Page 23 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
Eleanor’s mind drifted to the frustrating almost kiss and Phillip’s avoiding her since that day in the garden. “I do not believe he really wants me… He nearly kissed me the night after our wedding, but then he did not and left me with a distant goodbye. Since then, we have spoken only a little. He tried to involve me in the renovations of the house…”
“And?”
“I refused. He could decide on my marriage without my assistance. Why not this too?”
Sarah coughed and took a sip of her tea. “Eleanor,” she began gently. “Perhaps he was trying to make up for what happened. You should have accepted. This is your house too after all.”
“It is my cage, not my house, however gilded it may be.” Eleanor lifted her own teacup to her lips and took a sip of the fragrant floral brew. “Besides, he only wishes to find a way to make it seem as if I am not a wife of convenience.”
“You said he almost kissed you but refrained.” Sarah frowned. “That does not seem as if he does not want you. Perhaps you are misreading the situation in your understandable fury over the initial hurt he and your father caused you, Eleanor.”
“Nonsense.” Eleanor waved her friend off. “If he wanted me, he could have had me. I am his wife, I must capitulate to his whims and desires, and we both know it.”
“Did you wish to be kissed? How did this near kiss come about?”
Eleanor shifted in her seat, her cheeks reddening. Sarah always did have a way of asking all the wrong questions, specifically the questions that the other party did not want to consider.
“Eleanor?” Sarah pressed.
“Oh, very well!” Eleanor huffed. “I suppose I did wish to be kissed at that moment, though it was very silly of me! I despise the man for what he did. As for how it happened, we were arguing about just that, what he did, and I tried to slap him.”
Sarah gasped. “You did what!”
“I tried to slap him,” Eleanor muttered. “He deserved it! He tried to apologize for leaving me to tend to our guests alone as though that was what he really ought to apologize for, not the fact that he bargained with my father for my hand like I was chattel.”
“Eleanor, really!” Sarah heaved a sigh. “It is a remarkable display of restraint from him that he did not slap you himself for such behavior. You have a much better man than many women of thetondo, and you still tried to slap him. He likely did not kiss you because he did not wish to force his desire upon you when you were so angry with him.”
Eleanor blushed. That hadn’t occurred to her, though it seemed obvious now when Sarah voiced it out loud. “I… I had not considered that a possibility. But he has not touched me ever since! Whatever strange desire overcame him in my chambers on our wedding night is clearly not on his mind now. I am certain he is not spending his time thinking about me or the kiss unless he is wishing he never met me, let alone wanted to kiss me.”
“Sometimes you can be so very obtuse.” Sarah finished off her cup of tea and poured herself another one. “Perhaps he knows you still resent him and believe he is lying about his interestin you. If I were a man with a wife who felt thus, I would not attempt to visit her chambers either.”
Eleanor grimaced and dropped her gaze to her cup. “Do you truly think I am being so unreasonable?”
“I think you are being stubborn, as you always are. Sometimes it is a good thing. But in this instance, I do not believe it is. From what you describe, His Grace seems like a good and decent man. A man who wants to make peace and find mutual respect, if not love. Would that be so dreadful?” Sarah eyed her over the rim of her teacup. “Tell me truly, what would be so awful about giving in and seeing where it might lead?”
“I would lose my freedom!”
Sarah’s expression softened. “Eleanor, you already have, at least what you define as freedom. But has His Grace given you any reason to believe he will clip your wings in this marriage should you submit to him?”
Eleanor bit her lip. No, he had not. In fact, he had given her ample proof that it would be the opposite. Still, he had lied about so many things during the odd courtship they had during his visits to her father’s estate. “I cannot trust that his behavior is not a ruse,” she murmured.
Sarah sighed. “Then I suppose you must resign yourself to being miserable until you decide that you can trust him. Come, let us not spend the rest of the visit on such somber topics. Would you mind showing me the house? It looks very lovely from what littleI have seen, though I can see why His Grace thinks that repairs and renovations are necessary.”
Eleanor leapt at the opportunity to escape the awkward conversation with a smile. “Of course! I would be delighted to show you around. When we are finished, perhaps we might take a stroll in the gardens.”
She and Sarah both stood up and linked arms.
“Give him a chance, Eleanor. That is the last I will say on the matter.”
CHAPTER 10
Phillip had received word of the Duke of Bedford’s ball a few weeks ago, but he had spent the last few weeks considering what to offer Eleanor by way of explanation. No doubt she would balk at the idea of appearing in public on his arm, though he suspected she would make a show of acquiescence in his presence and before thetontonight. Still, he wanted her to look and feel every bit the duchess that she was, and so he had put a great deal of thought into what she might like as a gift to go with her ball gown.
After searching high and low, he had settled on a necklace of diamonds strung carefully on a very thin wire so that the diamonds seemed to sit like water droplets on the wearer’s collarbones and breast. The necklace came with a bracelet with diamonds set onto a somewhat sturdier metal mounting and earrings to match. The delicacy as well as the strength of the wire that supported the costly gems reminded him of his wife, and he had known immediately that it was the parure he had wished her to wear. All that was left to do now was to break the news to her.
Phillip wandered in search of Eleanor, noting with approval that the new blue carpet on the winding grand staircase looked pristine and lovely against the dark sheen of the wood, which had been freshly stained and polished. Descending into the main floor of the house, he went in search of his wife, beginning with the room she liked best—the library.
He was fortunate today. She was bundled in a corner in the vast library, the sunlight illuminating her and Bella as the two of them dozed off. She’d fallen asleep with a book in her lap and made an adorable sight. He smiled sadly, wishing that moments of sleep or moments when she didn’t know he was watching her weren’t the only times he saw her like this, peaceful. He didn’t want to disturb her from her slumber, but he needed to wake her so she would have time to prepare for the evening ahead.
