Page 47 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
“Do not hate me for forcing this matter, my love,” he whispered. “Please. I only insisted because I know what it is he has to say and what the emergency is.”
“But you will not tell me?” Her eyes filled with tears. “Have you known this whole time, Phillip?”
“I have.”
“Is that why you kept insisting he was not the enemy?”
“Yes.” He lowered his gaze to their hands. “I hated not being able to tell you, but now he will, and it will all be made clear, I promise you that.”
Eleanor sighed and glanced out the window as the carriage rolled onto the cobbled driveway of her father’s estate. “Can you at least give me a hint so that I don’t walk in and get blindsided?”
Phillip squeezed her hands and pulled back. “I am sorry, Eleanor, I swore I would not. I am a man of my word.”
She slumped back in her seat with a nod and stared out at the estate that had once been her home. What could have led to this urgent visit?
What is Phillip not telling me?
Her stomach clenched with nerves, and she crumpled a fistful of her gown in her lap trying to calm herself. It had been a long while since she’d seen her father, and seeing him again now wasn’t how she’d imagined things would go. In fact, she’d been intent on never seeing him again. Would she be able to bear the pain that seeing him now would rekindle?
The carriage pulled to a stop in front of the manor. Phillip climbed down and took her by the waist, lifting her out and holding her close in his arms for a long, wordless moment.
“Phillip?”
He kissed her temple and released her, then offered his arm. “Your father does not appreciate being made to wait, and time is of the essence.”
Eleanor slipped her fingers around Phillip’s arm and quickly glanced at his face before her anxiety took over and drew her attention back to the manor. He laid a hand over hers, grounding her and easing some of her anxiety. Whatever William had to say, Phillip would be with her through it, and Eleanor would survive only because she had her husband to help her through.
After this, if the answers would not exonerate William, Eleanor could wash her hands of him without Phillip’s objections. Of that, she was certain. Her husband wouldn’t insist she remains in contact with a man who had so cruelly hurt her if the answers would not make up for it. But Phillip was certain they would. He must be, or he would not have assured her numerous times that her father loved her and was doing his best.
The couple was met by the butler at the front door. He bowed to both of them and took their coats, handing them off to a maid who had joined him quietly. When the maid was out of earshot, the butler turned to Phillip. “Your Grace, my master has requested that you see him upstairs. He has retired to his chambers. Both you and Her Grace may go up at once.”
“Thank you, Graves. Would you be so kind as to lead the way?” Eleanor asked.
“Indeed, Your Grace.” Graves smiled reassuringly at her, giving her just the smallest reminder of the days when she’d once livedhappily under her father’s roof and had not feared returning home.
They followed the butler up the winding staircase until they reached the second floor. Graves led them down the hallway to her father’s rooms without a word and then opened the door for them, letting them in William’s bedchamber.
Eleanor hesitated on the doorstep, a sudden fear overwhelming her. What could her father have to say to her? What was the emergency that had called them here? Where was her father?
When her gaze landed on the bed, she found the man she’d been looking for. He locked his gaze with hers, his skin waxy and yellow in the lamplight. A weak smile spread across his lips, and he beckoned her closer. “You brought her to me after all, Richmond. Thank you, my son.”
Eleanor looked at Phillip with tears in her eyes.
Phillip nodded at her in approval. “Go on. You need the truth, Eleanor. Before it dies with him.”
A tear slipped free, spilling past her lashes and dripping from her chin. “What is really going on here, Phillip?”
He gave her a gentle push into the room. “I will be right outside if you need me, my darling.”
“Wait, Phillip! Please, stay.” She tugged at his sleeve, her tears beginning to fall in earnest. She knew she should be able to handle listening to a dying man’s last words—for she was certain that was what she was about to hear—without her husband beside her, but she didn’t think she could bear to do it alone.
Phillip pulled his arm free and took her chin in his large, warm palm, kissing her gently. “You will be all right, Eleanor. If you need me, just call out and I will be right here.”
Then, he was gone, the door clicking shut behind him. She stood staring at the door for a while, not ready to turn around and face the man who had been responsible for marrying her off to Phillip, to begin with.
“Eleanor,” William croaked.
She turned slowly, her tears still falling. “You are dying.”
