Page 43 of A Bride for the Forbidden Duke
He stood up, dropping his napkin onto the table with finality, and left the dining hall.
Veronica stared after him in shock.
She started to rise, wondering if she ought to go after him, but she caught Lady Sheridan’s eye, who shook her head. “Leave him be, dear. He gets into these moods. I have found the best way to deal with them is to let him cool off.”
“And do they… happen a lot?” Veronica asked delicately. “Or last a long time?”
“He has a temperament that is rather understandable. His Grace’s past is a bit of a sore point for him. I should have taken more care than to tell such a story. The truth is, even His Grace’s humorous or fond memories have been tainted.”
She sighed, folding her hands before her on the table as their plates were cleared away.
“Henry was always close to my late husband, the Viscount Sheridan, which is why he’s slightly more tolerant towards me. He has a fondness for me, I believe, and I have always treated him kindly. I think that, even as he resents such kindness, he is grateful for it. He both dislikes and needs it, and that is hard for him to come to terms with.”
Veronica nodded. “I did notice his tolerance of you.”
She smiled sadly. “It is only really myself and his friend, Thomas Shawcross—the son of his solicitor—who heistolerant of. Even the fact that he has taken you as his wife and duchess is a massive step. It means he may still grow tolerant of you, too.”
Tolerant, Veronica thought miserably.
She was to be tolerated by her husband for the rest of her life, and that was all she could hope for?
“You say the way he behaves is quite understandable?” Veronica prompted, eager for herself not to be mentioned in conversation anymore, lest her feelings get the best of her. “I am in this beautiful manor with a husband who has dined with me for the first time tonight, and even then, he did not stay. Every other day he ignores me or is angry. It is my very wish to understand him better.”
“There are some things he must tell you himself in his own time, but I can tell you some,” Lady Sheridan said.
She sipped from her wine glass thoughtfully.
“Henry’s childhood was difficult. His father was tyrannical, ruling their home with an iron fist. If Henry was not adhering to that iron fist, then he was surely under the blows from it, if you understand me.”
Veronica frowned, realizing shedidunderstand but wished she did not.
“It was not simply neglect, or the lack of care from his father, that Henry endured. The day he was out in the field with the horse, and his father did not hear him… it was because he had yet another mistress in the house. A mistress who let him forget his title and child, I imagine. Henry grew up being told he was never a priority and seeing evidence of it.
“And after that tragic night…” Lady Sheridan’s voice trailed off.
“What night?”
“Well. He does not speak of it ever, so we had better not dwell on that, my dear. Just know that after that, he became cold and removed. Reclusive and sharp-tongued.”
Lady Sheridan’s eyes went sad. “That is all I should tell you, but he lost his mother shortly after.”
Her chest ached for the Duke. She did not know specifics, but she knew what it was like to lose a parent. She could not endure losing her mother, but the Duke had lost both of his.
“Now he throws himself into his businesses,” Lady Sheridan said, her voice brightening once again. “I do believe he sees many of his interactions as transactions. He must gain to give. It can be seen as selfish, and it must be hard to endure in such close proximity, but he means well, and I believe it is understandable.”
Veronica nodded.
“I still wish to know him,” she said.
“And if you are insistent on that, then your spine is as strong as his. That will serve you well as Duchess of Westley.” Lady Sheridan’s encouraging smile bolstered Veronica.
She grinned back.
Lady Sheridan told her firmly. “Be patient with him, and if you are ever in need of advice or a listening ear, I am always an invitation away. As is your mother, I believe.”
“She is indeed,” Veronica said. “I miss her very much.”
“Perhaps we could have tea together soon. I should like to learn about you, Duchess, without my nephew’s temperament hanging over us.”
