Page 80 of A Deal with her Forbidden Duke
She paused, sighing.
“My mother passed away shortly after I was born, and my father was too preoccupied with everything else to remarry. I became the last burden for him to rid himself of. Many days passed in silence between my father and myself, and then to my marriage to Donald. Reading let me get away from all of that.”
“What do you like to read?”
Her eyes brightened at the question. “Everything. I would read the war journals my brother kept as a personal record, poetry books, maps.”
“Maps?”
“I liked to think about the world beyond what I knew.”
“Novels?” he prompted.
“I like those too,” she said. “Shakespeare is a beloved author of mine, although I do suppose he is mostly a playwright.”
Alexander gazed at her with an expression she could not quite figure out, something softer than she was used to seeing on his face.
“Who is your favorite character across his plays?”
“Juliet,” she admitted. “It is perhaps simple to say so but… she was lonely, and she loved a man she could not have. For me, a long time ago, there was no man I preferred but the concept representedsomething. ThemoreI wished for. She was forced into a marriage and would have rather died than accept it. I walked right into Kinsfeld House.”
“And you walked right back out,” Alexander told her, his tone commanding. “You left there. You have outweighed Juliet’s fate.”
“As long as you outweigh Romeo’s,” she teased.
“Shall I sneak into your chambers tonight, as Romeo sneaks into Juliet’s?”
“Please,” she laughed. “Regardless, why did you interrupt my reading time?”
He gave her a mocking scowl before pulling out an invitation from behind his back.
“We have been invited to attend an art exhibit in a week’s time. I would like to let the host know that we will be in attendance. It has been some time since I have attended an art gallery.”
“Where is it?”
“In London,” he told her. “I have some business I wish to attend to so we will reside in the townhouse for a while.”
“Is this a choice?”
“The opera is a choice,” he told her. “This is something I very much would like to do with you. I have promised you protection and you shall get it. Although, I do imagine everybody hassettled their gossip on us. We have been in the countryside for some time.”
“That has not stopped the gossip,” she reminded him.
“And it has been several weeks since…” he trailed off, clearing his throat. “Since we were wed.”
Since Donald was found dead, she thought.Since his brother became Lord Kinsfeld.
“Besides,” Alexander continued, “I imagine everybody will be admiring the paintings rather than looking at us. Come with me.”
It wasn’t quite a demand, but more of a request.
“I shall take you to a tearoom afterwards,” he attempted to bribe.
When she still remained silent, Alexander sighed.
“I will not have my duchess cowering in fear of theton.I will not have you shut yourself away to appease them, for they do not care as much as you think they do. Their gossip is nasty, yes, but that is only to pass the time. I will have my wife displayed on my arm proudly.”
“And what of the Lady Bastians and the Lady Rowtherns of theton?” Madeleine challenged. “What of them?”
