Page 24 of Married Off by the Duke
She’d trod on grass divots that had more insight than Maximus Assimus Tremaine.
Suddenly, Emma felt very alone in the world. It was a bitter reminder that she had no place in his life. He’d brought her here to get rid of her, after all. Courting her had been nothing but one of his temporary whims.
“I cannot spend my days in idleness, Max, no matter how entertaining. I need to feel useful. If I’m not working, I don’t…I’ll be…”
She couldn’t bring herself to say the word worthless.
“Free to entertain your husband?”
Max waggled his eyebrows, turning the moment into a joke. Except that nothing about this was funny to her.
Feelings faded. She would never be anything more than a rich man’s unwanted daughter. Emma could not bear the thought of becoming another entitled rich man’s equally unwanted wife. Especially his.
“I’m sorry, Max. I can’t.” The words stuck in her throat. “We had a nice time together. I shall treasure the memories.”
“You don’t mean…” He hesitated. “I see. I haven’t changed your mind at all. You want me to sign this letter, write you a bank draft for the sum of your inheritance, and let you walk away.”
Emma could only nod. It wasn’t that she wanted it; she needed it. For her own sanity.
There was nothing more precious than independence.
“Very well.”
Max strode to the desk, took up his pen and scrawled his name in florid script at the bottom of her drafted letter. Did he read the words she’d crafted so carefully in an attempt to sound like him, expressing her deepest desires?
He didn’t bother to sit down. Tears stung her eyes. He wanted her gone as soon as humanly possible.
Their fingertips brushed when he passed her the papers. “I’ll have your dowry transferred to a bank account in your name. Here is a hundred pounds to get you started. It is a gift. I know you’ll manage your inheritance well, but it isn’t a great deal of money. If you do find yourself in difficulty...” He inhaled. “Please be careful out there.”
“My needs are simple, Max. I’m not used to all this.” She gestured vaguely to their opulent surroundings. “I don’t deserve such luxuries. I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to do, and we both know I can’t hold my tongue. I’d be a disaster of a duchess.”
He stroked her cheek fondly. “You’d be my defiant wife, and I’d adore every moment spent clashing with you,” Max said wistfully. “But if this is what you want, little bird, then fly. I won’t try to cage you anymore.”
With that, Emma’s heart shattered completely. She stood rooted to the spot as Max brushed past her, closing the door behind him with a soft click.
Only then did she let the tears fall.
Her worst suspicions had been correct. He’d never truly wanted her. Not enough to fight for her. It was time for her to go.
Where, she didn’t know.
CHAPTER 13
The second morning she awoke alone in her musty bed, with an aching back from where the springs sagged in the middle, Emma truly regretted her decision to leave Max.
At Ardennes House, she could have had a permanent bed, instead of renting this inferior, temporary one.
She’d been a fool to turn down such luxury. Soft cotton sheets wound around Max’s naked torso?—
Don’t think about it.
If she focused on what she’d given up, Emma would lose the courage to continue moving toward what she needed. Yes, this was grim, but it wasn’t forever.
She tugged on her woolen dress, fastening the skirt around her waist and buttoning the jacket to her throat. Smudges of dust still darkened the hem in places, where she’d attempted to clean it yesterday. Despite washing herself with a cloth and soap wetted with water from the chipped pitcher and basin, Emma felt as if a film of dirt clung to her skin.
A pang of longing for a hot bath whenever she wanted one caught her off-guard.
“To think, I could have been a duchess,” she muttered, surveying her cramped room. “Yet, I chose this.”
