Page 63 of Duke of Myste
“Perhaps I am learning to trust your judgment,” Richard offered. “Or perhaps I have realized that some experiences are worth a bit of social risk.”
“Or perhaps,” Jane said with growing confidence, “you are discovering that life with a wife who challenges convention might be more interesting than life with a wife who simply follows orders.”
Richard’s smile widened. “That is certainly possible.”
Jane felt a flutter of triumph at having won what she had expected to be a difficult battle. “I had prepared quite an elaborate argument. I even considered using my weekly demand.”
“Did you?” Richard’s eyes danced with amusement. “How fascinating. I am dying to hear this.”
“Oh, there were appeals to your sense of adventure, reminders of your promise to trust my judgment, and possibly even some strategic pouting.”
Richard laughed—a rich, genuine sound that never failed to make her heart swell with happiness. “Strategic pouting? I am devastated to have missed such a performance.”
“You agreed too quickly,” Jane accused, though her tone was more pleased than critical. “I was rather looking forward to the challenge of persuasion.”
Richard’s expression grew thoughtful. “You know,” he said, his voice taking on a contemplative quality. “I have been considering proposing a modification to our arrangement.”
“What sort of modification?” Jane asked, intrigued.
“Well,” Richard began, “it occurs to me that our current system is rather one-sided. You may make demands of me, but I have no similar recourse. Perhaps… perhaps we might establish a reciprocal arrangement.”
Jane’s eyebrows rose with interest. “You wish to make demands of me, Your Grace?”
“Not demands, precisely,” Richard clarified, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Requests. Things that might bring me happiness, just as I hope to bring you happiness by honoring your demands.”
The suggestion sent a flutter of anticipation through her. “What sort of requests might a duke make of his duchess?”
Richard was quiet for a moment, his gaze growing distant as if he were carefully considering his words. “Perhaps,” he said finally, “I might request you accompany me on estate visits, not as a duty but because your presence makes even the most tedious business negotiations more bearable.”
Jane felt her heart skip a beat at the sincerity in his voice. “That hardly seems like a burdensome request.”
“No?” Richard’s smile widened slightly. “Then perhaps I might request something more challenging. That you trust me enough to share your fears as well as your joys. That you allow me to comfort you when you’re distressed, just as you’ve begun to comfort me. That you see our marriage not as a series of negotiations and demands, but as a partnership where both parties contribute to the other’s happiness.”
The emotion in his voice made her breath hitch. This was more than a modification to their arrangement—it was a fundamental shift in how they related to each other, from formal accommodation to genuine intimacy.
“I think,” she said softly, “that sounds like a far superior arrangement to our current one.”
“Then we are agreed,” Richard murmured, leaning across the desk to seal their new understanding with a gentle, unhurried kiss.
When he finally released her, Jane felt dizzy in the most absurdly grounding way.
“I am still not convinced by how readily you agreed to my request to visit Vauxhall Gardens,” she said with a teasing smile.
“I knew you would ask,” Richard explained simply. “Harriet has been dropping hints about Vauxhall for days, and I could see the longing in your eyes every time she mentioned adventure or excitement. It seemed foolish to put you through the exercise of a formal request when I had already agreed.”
The admission made Jane’s heart flip in a way that had nothing to do with victory and everything to do with the growing realization that her husband paid far more attention to her desires than she had imagined.
“You have been planning to say yes all along?”
“I have been planning to find a way to say yes,” Richard corrected. “The distinction may seem small, but it has required considerable mental adjustment on my part.”
Jane rose from her chair and moved around the desk, drawn by the vulnerability beneath his carefully composed words. When she reached him, she placed her hands on his shoulders, feeling the tension that betrayed how much this concession had cost him.
“What sort of adjustment?” she asked softly.
Richard’s hands settled on her waist, pulling her closer until she stood between his knees. “The sort that involves acceptingthat my wife’s happiness matters more than my reputation. That some risks are worth taking if they bring joy to someone I—” He paused, seeming to struggle.
“Someone you what?” Jane prompted gently.
