Page 20 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
“A lovely name. Did you choose it?”
“No.” Eleanor returned to her food, an ache settling deep in her chest. “My mother did.”
“Oh.” The Duke fed Bella another piece of ham. “So, she was your mother’s dog?”
“Yes. She may seem like a puppy with that energy of hers, but she is nearly ten years old.” Eleanor’s stomach twisted at the reminder that her mother was gone. “Bella is all I have left of my mother now.”
“It must have been difficult to lose her.”
Eleanor pushed her plate away and took a large sip of her wine. “It was. She was my friend, confidante, adviser. She taught me what love is. Without her, the house seemed so cold. My father never loved me as she did. He did not even love me as I thoughthedid in the end, or I would not be here.”
A pained expression erased the soft expression on the Duke’s face. “He loves you more than you can ever imagine, Eleanor.”
Eleanor shook her head with a harsh laugh. “No, he does not. If he did, he would never have sold me to you like chattel.”
Phillip flinched and looked away. “He did no such thing.”
Her appetite was entirely gone now, and the wine tasted sour to her as her anger rose. Bella cast her a glance and whined, but she didn’t leave Phillip’s side. Eleanor scowled and shoved herself to her feet. She stalked across the room and snatched her dog up, backing away from the Duke. “My presence here is evidence to the contrary. Now, I find I have lost my appetite. Excuse me, Your Grace.”
The Duke’s hands clenched in his lap, but he bowed his head and didn’t try to stop her when she spun around and stormed out of the dining room. Eleanor’s heart twinged in sorrow and pain as she thought about his claim. She wished dearly she could believe it, but she had asked her father for a reason repeatedly, and he had refused to produce one. There was no excuse, no reason, no extenuating circumstance. William merely wished to be rid of her. And for whatever reasons Phillip had beyond her dowry—if such reasons did exist—he had agreed to take her. As much as it hurt to think it, it was reality, and she did not make a habit of lying to herself or others. Better to hurt while facing reality than to hurt while dealing with the strain of maintaining a delusion. Or so she told herself.
CHAPTER 9
Phillip paced his study. He had hardly spoken to his wife since their brief argument over her father in the dining room three days ago. Eleanor had been taking breakfast in bed, and he hadn’t pressed the issue. In truth, he didn’t know what to do about her or their situation, and he was as glad of the space as she was.
The debts of the estate had all been cleared the previous day, and he could now turn his attention to repairing and redecorating areas that desperately needed it. He should be working on a plan for that, but it didn’t feel right to do it without Eleanor. It was her home too. She should have a say in it.
Giving her a say in it, however, meant speaking to her, and Phillip still didn’t know if she’d forgiven him for his insisting that her father hadn’t been trying to get rid of her when he’d married her off to him. William had done it to protect his daughter and to see to her eventual happiness. Phillip had the distinct sense that the older man would be waiting quite some time to see that come about. Eleanor seemed determined to stayaloof, cold and unhappy. Perhaps heshouldgo see her about the design plans after all. It would give her something to do and perhaps make her feel that the estate was truly her home too.
What is she doing right now?
Phillip paced to the windows of the study that overlooked the back garden. The new gardener had cleaned everything up nicely, and the plants and shrubs were no longer growing in all directions, though the bushes did look a little bare now that the excess growth had been cut away to reveal the inside where they hadn’t seen the light of day in ages. The Duke spotted a small figure in blue silk on the grass with a tiny white ball of fluff snoozing beside her and sighed. Somehow, he had to get through to Eleanor, show her that he really did want her there for reasons that went beyond her dowry. He doubted he could convince her of her father’s good intentions, but he prayed that he could convince her of his, at least.
Phillip would include her in the design planning. It would be good for Eleanor to see that he meant to have her involved in every aspect of his home and his life, to the extent that was possible anyway. The sooner she began to see it, the better. He had to approach her carefully, though, as she reminded him of a wounded animal ready to lash out at anyone who would come too near for fear they too would inflict some terrible pain on her. Perhaps someday she would realize that he had never intended to harm her and that everything had happened in good faith.
Leaving the room, Phillip strode down the hallway to the winding staircase and descended to the entrance hall. He quicklypassed through the house, pausing in the kitchen to ask Annie about lunch.
“Has my wife eaten already?” he asked his head cook.
“No, Your Grace. She is out in the garden reading, I believe. She took an apple and nothing else.”
He nodded. “Good. Will you please prepare a picnic lunch and have it brought out to the back garden? I find myself in the mood to enjoy the weather with my wife this afternoon.”
Annie smiled. “As you wish, Your Grace.”
“Thank you.” He left the house through the kitchen door and strolled out to the back garden.
At first, Eleanor did not notice him. She was engrossed in her book, her face relaxed and open in a way he hadn’t seen since the last of his visits to her before their wedding. He lingered on the edge of the garden, watching her read as the wind flicked wisps of her hair free from her bun.
Phillip remembered how her hair had looked gleaming in the firelight, long and wavy after she had let it down for the day. That evening should have been his wedding night. Had he kissed her, it might have been. Yet, if he had kissed her that night, he would have earned nothing but her loathing in the following morning when the light of day would make what would havehappened far less romantic and the heat of the moment would pass.
When he would finally have her, he would have to do it the right way. He had to make certain that she knew she mattered to him. There was no doubt in his mind anymore that she did. He might have begun this little scheme because of his debts, but it had been no hardship at all to know he would have the little spitfire sitting in his back garden right now, not after he’d come to know her. It had quickly become about so much more than money for him, and he wished he knew how to prove that to her so that they could leave it behind them and go back to the pleasant friendship they had shared in the days before their wedding. Before she realized he had not told her the truth and decided he had betrayed her and lied to her for months.
Eleanor looked so innocent and content there, and it sent a sharp ache through Phillip’s heart to realize that as soon as she knew he was there, she would lose that relaxed, happy look. He hesitated on the edge of the garden, contemplating a quiet retreat back to the house. He even turned to go, but before he could walk away, Bella stirred and barked in excitement.
He looked over his shoulder to find Eleanor staring at him, her expression wary and confused. She had closed the book she had been reading and risen after Bella had alerted her to his presence, but she had not moved closer. Eleanor held his gaze, and he turned to face her too. Now that she knew he was there, there was no point for him to flee back to the house. He would discuss with her the matter at hand.
“Your Grace,” Eleanor murmured. “Do you require something of me?”
