Marian held his gaze. Then, very slowly, she set her book aside and reached for the leather-bound sketchbook resting on the table beside her. She placed it on her lap and opened it. She bypassed the early pages, turning past the landscapes in the gardens, until she reached a section Richard had never seen.
She turned the book toward him.
Richard looked down. It was not one drawing, but several small, hurried studies spanning the last few days: there was a sketch of his hand resting against the spine of a book in the library; there was his profile captured as he listened to a neighboring lord; there was the slight inclination of his shoulders as he spoke to his young nephew on the terrace; there was a smile he had started but never finished.
He looked up at her, deeply shaken. She had not stopped watching him; she had only been hiding it.
"I tried to draw you again," Marian admitted, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Many times. But I never managed to reproduce that first sketch."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because the first drawing was made when only you were unaware of being observed," Marian said gently. "After that, neither of us could forget the other. You were not the only one who noticed when this ceased to be mere observation."
"Richard." It was the first time she had spoken his Christian name, and it sounded like a quiet revelation in the space between them.
"I have spent my life finding it very comfortable to observe other people," Marian confessed, the admission costing her as much courage as his had required. "It is safe. Being observed in return is much more difficult."
Richard looked down at the sketches, at the undeniable proof that he was not alone in his vulnerability. She had been just as terrified, just as exposed.
"We cannot know if we will be perfectly brave in the future," Richard said quietly, his eyes meeting hers. "But we can attempt to be honest."
Marian looked at the man who had finally stopped performing. She saw the Duke, yes, but she also saw Richard: flawed, fearful, and entirely sincere.