Page 53 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
“Thank you.” She opened the basket and began pulling out the food Annie and the other kitchen staff had prepared.
Phillip had made certain they packed all her favorites, and the warm smile she gave him told him he’d made the right decision. The warm breeze ruffled the wayward curls at the nape of her neck, and the sun glinted off her hair, painting her in golden light. He reached out and tucked a loose curl back into the space between her bonnet and her ear with a smile of his own. “You look lovely today,” he murmured.
Eleanor flushed as he reached for the plates at her hip and began serving them portions of each laid-out food.
“Thank you. Phillip, you know our trip to the jeweler’s before my father’s summons came?”
He glanced up and raised an eyebrow. “Yes? What of it?”
“Well… we were talking then, and it seemed as if you wanted say something of great importance, but then you were cut off.”
“And you wish me to continue where I left off?”
She nodded, looking down at her lap. “If you do not mind terribly?”
“I never mind talking to you, Eleanor, you know that. Had the messenger not interrupted us, I was going to tell you the truth. I was going to tell you that the combination of the desire I felt to come to know and perhaps possess you as my wife with the knowledge that if I did not you might be given to someone who would treat you harshly left me unable to refuse your father despite his strange requests.”
“Oh.” She looked up at him through her lashes. “Did you mean what you said then?”
“I meant all of it, but which part are you referring to, darling?”
“You said you wanted me from the first time you saw me.”
“Indeed.” He smiled at the rosy hue on her cheeks. “Does that embarrass you?”
Eleanor bit her lip. “No, only… I cannot fathom why. I refused to dance with you, and you met me at a moment when I was certainly not in fine form.”
Phillip laughed. It was true, he’d met her at a moment when others might have thought her not in fine form, but he had thought that her wit in the face of potential embarrassment and her quick thinking were proof of the best of form. What others thought was of no matter.
“I found your mannerisms endearing. Besides, I have always thought a woman of wit, intelligence and thought is better than a thousand women with fine forms, my love. Your possession of all three was enchanting.”
“You are exaggerating, surely!” She laughed. “I was quite rude if I recall.”
“Only because you believed I was rude first. And if we are to be fair, it was poor form on my part to laugh about the spilled wine. It is only that it was so unexpected from a highborn lady to show a human propensity for error in public that I could not contain my amusement.”
She shook her head with a patient smile. “Really, Phillip, you can be odder than I at times. To think I ever thought you had lied about your unconventional practices.”
Phillip grinned and handed her a plate. “I am delighted to have proven that particular notion wrong.”
“You do seem to take a peculiar delight in proving me wrong.” She shifted to sit beside him and leaned into his side. “You know, Phillip, maybe something good did come of all the bad after all.”
He frowned and rolled a grape between his fingers, watching the sunlight dance off the lake. “How so?”
“We found each other. I have realized that I would not do it differently, even if I could go back in time and change it all. Perhaps the only thing I regret is that I did not tell my father at once when I began to believe you were the best option I had.”
That wasn’t something she’d shared before.
“Oh? Had you come to like my company before the unfortunate debacle we called a wedding?”
She scoffed. “I am uncertain we can call it a wedding when the bride had no idea it was to occur and wished nothing to do with it. But yes… I had come to think you were a possible suitor. You never made any mention of the matter, however, and set as I was on remaining unwed, I believed it was a sign I should not abandon my course.”
“So you never said anything about your interest to your father because you believed it would be a mistake?”
It seems as though there should be more to it. Eleanor is rarely so shallow.
“In part… Mostly, I feared he would act upon that interest on my behalf. I suppose, deep down, I was looking for a man who wanted me of his own accord. That is why it hurt so deeply when I discovered what you and my father had done.”
“If I had known of your interest, I would have requested permission to court you immediately, Eleanor. Why did you say nothing to me?”
