possibly shunned from her family.

"Let me worry about that, William. I'm going to try and fix this for the both of us." I have no idea how I'm going to do that, but there has to be some way, Elijah thought.

Elijah looked in Elizabeth's direction. "Now, I must go talk to my betrothed."

He went to join Lady Elizabeth on the bench. She kept her eyes straight, not looking at him. She may as well have the full story. "Lady Elizabeth, can I trust you?"

She turned towards him with a shocked expression. "Of course, Your Grace."

"The reason William pretended to be me, was because I didn't want to get married." She looked away, hurt by his remark. "Not because of you, Lady Elizabeth. I did it because I felt like I didn't have any control over my life. I never really believed in love until the choice to have it was taken away from me." He let out a long breath. "I ended up stumbling upon a woman who was being robbed by highwaymen. I tried to help her and, surprisingly, she ended up saving my life."

He knew Elizabeth was looking at him now as she listened to his story. Elijah kept his eyes straight. "That's when the snowstorm started and she found us shelter. We were stuck there for two days before William found us. I got to know her and...I fell in love with her."

"Have you seen her since that day?" She asked curiously.

"I have, actually. She is a maid in our estate." He heard Lady Elizabeth's gasp of surprise. "I didn't know it at the time. She was traveling to our estate to start her position as a maid when we met. I didn't tell her I was the Duke of Kent so we never made that connection."

Lady Elizabeth was quiet for a moment as she tried to process everything. "Does she love you?"

Elijah smiled so big he was probably showing all his teeth. "Yes, she does."

"What are you going to do?"

Elijah sighed. "I'm not sure yet. But, that's where I need your help."

"My help, Your Grace?"

"Yes. I have two days to figure this out. I will find you later once I know more. For now, you need to go buy some things from town. I told the Duchess you were out looking for things for the wedding. If you come back empty handed, she will suspect something is amiss."

She frowned and looked towards William. "Yes, Your Grace."

Elijah rose to his feet and she met his stare. "Take care of William, Lady Elizabeth. He deserves someone like you."

Katherine has been counting down the minutes until she was finished working tonight. She was dying to see Elijah. Dying to kiss him and feel his hands on her.

When he surprised her in the study, her body instantly heated for him. The way he looked at her was almost like a caress. She's barely been able to think about anything else all day.

She was surprised she hadn't seen him since then. She couldn't help but wonder where he was and what he was doing. She supposed that's what happened when you were in love.

She was finishing up in the kitchen when she heard some chatter from the dining room. She was curious who was out there, so she went out to take a look. She made it seem like she was getting the dining room table ready when she saw Elijah's best friend, William walking into the estate.

She suspected Elijah would be right behind him so she took a step to her left to see if she got a glimpse of the man who stole her heart. She held her breath, and then that's when she saw him; and her heart sank.

You walked in with Lady Elizabeth by his side, they were laughing together and talking closely. She seemed to be carrying some dresses and other things. They must have gone shopping, she thought.

Katherine has heard of the word jealousy, but has never experienced it. Not until she saw Lady Elizabeth hold out her hand to Elijah, who lovingly placed a kiss to it. Maybe this wasn't what it looked like. Maybe this was a part of the arranged marriage and he had no choice. She kept telling herself that, but he appeared so happy, that doubt started to take over her mind.

When Lady Elizabeth left the room, he turned around and froze when his eyes landed on her. She could see the shock on his face and that's when she knew...

I'm such a fool...she thought. When he took a step towards her, she fled to her chambers.