Page 54 of A Bride for the Forbidden Duke
“Thank you for your understanding, Your Grace,” one of the farmers told Henry, nodding his thanks. “I do hope we might see you and the Duchess at one of the village fairs soon.”
“I am sure the Duchess is very eager to meet everybody.” He gave a withering smile as he got back up on his horse. “If you have any other trouble with the looting then write to me. I shall attend immediately.”
“I will, Your Grace.” The older man bowed to him.
Henry nodded once more at him before setting off.
Somebody in the neighboring village had been stealing livestock from farmers, a small matter that Henry was already tending to. It was an issue he did not need, for the farmers needed their livestock to produce an income, but he was accommodating for the problem.
But the village fair would be… frustrating yet necessary.
He had to show face.
And the Duchess indeed will be eager. Very… overeager, he thought.
Shaking his head, he rode hard back to the manor. Business was done for the day, and he was ready to sit down with a large glass of wine and pointedly forget the woman who was plaguing his thoughts night and day.
He wanted her in the next room; he wanted his hands on her. He wanted her as far from him as possible; he wanted her pinned beneath him in his bed sheets.
Hecraved. He wanted. He hungered for her even as his own ire rolled alongside it.
Henry forced his mind to go blank and rode harder.
Once he had a glass of wine in his hand, seated in his study, he looked around, considering it. He did indeed miss his study at Turner Hall. He realized he should find Veronica and apologize, but he could not bring himself to. Instead, he sipped at his wine and closed his eyes.
It was only then that a knock at his door broke his peaceful solitude.
“Leave me,” he called, thinking it was staff or Veronica. He could not deal with her in that moment.
“I shall not.” Thomas strode in, uninvited, carrying a small trunk that always contained one file or other. “We did agree to this meeting, did we not? If I recall correctly,yousaid to do it here because I pestered you too much at the Hoof’s Inn. You did not like my penchant for more beer.”
Thomas put the trunk down on Henry’s desk. Henry gave him a silent raise of his brow.
Thomas held up his hands in surrender and removed the trunk, setting it on the floor instead. “Will you share your wine with me?”
“No.”
“Very well. I shall be back shortly after I get my own. Mrs. Nelson is fond of me; she shall ensure more wine is sent?—”
“Just sit down,” Henry groaned, taking a glass that from the cabinet at the side of the desk.
He shuddered at the hideous green color of the cabinet before pouring wine into the glass and setting it down firmly before his friend. “There.”
“I knew you were agreeable to some things.” Thomas grinned. “How did you get worse after being married, Henry? Are mennot supposed to mellow after they are shackled to a woman of theton?”
“You jest, surely,” Henry muttered dryly.
“Of course, I do,” he laughed. “They are saddled with dowries to eventually fund?—”
“Stop talking.” He winced.
“Ah. The great grumpy Duke can barely acknowledge he has a wife, let alone the thought of continuing his line?—”
“Shawcross,” he warned.
“The wine isexcellent,” Thomas said, ignoring him entirely. “Compliments to your butler for acquiring.”
His friend gave him a quizzical look. “Because surelyyoudid not pick such a wine.”
