Page 27 of Wedded to the Loveless Duke
The alcohol was beginning to go to her head. She didn’t drink much, and she knew that if they stayed there and continued their conversation, she’d end up drunk, not just tipsy.
Phillip rose and extended a hand. “If you like. We have stayed long enough to be seen, and I have fulfilled my obligations. We can make our excuses to our hosts.”
Eleanor took his hand and let him guide her through the crowd. They stopped along the way to accept the belated congratulations from members of thetonwho had not attended their wedding, but at last, they had found the Duke and Duchess of Bedford and made their excuses.
Phillip led her out of the large estate to their carriage and helped her up into the quiet, dark interior. Then, he climbed in after her and thumped the roof with his cane to tell the driver to drive them home. The carriage lurched into motion, and a quiet, companionable silence fell between them as they drove back to the Richmond estate.
CHAPTER 11
When the newlyweds reached the Richmond estate and disembarked from the carriage, it became clear to Phillip that Eleanor was a little tipsy. He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her up the stairs into the house. She leaned against him with a sigh, letting him help her up to her rooms.
At her bedroom door, he paused. More than anything, he wanted to cling to the growing warmth in her demeanor, to the burgeoning hope that she might come to see him for who he was and love him for it after all. But he was not nearly as drunk as she seemed, and he didn’t want to take advantage of her only to have her regret it in the morning. He reached around her to open the door, catching a whiff of the rose perfume she wore, the perfume he’d bought for her and placed in her room before the day she’d moved in. A tiny smile curled the edges of his lips. She hadn’t rejected that gift either, even in her anger.
Eleanor took a step towards her bedroom, and Phillip sensed that if he let her walk over the threshold without any furtherwords between them, the figurative door in her wall would slam shut just as her bedroom door would, and he would be locked out all over again. “Eleanor,” he called softly. “I enjoyed the evening.”
She turned to face him, a strange expression in her soft brown eyes. “I did too.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am, a little.” She stared at him with a frown, drawing closer. “I cannot understand you, Your Grace. You are an enigma.”
“Perhaps that is only because you are trying to understand me with the wrong premises?” He stood very still, praying she wouldn’t withdraw again.
“Perhaps.” Her rosy lips parted, and she stared at his face as if searching for the answers she wanted so badly. “But I cannot… Did you mean what you said at the ball tonight?”
Phillip reached out on impulse and cupped her cheek in his palm. “Every word.”
“Why did you not come to my bed that first night?” she whispered. “I am not so naive as to fail to notice that you wanted to kiss me then, but you did not.”
“Because I will not force my wife to my bed.” He ran his thumb along her lower lip. “If I thought you were ready and willing, you would find your room a mere formality, Eleanor.”
She blushed and lowered her gaze, but she didn’t pull away.
“Are you upset I did not kiss you then?” he asked, his amusement flaring.
“I… no.”
“Do try to lie more convincingly, dearest.” He dipped his head closer, tipping her chin up so that their lips brushed gently.
Eleanor shivered but remained still, her cheeks blushing a deeper red.
“Do you want me to kiss you now, Eleanor?”
She swallowed hard and caught her lower lip between her teeth.
He pulled it free. “Answer me. If you do not, I will leave you to your own devices for the rest of the evening and will pursue this no further until I am given reason to believe you wish otherwise.”
Her tiny body quivered, but finally, she stepped closer into him, pressing her palms against his chest over his crisp white dressshirt. “Show me I am more than my money to you, Phillip,” she whispered.
Phillip could not refuse a plea like that. His chest ached with a blend of sadness that she still didn’t see that she had always been more than her money to him and longing to coax her from her shell to see him and his protection as a gift instead of a curse. “You have always been more than your money, my love.” He dipped his head and captured her mouth with his, still cupping her cheek in his palm.
Eleanor met him shyly at first and then with more eagerness, her hands sliding up to tangle in the hair at the nape of his neck. Her movements pressed her body closer to his, shifting her stays and revealing a tantalizing glimpse of her curves. He longed to take it further, but he settled for only the tender caress of his lips against hers, teasing and coaxing her into kissing him back but not deepening it enough to frighten her off.
When he finally released her mouth, she was breathing in shallow gasps, her grip on him tight.
“Goodnight, Eleanor,” he whispered, kissing her forehead before pulling away.
Her expression fell before she forcefully composed herself and gave him a soft smile. “Goodnight, Phillip.”
