Page 35 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
Phillip went to the sideboard and poured them both a whiskey. “I did not want to say it outright. She will come round eventually, I think. Give her time.”
He handed the glass of whiskey to William, and he noticed his father-in-law had a pained and sad look on his face.
“You know, I am sorry for how this has impacted you, Richmond. I… well, I still believe it was necessary, but I know it was not how you wished it to unfold.”
Phillip took a sip of his whiskey and turned to face the fire dancing in the hearth, pondering over William’s words. “I know you believe it so.”
“But you do not.”
“No. I believe I could have won her over without the aid of duplicity, Fife. You should have never asked such dishonesty of me. Had I not needed the money, I would have rejected your request outright, and you knew it.”
“I did.” The older man sighed. “But you know I could not gamble on you, Richmond. I had to be sure of it.”
“Yes, so you have said. You have yet to tell me the entirety of the truth, though.” Phillip turned to face his father-in-law. “Tell me the truth, Fife. How bad is it, really?”
William looked away, staring down into his glass. “Bad, I am afraid. A month, at most. When it happens, she will need you to be there for her. I know she has a good heart. She will be sorry for her coldness and anger when she realizes I had a good reason for what I did.”
“That may be worse than her anger at you. At least now she is not being ripped in two by guilt.”
“That is why she will need you. You will be the one to convince her that there was nothing she could have done, that she could not have known because neither of us told her, that I wanted it like this.”
Phillip shook his head. “She may hate me for not telling her, you know.”
“Does she still hate you for your part in her unwanted wedding?”
“No,” Phillip replied. “Things have been well between us, though I am not at all pleased that romancing your daughter had to happen after our wedding. That is not how it ought to be.”
William grimaced. “It is often how it is in our world.”
“I did a great deal to distance myself from that world,” Phillip murmured. “I never thought my brother and father would both die with no one else to pass the dukedom on to but my uncle, nor did I expect that my uncle would then hang himself and die heirless. And so, here I am. In the world I made for myself, aman would romance his woman before he would wed her, not after.”
“Well, she is yours whether you romanced her before or after, son.” William looked at him with a sad smile. “Eleanor will forgive you this too. Now then, when can I expect an announcement of a grandchild? Before the time comes when she would know the full truth, I hope?”
Phillip shifted and looked away. “Perhaps.”
William cleared his throat. “You look uncomfortable, Richmond. Is there something I ought to know? You said things were well between you two.”
“They are. The matter of an heir has not come up,” Phillip mumbled. “It has been difficult enough convincing her that I am not the devil she imagined me to be. I have been more concerned with trying to gain my wife’s respect and trust than I have been with whether or not a child interests her.”
William gaped at him. “You mean… Good God have mercy on us! You cannot be serious. If she does not bear an heir soon, people will begin to talk. Have you any idea what that will do to my daughter? No man, no matter how much money he has, has the luxury of forgoing children and heirs, no matter what his wife might think.”
Phillip shot the older man a mutinous glare. “People may assume and talk about whatever they please. I doubt very much that it will bother Eleanor that people would make up theories.No one in my household will inform thetonthat we have chosen not to do things in a conventional way, and a child is not my chief concern.”
“Servants talk!”
“Mine do not. This is no longer any of your business. We shall have an heir whenever Eleanor is ready. You will not be around to meet the child whether there would be an announcement of expectation or not. Besides, you have done more than enough to bring this about. My wife wished me dead on our wedding night because of you, so I concluded we had a long way to go before she would wish to consider the notion of children.”
William smothered a horrified laugh. “Truly?”
“This is not amusing!” Phillip hissed, glancing at the closed door and making certain it was still firmly shut. “You cannot behave as though I have been negligent in my duties to her or you when your actions and schemes are the reason why it was so difficult to have peace in my home at all. I want Eleanor’s adoration and respect more than I care about producing an heir, and given the reason why you begged me to agree to your terms so that I might wed her, I would have expected you to agree with my decision. If you wished it would have been different, you would not have chosen the course you did.”
William rubbed a hand down his face and groaned. “You must rectify this at once, for both your sakes, Richmond.”
“And have her believe I was kind only to gain a place in her bed?” Phillip scoffed and finished the rest of his drink. “Fife, I forgive you for doing what you thought you had to in order to get her to the altar, but I will never forgive you if you come between us now. She is mine, whether she wishes for a child now or five years from now. I will consider no other suggestions, not even from you. You robbed her of one choice, but you will not rob her of another, not on my watch and under my roof.”
“Very well.” William finished his drink and closed his eyes with a sigh. “You make a fair point. It is no longer my place, but you will do what is right for my little girl, will you not? She is more sensitive than you presume, and any talk questioning her validity as a woman on account of her lack of children would hurt her.”
“Your little girl is quite the capable woman now,” Phillip murmured, taking the empty glasses to the sideboard. “I doubt very much that others’ notions of what makes a woman valid will have any effect at all on my wife’s self-esteem. Still, I have every intention of doing what is best for her. In my own way, but I swear to you that I will do what is best for her, Fife. That I promised to her on our wedding day, and I promise it to you now. Satisfactory?”
