Page 48 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
“Come closer, my dear. Please.”
She did as her father asked, trying not to gag at the sickeningly sweet scent that hovered around the bed. If she’d had any doubt that her previously hale, strong father was dying, she didn’t after drawing close enough to see him. He had gone bald in the short time they’d been apart, and his skin was sallow. He looked as if he was one step away from death’s door.
“I know you do not understand why I did what I did, my dear.”
She sat in the chair beside the bed and looked down at her lap. “I am afraid I never will.”
“I am sorry. But tell me… are you happy with Richmond, my dear?”
Eleanor closed her eyes, her lips pressing into a thin line to hold back the cry building up inside her.
“Are you? Please, I must know,” William wheezed.
She opened her eyes to look at the man who had betrayed her, her chest tight. “I am well. He treats me with more respect than I have ever expected. I have no complaints.”
“But are you happy?” William pressed, struggling to push himself into an upright position.
“Please, Father.” Eleanor pressed on his shoulder to keep him from moving. “Do not exert yourself on my account. I suppose I am happy. At least, happier than I believed I would be as a married woman. I lack for nothing. Phillip takes wonderful care of me, and he is gentle, kind and courteous. I do not know if he is in love with me, but I think he loves me dearly.”
“And do you love him?”
She blushed and looked away. “What does that matter?”
“Indulge a dying man.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I think I might.”
William relaxed into his pillow with a sad smile. “I am relieved. I knew that he has a kind heart and that if anyone could win you over, it would be him. I am sorry I did not give him the benefit of the doubt by allowing him to court you.”
“What?”
“I am certain he has told you that much. I refused to allow him to publicly court you.”
“He told me. I never understood why, really. If you believed he could win me over, why did you refuse to let him try?” She clenched her hands in her skirts and refused to look at her father.
He let out a wet and phlegmy cough. “I believed you would refuse him on principle if he tried. Was I wrong?”
She closed her eyes and sighed. “No.”
“I knew that he was a good man the moment I met him. Your uncle told me he would be a good match, perhaps the only one capable of winning you over despite your stubbornness. I see now that Edward was right.”
She looked up with a frown. “I… I do not understand. You approached him through Uncle Edward?”
“Your uncle knew him. In fact, he mentioned that he had seen you two interacting at that ball where you first met. So I asked him to approach Richmond with the idea of marriage between the two of you. I knew how little time I had left, my dear. That is why I rushed to find you a man who would cherish you and protect you after my death.”
Tears welled again as Eleanor realized she should have listened to Phillip all along. He had believed in her father’s kindness even with the strangeness of his methods and despite how little they knew about one another while she had refused to believe in the same because of the hurt and sense of betrayal.
Iwas so unfair to Father!
The tears spilled down her cheeks, and the sobs she’d been holding back broke free. “Why? Why did you never tell me about your illness? I would have understood, Father. I would have. Why all the subterfuge?”
“I did not wish you to spend your days worrying over me instead of finding happiness with the man I had chosen. I knew Richmond would be the right fit when I met him, and watching you two together before the wedding, I could not bring myself to spoil your chance at happiness by burdening you with my coming death. I would rather you think me the villain than mourn me and never see how well-suited Richmond is for you.”
Eleanor covered her face with her hands. “I wish you had told me. I have spent the last few months despising you and begging my husband to keep you out of our home when I ought to have welcomed you with open arms.”
“It was how I wished it, Eleanor. I only wish that I had made things right on the day I came to visit instead of doing so now when I am dying. But I have brought this upon myself, and I do not blame you for it.” William reached out, drawing her hands away from her face with a papery dry hand. “Now then, my dear, I must rest. You and Richmond should go. Do not spend my final days here fussing over me or fretting. I have servants aplenty to ease my passing. Take solace in your husband. Graves will send an errand boy with word when it is over.”
“Father…”
