Page 46 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
A shiver worked its way down her spine and ended in an ache deep in her belly with an accompanying longing in her chest. “Perhaps there is no right moment, Phillip.”
“Perhaps not.” He dipped his head so that his forehead touched hers. “But there are many wrong ones. But there is more you should know, Eleanor. The money and my desire for you weren’t the only reasons I took the deal your father offered. He made me swear not to tell you, but I cannot bear to keep it from you and let you hate him any longer. I?—”
The shop door flew open, and a man rushed inside. He spotted Phillip and made his way to them quickly. Eleanor stepped out of her husband’s arms, her cheeks warming at being discovered in public like that.
Phillip frowned. “Can I help you with something, Sir?”
The man nodded and pointed to the other side of the shop. “I come bearing news, but I think it is not the news a lady ought to hear, Your Grace.”
Phillip nodded and followed the man to the other side of the shop. Eleanor watched the Duke’s face closely as the messenger imparted the news. Phillip’s expression turned grim, his lips pressing into a thin line and brows drawing together. He returned to her and took her hand. “We need to go back at once, my love. I am sorry.”
“What? But why?”
He hurried her out of the shop and to the waiting carriage where the driver was already awaiting his instructions. “There is no time to explain right now, my love. Besides, this is something that you will need to be present for, and all will become clear then.”
She let him help her into the carriage.
“Where are we going?”
He climbed in beside her and said, “To your father’s house.”
CHAPTER 17
The trip to Fife Manor was fraught with tense silence. Whatever Phillip had intended to tell Eleanor in the shop was long forgotten or else pushed aside after hearing the news. Eleanor found herself torn between worrying about why they were going to see her father and wondering what Phillip would have said if they hadn’t been interrupted.
“Phillip,” she ventured softly. “Why are we going to see my father? You know how I feel about him.”
Phillip frowned. “I know well enough how you feel, but this is a time to set aside past anger and grudges, Eleanor.”
“Is something terribly wrong?”
It has to be if he is asking me to lay aside my pain and anger over what Father did to me. Father has betrayed me in the worst possible way, but why is Phillip imploring me to forgive him? Does he know something I do not?
“Yes,” Phillip replied softly.
“What?” She wished she didn’t feel the tiny flutter of panic at his quiet response, but she did anyway. Years of loving someone couldn’t be entirely erased in a few short days, though she hated herself for caring that her father might be in danger or hurt.
“I cannot tell you that, Eleanor. It is not my secret to share.”
She scowled at her lap. “Why must I see him? Can you not go without me?”
Phillip leaned forward and took her hands in his. “Eleanor, you must see him. I know you well enough to know you will forever regret it if you do not. Besides, he has the answers to all the questions you keep asking about the circumstances of our marriage. Do you not wish to have them?”
Eleanor bit her lip and contemplated the matter. Did she? Was it best to let whatever reasons he’d refused to give her all those months ago go with him to his grave when it was time? Or should she seek the answers now?
“I do not know.”
“Well, he would like to give you those answers now that it is the right time.”
“The right time?” Eleanor snatched her hands back. “He has a ridiculous notion of the right time. The right time wouldhave been before he dragged me to my wedding without my knowledge and consent and forced me to say ‘I do.’”
Phillip flinched. “Do you regret that you said it?”
Her anger fizzled out at the look of hurt in his eyes, and she took his hands in hers this time. “No, Phillip. No, I do not regret it. I cannot. Not when I have found love in the most unexpected of places.”
He smiled sadly. “If there had been any other way…”
“Father left no other way.” Eleanor held onto his hands tightly, needing his warmth and solidity to ground her. “And it seems I am about to discover the reason why whether I wish it or not.”
